In March of 2010 I contracted with Barineau and Son to install a Carrier two-ton split system for $4460. I chose them because they were a Carrier dealer in business for forty years, and held some professional certification that was supposedly a feather in their cap. I wanted a Carrier system for it's electronic air cleaner that Consumer Reports had given a favorable review of. The day before they were to do the work, Mr. Barineau called to inform me some of the Carrier components were not available at the warehouse, so they would put in a Heil system. He assured me the Carrier air filtration system I specifically wanted could still be installed. However, when the crew arrived the next day, they discovered that was not the case. They consulted with Mr. Barineau who solved the problem by substituting an ozone generating system by Ultravation, which consists of a U.V. bulb and titanium catalyst rod mounted in the plenum. I asked him to reduce his price if he was going to install this in place of the Carrier filtration system, so he knocked off $150. During the install the crew of four was joined by several other Barineau employees who were in the neighborhood. They wandered around my house and yard tracking in mud. One came up to me in the kitchen and just stared at me. His name was probably Daryl, or Daryl or Larry. When the work was completed, I noticed a large gap around the plenum where it enters the attic. When I pointed this out to the crew leader he retrieved a can of foam sealant from the truck and sealed the gap. When the closet door was set back on it's hinges, we discovered it wouldn't close without considerable force because the copper supply lines they installed were now in the way. I decided not to make an issue of this. Noticing the mud on the floor the crew leader asked me if I had a towel he could use to clean it up. I told him to forget it, I would mop the floor when they left. Later I discovered the disconnect switch box was not securely mounted to the wall in the closet. Also on the day of the install, one of their vehicles backed in to a neighbors mailbox, but the driver didn't report the incident. I later repaired the damage to the post. A week later the Ultravation unit began flashing, indicating it was time to change the U.V. bulb. Obviously this was a false alarm as the unit was brand new. A technician came out and reset the unit. Then the same thing happened another week or two later, I called the office and Mr. Barineau was suppose to return my call but didn't get the message I guess. I decided to open the unit myself and press the reset button. At this time I discovered the unit was set to generate ozone for a 5000 sq. ft. home. My home is only 1100 sq. ft. Ozone is potentially harmful so I adjusted the setting to where it was suppose to be. As June rolled around I noticed the humidity in the house was getting high. I knew the air handler should be running at low speed when the system first comes on to effectively remove moisture from the air, but it wasn't doing this. The technician who installed it came out but had to call the manufacturer to find out what he had done wrong when hooking it up. After that, everything worked great for a couple of years. In December of 2012 it was still warm enough that I was running the AC. I noticed the house was not getting cool. I discovered the inside coil was iced up, an indication the system is low on refrigerant. The next day the owners son and another guy came out. At the outside unit the helper announced the service disconnect switch broke when he shut it off, and proceeded to replace it with a new one from the truck. While he was doing that J. Barineau went inside and came back out to report he had discovered three oil spots on the inside coil, indicating it was leaking. The good news: the part was covered under warranty. The bad news: labor and refrigerant aren't. He gave me an estimate of $400 to swap out the coil and collected $79 for the diagnosis fee. As they left, they both stated the system was completely out of freon. Since the system would still run, I didn't see how it could be completely empty. Two days later two techs I had not seen before came out to change the coil. While they were working I called Mr. Barineau to protest the high price for this repair. He told me it was due to the high cost of the 410a refrigerant, but said he would knock $100 off the bill since I had already paid the diagnosis fee. The two technicians were about half-way through the job when they asked if I had any wrenches they could borrow. I obliged and they finished up the job. They managed to make the situation with the closet door worse. It can't be closed now and stays open about 2 inches. When I handed over the check I expected to be given an itemized bill but they didn't have any forms with them. (As Judge Judy would say to an unprepared litigant, "Where did you think you were coming today?") After they left I found the coil kit installation instructions provided by the manufacturer, which I read. The instructions stressed that the in-line refrigerant filter must be changed any time the system is opened for repair. The new 410a refrigerant has a great affinity for moisture and when it is present in the system, acids are created which dissolve copper. Seeing that the filter had not been replaced, I contacted Mr. Barineau to ask why this hadn't been done. He assured me that since my system was not that old it wasn't necessary to change the filter. He also assured me that they had drawn down the system and flushed it with nitrogen. A month later it was cold. One morning I woke up and heard the compressor was kicking on but then immediately shutting down. It was doing this repeatedly so I turned the system off via the thermostat. I called B. and Son and they had a tech and helper out in a few hours. They weren't sure what was going on at first, but eventually determined that the crew that replaced the coil had over-charged the system, and that letting some refrigerant out fixed the problem. I wasn't charged for this call. In May I noticed the floor in the AC closet was wet. I pulled out the air filter and it was wet also. Further inspection revealed a 1 1/2 " crack in the plastic condensate pan which is attached to the coil that had just been replaced a few months earlier. I also noticed the fins mashed down on a few areas of the coil. Both situations obviously the handiwork of the two guys who installed the new coil. Mr. Barineau said a new plastic pan would be provided under warranty, but the coil would have to be pulled out and the system recharged again, but he was willing to do it for $250. I told him to save the expense I would seal it with silicone caulk.