Air America AC

Before I get into the reason for my negative review and the reason I will no longer remain an AirAmerica Customer, I want to highlight the kind of customer I have been with AirAmerica AC. I have been a loyal customer with AirAmerica AC for over 10 years (7 years at my previous address and 3.5 years at my current address). During the 10 years, I have purchased 4 AC units from them (2 at my previous address and 2 out of 3 unit at my new address). During this time, I have also had an AC service contract with them to service my units twice a year for which I have paid between $350 and $450 annually. I have also called them several times for any repairs or emergency services for my units as needed. Most recently replacing a water pump for the AC for $300, 2 months ago. I contacted them today and asked them to come to my house because 2 of my new AC’s that they had installed 3 years ago had stopped working. The reason for them not working was the AC drain was clogged. This has happened before and is a normal in Florida. It takes the technician less than 30 mins to attach a shopvac to each of the 3 drains and remove the clogs. When I called them for service, they told me that there would a trip charge of $69.95, if they performed the “repairs” the trip charge would be waived. I asked them over the phone how much it would cost me to have the drains cleaned and they told me that they could not tell me the price over the phone. I agreed for the technician to come over. The technician arrived promptly and told me the “discounted” rate for cleaning each drain is $89.95 per unit. I have 3 units so the cost would be $270 (If I did not have a service contract the full rate for cleaning the drains is $150 per unit, $450 for 3 units). I asked them if I changed my contract to a quarterly contract (which includes drain cleaning) what would it cost me. They told me the quarterly contract would be $350 over my bi-annual contract which was for $450. I asked them to switch me to the quarterly contract and clean the drains, I would pay the $350 for it (note is $80 more than the $270 I would pay for the drain cleaning alone). The tech spoke to his manager and told me that they could not switch me to the quarterly contract. He told me I would “have to” pay for drain cleaning in addition to the quarterly contract (that is $350 + $270 = $620). At this point I had enough of the ridiculous charges, so I told them I wanted to cancel my bi annual contract with them and use that money to have my drains cleaned. They told me that the bi-annual contract was non-refundable (even though 8 months were remaining on that contract). Wow! I was done, I reluctantly paid them the $70 trip charge and told them I would no longer be their customer ever again. Now here is the BEST PART. 2 mins after I paid them, I googled AC repair and called the first repair company in my area and asked them how much it would cost me to get all 3 drains of my AC cleaned and if they could come in today. As I had estimated, they told me “ALL THREE ACs for $50”. Yes you read that right $50 for all three ACs not each AC. AirAmerica AC wanted to charge me $270 for less than 30 mins of work, their trip charge alone, that I paid, was $70. I thought that maybe this one company’s retail price was off, so I called a second company on my list, guess how much they were willing to charge me for drain cleanup for three AC’s? $99.99 for 3 drains. Again AirAmerica wanted $270 and that is their discounted rate after I have paid them $450 for a bi-annual contract!!! Save yourself some trouble and money. Do some shopping around before you part with your hard earned cash with AirAmerica AC. I apologize for the long review as I usually don’t write reviews unless there are gross violations of customer trust or outright looting. I want to detail my experience comprehensively to warn and help other consumers make informed decisions. (One more thing… I have extensive back ground and knowledge of the HVAC service industry, I used to be field operations director for a large home warranty company and was responsible for management of service contracts and claim payments to HVAC vendors nationwide, so… I know how much these services are supposed to cost)