New House, Air Con Issue !

[Emily_Zac]

Hi All

I bought a house in Nov 06 which was built in Sept 06 and know the air con is broken I have contacted the builder who has informed me that the company who supplied the air con have gone bust so the warrenty is null and void.

I have spoken to the PM and she will find someone to take a look but it is a obsucre make so do not hold out much hope to top it all my wife has be laid off just before xmas so cannot afford new unit

I have explained to PM she says I have no choice but to replace if cannot be fixed I have told her I cannot possibly replace and she does not know where that leaves us has anyone else had a similar problem ?

Am I able to offer a lower rent in exchange for no air con ? even if contract has been signed ?

Any help appreciated

Martin

 

[Minxdamanx]

Just a thought - have you done an internet search for the make to look for repair / service / customer support agency in Australia for the product. I would have thought that if their product was broken the warranty could be organised through their agent in Australia - you wouldn't need to go to the place of purchase to get the warranty honoured.

All the best with it, and sorry to hear about your wife's job loss. A difficult time of the year for that to happen.

All the best for 2009 anyway.

 

[James Allen]

If it's a obscure brand it some times makes them cheaper and easier to fix as most generic air con's come of one of three factories in China and all use very similar generic parts, meaning you don't have to by genuine parts from the maker. The only thing to fix that is going to cost more than replacement is a compressor, and even then you could probably find a matching outdoor unit from another brand and do a straight swap. It's could be something as simple as a run capacitor which cost about $15 and take 5 mins to change.

What's the brand and what size is it?

 

[marg4000]

We installed a cheapie air con in a bedroom and about 18 months later it was not working properly.

Got air-con repairman in, he said that in the cheaper generic brands they were generally OK, thing that mostly let them down was the piping and hoses where the connections sometimes weren't properly tightened and leaked gas.

He tightened everything, re-gassed it for around $100, then again, he had done the original installation so maybe discounted it a bit.

Been fine ever since.
Marg

 

[Collector]

Most air conditioners have a 5 year warranty - contact the manufacturer not the installer - they should cover so long as you provide the serial and model numbers.

 

[Perp]

I have contacted the builder who has informed me that the company who supplied the air con have gone bust so the warrenty is null and void.

Is it covered by the builder's warranty? If so, it's the builder required to make good anyway, not the air-con supplier. I believe the builder has to be responsible for their subbies, if the item falls under the builder's warranty (and I'm not sure whether air-con would or not).

I have explained to PM she says I have no choice but to replace if cannot be fixed I have told her I cannot possibly replace and she does not know where that leaves us has anyone else had a similar problem ?

Martin, I've been in cashflow pickles myself, so I sympathise, but at the same time, you can't make your cashflow the tenant's problem; you signed a contract (the rental agreement) and promised to provide them with air-con. I'm sorry, but I know that if I was the tenant, it wouldn't matter what rent reduction you offered. I'd want the air-con that you agreed to provide, and which was a significant element of my decision to enter into the arrangement with you.

Can you afford for the tenant to leave, and risk the property being empty for a few weeks (which I assume will cost you $1,000 anyway)? I should think at the very least the tenant would be entitled to break the lease, and possibly sue for removal costs - which will also probably be more than $1K.

You should be able to repair it for a couple of hundred bucks. But if you can't and it has to be replaced, you'd better FIND that $1K to replace (if a split). If you can't find $1K somewhere in a pickle, then I'm afraid I don't think you can afford to have an IP. Hot water services, air-cons, major appliances (ovens etc) - all can die at any time and you're contractually obliged to repair/replace.

Good luck finding the money to repair/replace the air-con, ASAP.

 

[Bolero]

We bought a house year ago withthe aircon installed (split system). In a clouple of month it broke down. We couldnt contact the previous owner to find the company installer and actually couldnt find even manual for it. Just got the number from back of the unit and called the manufacturer. They told us it was produced two years ago and has 5 y. warranty and we can go to any company from their list. List was sent by fax. We called the nearest and the conditioner was fixed and gas refilled for absolutely free.
Good luck with yours

 

[Firsthomelooker]

Its tough being tight on cash... can you go off and get one of those interest free deals from retravision, harvey norman etc? Quite often they will include installation in the price. That way you have fulfilled your obligations and don't need to find the cash for whatever the interest free period is at the moment. Although I think sometimes they do ask for a deposit - you might need to check that out.