Here’s a little background. I live in a two story house in a city with really hot and humid weather. If you live in a two story house with really hot and humid weather, the builder is very likely to install two central air conditioning units – one for each floor with separate thermostats. I say this because I know for a fact that my friends north of here have been really confused by the double-a/c thing. It’s nothing special – it’s standard in this area.
If you ask a/c guys, they will say you need to get your units checked annually to keep them in good working order. In the spring, we usually get loads of fliers for a/c companies willing to come out and check your units out for $59.99 apiece or something similar. Whether this is really necessary, well I don’t really know. We have it done every other year or so, just to be safe.
I have a long to-do list which, having kids, operates in triage fashion – blood and vomit comes first while a/c checks are somewhere near the bottom. In late January, when we began running the a/c regularly (I told you it was hot and humid here!) Mr. Lawyer started harassing me about getting that check up done. And I put it off for a few weeks – the a/c was working fine, after all. In Late February, he brought it up again, in a….shall we say….grumpier fashion? So I figured I’d better get on the ball.
Fortuitously, the next morning a company called Houston Admiral happened to call while I was still in bed – and very groggy. They said they would come out that week for $75 and do the check. We are on the no call list and while we occasionally do receive calls from companies who are violating the no-call provisions, usually companies that call are ones that we have done business with in the past.
So I asked, “Have we used you guys before?” The response was vague, but implied that yes, we had likely used them before. And having just woken up, I accepted that as reasonable, especially since we have used a number of different a/c companies in the past, both for preventative and repair work.
It turns out that this company uses several different names, but I didn’t know that at the time.
Houston AdmiralAccutron Heating & A/CAdmiralAdmiral A/C ExpertsAdmiral Air Conditioning & HeatingAdmiral ServicesAdmiral/Accutron Air ConditioningKJC Business Ventures, L.P.
The guy came out a day or two later – the name on the invoice is Shaun J. He seemed nice enough – very polite. He had a look at the outside units and the attic stuff and then came to me with a serious look – the verdict was grim.
He stated that essentially the upstairs unit was poised to meltdown at any minute. It might last a week or a month, but it would definitely not make it through the summer. Definitely not. It was all but a goner and to avoid the hassle of being without a/c in 100 degree heat, we needed to replace it now. Right now.
Horrified, I asked what the total would be. $10k before tax. $9898.50 to be precise. Woah, Nelly! Who has that kind of cash laying around? He cheerfully handed me information from their financing company. I told him I would give them a call after talking it over with Mr. Lawyer.
And then I did some research, because something seemed…off. The guy was very nice. Very polite. Said hi to my kiddo. But it still didn’t feel right.
And the initial research proved ugly. The BBB rated the company F for failure to respond to 50 complaints filed against them. Holeeee smokes!
BBB processed a total of 56 complaint(s) about this business in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total 56 complaint(s) closed in the last 36 months, 10 were closed in the last 12 months.
These complaints concerned:
2 regarding Advertising Issues
6 regarding Billing or Collection Issues
3 regarding Contract Disputes
1 regarding Customer Services Issues
4 regarding Refund Or Exchange Issues
13 regarding Repair Issues
12 regarding Selling Practices
15 regarding Service Issues
I decided that a second opinion was in order – if the unit was going to need replacing, I wanted it replaced by a company I felt confident in and one that would honor their warranty, should warranty work be necessary.
We noticed the lights dimming the next evening – like a poltergeist effect. Wow – that was odd. Our own personal brownout. I wonder what caused that, I said at the time. Mr. Lawyer was concerned too and asked if anything was running. It wasn’t – we were both watching TV, so it wasn’t like I was vacuuming while power washing or anything. It happened again as I was going past the bedroom window – and then I heard it….the sad, sad, sound of an a/c unit working far too hard…clearly straining. Just like the guy had said would happen. Damn – he was right.
And then the thought came to mind that I felt guilty for even thinking – is it possible he had actually caused this rather than simply diagnosed it? Surely not. I mean, they are clearly terrible businessmen, but poor customer service doesn’t mean completely corrupt.
We turned off the upstairs unit immediately.
