East Joe Home Comfort Center

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I contacted Joe East without doing any research on BBB, Angie’s List, or any information source. When Russell the technician arrived he found an area where refrigerant had leaked out. He proceeded to replace a 2 foot section of the copper suction line without investigating whether a repair could be made to the area where the suspected leak was. Upon completion he continued by adding refrigerant back into the system and when he finished this he then began to write up a bill for his services without even checking his work or checking to see if the A/C was working. Only after I asked if he was planning on doing so he stated “that’s a good idea”. Luckily he did because it still wasn’t working properly.

After going back to the unit and re-investigating his diagnosis was the reversing valve had failed and would cost at least $2000. He continued on by saying if he were to replace the reversing valve there is no guarantee some other major component would fail and strongly suggested I replace the whole unit for a cost of ~$4300, and suggested this several times. This was very perplexing since the unit is not old at all. When asked how he knew the problem was the reversing valve he stated “I guarantee it”, never explaining what checks were performed for the diagnosis. He continued by saying he could have the unit replaced much quicker than having to order a special item part.

I was astonished at the pricing of the repairs; $427 to replace a 2 foot section of copper tubing and over $450 for refrigerant. When speaking with several other air conditioning service and repair contractors I told them the pricing breakdown of the work performed. On average the pricing for the refrigerant paid to Joe East was over twice what others typically charge. In addition, the price paid for the replacement of the 2 foot section was described to me as “robbery” and “highly unethical”.

After having a different air conditioning repair contractor come out and perform a diagnosis on the system it was determine to be the filter and check valve replacement, the cost of these parts was approximately $125. The reversing valve that was “guaranteed” to be non-functional is working perfectly.

Reviewing the previous write-up on BBB, speaking with other air conditioning service and repair contractors, speaking with my colleagues at work at the local organizations I belong to regarding Joe East I’ve come to the same conclusion, they are fraudulent and have a long history. This is evident with the false diagnosis without ever performing any testing and exorbitant and highly unethical pricing practices as evidenced with the repair to the copper tubing and refrigerant. This also supports what I have heard from several others regarding their practice of escalating the price of their service calls due to the technicians working on commission. I strongly suggest avoiding this business.

When I had a new home built approximately 10-12 years ago, I, of course, had Joe East install the AC unit (which I upgraded from the initial specs). My unit is based in the attic, has a main drain and an auxiliary drain, which I recently learned, is meant to collect the "overflow". To make a long story short, they did not cap the auxiliary drain, consequently, water always filled the pan, which I thought was normal (my ignorance). Now, the overflow pan has holes in it. . .all because the auxiliary drain WAS NOT CAPPED. If you have an attic furnace installed by Joe East and you have a main and auxiliary drain, you may want to make sure the auxiliary has a cap on it!