Complaint Review: Home Depot Contract Complaint About Subcontractor ARS -

On May 13, 2020 we were solicited at the Port Orange Florida Home Depot while buying a $1700 washer and dryer set.  We demanded a refund after the huge mess the Home Depot contractor caused.  Initially we strated to complain not because we had a fire hazzard or that they flooded the underneath of our home.  We initially were shocked that they left the job the way they did.   

We discovered over the next few weeks, after being stood up twice by ARS Rescue Rooter Escalations Department, major damage and flooding  We own a manufactured house which is a doublewide.  It sits on bricks about 21" off the ground.  We had a Rheem heat pump sold and installed illegally! 

What do I mean by illegally?  ARS pulled the wrong permit and never pulled an electrical permit.  Now keep in mind this is the easiest HVAC system to install in that it is 1 piece and has just two big air tubes and a single electrical wire connection.

Not only did they completely fail from sales to installation, they also failed to set it right.  Today ios day 240+ that this HVAC system has been hooked up on a cut permit and hooked up with the wrong wire to the wrong breaker!

  Home depot sent out to my father's home (disabled Vet) a professional salesman!



  They did not send a qualified technician or an electrical contractor.  They sent a salesman!  He sold us upgrades that should not have been sold to us based on our type of building.  

We met with a sales guy less than 24 hours after being solicited at Home Depot.  Less than 24 hours ater that they installed this system (very poorly).  We did not need a new system and our existing system was working just fine.

We told this sales guy we had issues with poor ait flow and heat on really cold days.  He assured us that this new Rheem heat pump would solve that and he would throw in a heat upgrade.  He sold us a 7K heat strip which could not be hooked up to our existing electrical supple.  In fact it would take an electrical permit and a new sline from the panel to the outside wall box.

The sales guy also upgrade our air lines and sold us new air lines throughout the building.  This was done very badly and they did like 33% of this work.  They did just enogh so you could not see what they did unless you got under the building.

Now note...  To get proper air flow, the air tubing needs to go from big to small.  This way the air pressure increases as the air flows down the tube which is 30 foot long.  The supply tube was a 12" and the idiot salesman sold us 14".  Now consider that there is a main tube which splits and then two tubes enter the building. 

Those two tubes push air through 5 vents each spaced across the building.  They installed new 14" tubing to the old 12" split where they foced a poor connection by zip tying a 14" tube to a 12" fitting.  They were suppossed to replace all this and they came into the building and replace two short 7 foot pieces.  They curt out 10" tubing and replaced it with 14".  They did the same thing and connected the tube all funny and poorly.  

They made it look like they replaced the entire supply air line when really they did just 3 small pieces.  On the return air line side, they were suppossed to replace that and they came into the underneath of the building about 10 feet and connected to the old return supply line.

Also note that the 7 connections they made with this tubing was just a zip tie and was never taped or sealed on the oiuter or inner sleeve.  There was major air loss and extreme condensation all over under our building.

Also note that they really screwed up the air pressure!  First, you can't install 14" tubing because it really doesn't fit under the building and while they were dragging the oversized tubing they broke a shower sewer pipe.  So over those few weeks while we were waiting for ARS to inspect this horrible job, our building flooded.

So let's back up...  They connected a 14" tube to a 12" spliter all wrong.  They then did not replace the other 50' of 10" tube but did go into the house and replace the 10" tube that we could see!  They did those 4 connections very poorly.

We added up the total length of all they replaced and it equaled two bowes of 14" which were 25' each (50' total).  They really messed up our air flow!  Home Depot has no clue what they are doing by sending out sales people rather than professionals!

I could go on and tell you about the $3800 inspection report or us filing with Volusia County Code Enforcement, VC Fire Marshall, the FL Attorney General...  We have alerted the news, BBB, Yelp and even retained an attorney.  We still have a d**n HVAC system illegally hooked up now for over 240 days!

Crazy experience with Home Depot, ARS and trapped between there Escalations department andour dumb leech of an attorney!  I have to warn you...  I have over 400 hours into chasing after Home Depot, a website and a formal petition!  

We have suffered great loss over 30K and still have not address mold and replacing the damaged barrier and insulation.  Home Depot has not provided us insurance or did after we forced then with a legal Statutory Notice which cost us $3K!  

So 143 days after our installation Home Depot sent someone out to take pictures of what we already fixed.  We seriously had a 4 foot by 6 foot hole in the floor for over 100 days as we waited to Hamoe Depots Sedgwick and Liberty Mutual to act.  

Worse, we supplied a $3800 professional reprot and they came out and miss led us.  They told us we had a 50 amp breaker and the unit was hooked up right.  We had to get 2 more opinions to counter the bad report Rimkus the inspector did.  https://rippedoffvet.com/