Over the last 10 years White Goods retailers calling themselves "Air Conditioning Specialists" have infiltrated our industry.
This has presented a problem within our industry where as the consumer purchases the air conditioner from a retailer who then gives the consumer the responsibility of organizing the installation by giving him/her a phone number of an installer to contact.
Before purchasing you're air conditioner ask the retailer the following questions.
1. The qualification and certification of the retailer you are purchasing your new equipment.
2. The qualification and the training of the person you are dealing with.
3. Should you have the air conditioner installed and there is a problem with the unit or installation during its 5 Year Warranty period will they come out and repair it?
If the retailer cannot provide after sales service without recommending you to the manufacturer or even organizing the manufacturer to repair it, then that's when your problems begin.
During the summer months manufacturers are not able to cope with the amount of breakdowns that occur because calls are not usually related to manufacturing problems but most times system not installed correctly. As you can imagine, some periods during summer, consumers have had to wait up to 6 weeks to have their air conditioner repaired and then find that they have received a repair bill because the problem is not related to the manufacturer but the way it was installed.
To avoid this it is advisable to purchase air conditioners from a Professional Company with the following accreditation.
1. GOLD LICENCE, (Dept. of Fair Trading)
2. ARC tick Certified (National Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Council)
3. Refrigerant Handling License No.
You may have heard the expression of "COWBOYS" as this expression is in all trades, unfortunately our trade has become infested with this problem. Those who do not know what a cowboy is, it is a person maybe from another trade who dabbles in anything and is not qualified, leaves the job incomplete for others to finish. Most people today try to find the cheapest price in air conditioning and unfortunately the cheapest may be an asset today but certain to be a liability for tomorrow.
Remember the saying "The sweetness and temptation of a cheap price is soon forgotten after the bitter disappointment of a bad installation"