The Second Opinion was here today. A nice guy that was referred by a friend who had known the brothers that run the company growing up. The second he heard that we had used Houston Admiral, he knew something was up and told me tales of little old ladies getting ripped off and other blatant misconduct. Yikes.
He had a look at the a/c and immediately saw what the problem was. The wires on the outside unit had been swapped causing the unit to draw more power than it needed – and yes, had we kept the unit on, he said, it would have caused very serious damage. Thankfully we had the sense to turn it off immediately. He did another small repair that had nothing to do with the current malfunction and that was that. In fact, it is humming along perfectly right now. Total cost? $250.
I’ve since found copious serious-sounding complaints like this and these and these on many sites including being in the Angieslist “penalty box.” Some, but undoubtedly only a tiny fraction of the total complaints that exist, lead to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation addressing several dozen customer issues in one day:
Date: 11/5/2010
Conley, John
Company: Houston Admiral
Complaint #ACR2008001291C
License #TACLA00014868E
City: AUSTIN
County: Travis
Zip Code: 78701Respondent is assessed an administrative penalty in the amount of $20,000 and Respondent’s license is suspended for one year.
Respondent failed to provide proper installation and service, and assure the mechanical integrity of all work and installations; Respondent misrepresented the need for services, services to be provided, or services that had been provided; Respondent made a fraudulent promise or false statement to influence, persuade, or induce an individual or a company to contract for services; Respondent failed to provide proper installation, service, or mechanical integrity by failing to install a P-trap on an emergency drain line while replacing an evaporator coil.
Of course you would never know that if you looked up the information listed on their website – the license number they have listed on their own website (License: TACLA041868E) has transposed digits so if one did search, no complaints will come up. Intentional? Maybe – maybe not. But by my own experience, it appears that they are up to their old tricks again. More likely, they never stopped.
The folks that run the company seem to have plenty of legal problems. A very quick search for owner and business names in district court cases from this county alone pops up in a number of foreclosures, breach of contract cases, several delinquent property tax cases, and yes at least one for shoddy/fraudulent repairs. Honestly, though, they work under so many different names that on this quick search, I’m sure I may well have missed others. There are possibly even some criminal convictions – not necessarily related to this business, but since I don’t have the primary actors birthdates right now, I cannot positively confirm this information.
Further, the company name printed on the invoice I have says that Houston Admiral is a “DBA” or assumed name of Rosehill LLC. According to the Texas Comptroller, Rosehill is not in good standing, meaning, they did not pay their franchise taxes, which is a basic for owning an incorporated business in Texas. Why is this important?
A corporation in Texas must be able to prove that it has paid all franchise taxes owed to the state in order to receive certain operating privileges from the state. A corporation seeking to be licensed by a state agency is required to have paid all franchise taxes owed to the state, and no contract can be awarded by a state agency if franchise taxes are owed.
It also demonstrates a fundamental lack of professional responsibility, which is definitely not something I want to see in someone I have working on my home. I’d be interested in seeing if they have any liability insurance or they just hope for the best.
Entity Information: ROSEHILL ENTERPRISES, LLC
20222 STUEBNER AIRLINE RD
SPRING, TX 77379-5427Status: NOT IN GOOD STANDING Registered Agent: W. C. ROBERTS JR
4230 LBJ FREEWAY SUITE 606
DALLAS, TX 75244Registered Agent Resignation Date: State of Formation: TX File Number: 0801013714 SOS Registration Date: August 6, 2008 Taxpayer Number: 32037681072
I’ve provided my experience and a little more information on this company, hopefully it will save someone’s bank account and sanity down the road. If you have had experiences, good or otherwise, with this company, please feel free to comment below.
The Runaway Lawyer 
lbwoodgate said,
March 26, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Atta girl RL. Friggin’ crooks.
I have been burned enough times to all be suspicious with high prices from new vendors. It pays, as you have shown, to get a second opinion.
Chauntae said,
March 26, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Wow! Are you able to go after the company for the cost of the repair that Second Opinion did? Even if you never collected anything, it may be worth it to add another notch on their belt, so to speak. What fuckers.
