I wish we visit this site earlier so that we could avoid this Highlife company. We have the same experience with the other comments posted here. Two technicians came for the AC installation, one gone in the middle of the day. The whole installation took 12 hours (from 10:30am to 10:15pm). We noticed the huge wowing sound right after the installation and asked the technician to fix it. He said nothing much he can do. The sales rep came the next day and he said he hear nothing. We then contacted the company's owner, he said if his technician said it's ok, it means ok. We kept calling them and no body ever get back to us. We have to go to the company to talk to them. Their after sale service is terrible and simply doesn't care about its reputation. We contacted BBB (Better business bereau), Highlife still not care even though BBB is going to put this issue in the report. If the business didn't care about its reputation, consumers should avoid it.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $3,200.00
- Company Response
The customer states that we failed to respond to their complaints, yet within 2 weeks of the installation, a total of 5 technicians showed up and tested the unit, including a representative from the manufacturer. About the BBB complaint, the customer failed to mention that the file was closed because our response included a copy of the sound ratings report which states that the sound levels are significantly lower than the manufacturer specs. We tried to reason with them, saying that if the unit is not performing to specs, we will have no problem switching the unit. But we will have to follow the proper procedures and get the manufacturer to inspect the unit then authorize the switch. We were unable to reason with them and at the end they were verbally harassing our staff and other customers and the police had to be called.
Attached below is the result of the decibel level test(sound test):
Results of site visit as reported by Bob McGinn from Carrier and Sergio Avakian (a licensed technician with more than 30 years experience in the industry) .
1st sound measurement - a slight "wooshing" noise was heard at the outdoor unit.
Backyard Side 2 feet = 72 dB 4 feet = 69 dB
House Side 2 feet = 71 dB 4 feet = 67 dB
Street Side 2 feet = 72 dB 4 feet = 69 dB2nd sound measurement - rubber padding between condenser and bracket
Backyard Side 2 feet = 68 dB 4 feet = 66 dB
House Side 2 feet = 70dB 4 feet = 67 dB
Street Side 2 feet = 69 dB 4 feet = 68 dB3rd sound measurement - adjusted clamp on condenser piping - no "whoosing" sound from unit
Backyard Side 2 feet = 67 dB 4 feet = 66 dB
House Side 2 feet = 68 dB 4 feet = 67 dB
Street Side 2 feet = 68 dB 4 feet = 66 dBAs you can see from the above results, the unit is much quieter than the specs for the unit that they purchased which should be at 74db. Their unit is now quieter than the model above it. If we were to install the unit for them again, we can not guarantee it to be quieter than the manufacturer specs and we would be back to the same issue.
We stress again that in the past, with the manufacturers go-ahead, we have had no problem switching a customers unit if the tested noise levels were higher than manufacturers specs.
Their one complaint is that the unit is too loud and sound is very subjective that is why the unit was tested with decibel meters.
We told the the customer that if they do not agree with the above
results they can get a separate licensed technician to test the sound ratings. In the four months since that have received the report, they have not attempted to get a third party to test the sound ratings of the unit. Instead they are trying to write bad reviews with telling the entire story.If anyone would like to see the results of the decibel tests, please do not hesitate to email us and we will send a copy of the report.
Also, if anyone would like to call the manufacturer, here is the contact info: Bob McGinn 416-903-5259.