Great Mills Heating & Air

I'd like to give some feedback on the two business encounters I've had with this company over the last approximately 12 years. Some time in 2005, I received a cheery solicitation from them for my heating and a/c business. Since I was in the market to buy a heat pump, was interested in Carrier, the brand they carry, and I generally try to steer my business to small local businesses, I took them up on their offer. "Yes, I would love you to give me an estimate on a heat pump. I am most interested in the highest efficiency model." That's the sort of business lead that most businesses would follow up immediately, at least every small business I've ever been involved in would have fairly leapt at the chance. Yet, I received no follow-up from these people at all. I went on to get estimates from everyone who did follow up, a process that took a few months, and finally settled on the company I felt deserved my business. Just before I signed a contract, lo and behold another cheery solicitation on my phone from Great Mills Heating and A/C. So I replied with a letter relating what had happened the last time they solicited me, and asked why I'd want to do business with someone who didn't have time to follow up the last time I tried. I received an acknowledgement from them saying the owner would call me immediately; that turned out to be a relative term, but eventually owner/founder Charles Aud did call me back. However, no apology or even acknowledgement of their error was forthcoming; he just wanted to offer me an estimate. He was very short with me, bordering on rude, and I almost didn't agree to the estimate, but figured why not? Maybe he's so brusque because he's so sure his estimate will beat every other one. But no, his estimate was not even vaguely competitive. So I bought from his competitor, a $7,000 sale. I never even thought about them again until at least a decade later: November 18, 2017 when I arrived home after a lengthy absence to find two bills from Great Mills Heating and Air, for $15,000 for a new heat pump and gas furnace that they claimed had been installed in my house in my absence. WTH? Clutching my chest, I dialed my cardiologist and ran outside to check; nope, my ten-year-old pump and my 20-year-old second-floor pump were still there. It was Saturday, but I called anyway; they were of course closed. On Sunday I wrote them an email, asking for an explanation; I could have called, but I wanted a record of any communications in case this wasn't merely a case of more incompetence; what if I had to sue for fraudulent billing to get this fixed? They opened at 8:00am Monday; by 10:00, any responsible merchant would have read their email and rushed to handle this gigantic foul-up. Nope. No reply. I emailed again, this time to the person listed on their web site as the founder's daughter and joint owner/office manager/treasurer (Lisa Aud) and made a suggestion for how they could track and correct the error, if in fact it was an error. No reply. FInally, at 12:00, I got a one-line message from someone identified only by a first name (Elizabeth) and no title, saying they'd "pushed the wrong button on the computer and billed me by accident." I wrote back immediately, demanding that she remove my name from her files and let me know when it had been done, because I was obviously worried -- their leaving my name in their files a decade ago when I'd had an unsatisfactory estimate experience and declined to buy anything from them, had contributed to this latest incompetent screw-up that had nearly caused me to have a coronary. No response for another two hours, so I finally called and asked for the manager by name. (Listed here; Lisa Aud. Needs to be updated.) She doesn't work here anymore, the person said. What? I asked. "The person whose father started this business and who is listed on the web site as manager/treasurer does not work here?" "Nope. She hasn't been here in many years." So I asked for the current manager, and someone came on, identifying herself as Elizabeth, the same one in the email. I identified myself. No response. No 'oh, we're so sorry. Yes, we took care of the problem. It'll never happen again.' I nudged her gently: "You might have seen a few emails from me today," so she would perhaps recognize my name. "Oh, I haven't been on the computer since this morning." Really? "Well, someone sent me an email signed with your name at noon." "Yeah, that was me." Hmmm... so do you realize that's an admission that you just lied to me? "So about that request that you remove my name from your files?" "Yeah, it's been done." No apology, nothing. With this kind of incompetence and attitude, what do you suppose are the chances I'll get another phony bill from these clowns in another decade? But Thank God I never used them for anything important, like installing something needed to keep my children warm. Rating: One thousand negative stars and a bill for a myocardial infarction. I still don't know how, exactly, they managed to screw up so badly, but my blood pressure is low, and I don't want to risk it by calling back and asking.