Lisa said,
March 26, 2011 at 3:44 pm
My husband, who is a contractor, said you should really consider legal action. Not only did they try to get you to make an unnecessary purchase, they sabotaged your equipment with the intent of causing property damage, and in doing so, put your family’s safety at risk. Your house could have burned down. Imagine if your mechanic sabotaged something on your car… same thing.
runawaylawyer said,
March 26, 2011 at 3:50 pm
Chauntae – we have a very powerful consumer protection law in the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices act – it authorizes treble damage (ie three times your actual loss) for deceptive acts plus court costs and attorneys fees.
See http://www.peopleslawyer.net/2009consumer-law-basics/presentations/RichardAlderman-paper.pdf for more.
It’s one of our most consumer-friendly statutes in a decidedly pro-business state and can cost companies engaging in deceptive acts quite a bit, especially when you factor attorneys fees into the equation. And yes, in Texas, attorneys prosecuting their own cases are entitled to ask for fees, so it is one option available.
NOTE: Anyone choosing to seek legal redress should definitely contact legal counsel of their own before proceeding because the proper legal notice needs to be sent and it is beneficial to have guidance before sending it. Many companies will respond positively once receiving a well-worded DTPA notice, knowing what it might cost them otherwise.
Mandy said,
March 26, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Wowza! Way to go, my friend. I’d seriously think about reporting these guys and contacting local media outlets.
runawaylawyer said,
March 26, 2011 at 10:36 pm
Thanks Mandy – I do hope that some prospective customers will read this before doing business with this company. It’s nothing that anyone else couldn’t find easily, but maybe it will have more impact being all in one place at once.
Julie said,
March 26, 2011 at 6:28 pm
Wow! Pieces of (not-) work, eh? Could your hubby sue them, using you as his exhorbitantly high priced lawyer. You know, for treble damages? Perhaps a criminal case for intent to cause property damage as well.
runawaylawyer said,
March 26, 2011 at 6:35 pm
In theory I could represent both of us – we’d both have legal standing as homeowners. Attorneys are permitted to charge their own fees in Texas, though, so I wouldn’t need another plaintiff for purposes of the theoretical suit.
Janieh said,
March 26, 2011 at 10:29 pm
I would love for you to go after them and show them that they messed with the wrong people — a couple with savvy and smarts.
We did a major home renovation when our son was 2 y.o. and being that he had reactive airways we decided to clean the ducts due to the incredible amount of dust that had been generated in the process. Let me tell you, the air duct cleaning business is full of corruption galore. We almost got rooked by two companies before finally finding someone to come clean the furnace and ducts who was not trying to convince us that our house was poison and needed to be torn apart to be fixed. Buyer beware.
runawaylawyer said,
March 26, 2011 at 10:34 pm
Thanks Janie – I know there was a lot of that type of activity when there was all that publicity regarding black mold….I’d say about 10 years ago. Not that mold shouldn’t be take seriously, but contractors were using terrible scare techniques to frighten prospective customers into signing up.
Ric said,
March 27, 2011 at 12:37 pm
The Mafia’s not dead – it’s just moved into the HVAC business.
runawaylawyer said,
March 27, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Hi, Ric – thanks for the comment, lol.
Michell said,
March 27, 2011 at 1:24 pm
A living nightmare. You almost can’t hire anyone for anything without feedback from someone you really know who has personal experience with them. So glad you followed your instincts!
lobotero said,
March 28, 2011 at 3:27 am
Sue the bastards!
In the Business said,
September 13, 2013 at 11:14 am
You should always get a second opinion and quote if your instincts in any way tell you that you should or if the contractor seems to be trying to rush you into a decision. There are good guy HVAC Contractors and there are bad guy HVAC Contractors. Paying another company a service call could save you thousands of dollars if the first company is trying to rip you off.
john said,
March 17, 2016 at 1:21 pm
i wish you would try to sue me, then i could teach you a lesson about lying on the internet.
runawaylawyer said,
March 17, 2016 at 1:50 pm
There was nothing to sue over – luckily no damage was done because I had the sense to get a second opinion. It’s been several years and the same units are still working very well, so obviously we made the right choice. Thanks so much for your comment, Mr. Conley.
john said,
March 17, 2016 at 1:24 pm
yeah sue me you lying sack of shit.