Clayton Homes review: HVAC leaking Smart comfort by Carrier

Our home is barely a year and a half old. It will be 2 weeks ago tomorrow that our AC/heat system went out. EcoBee thermostat went black and unit stopped working. We opened the closet that houses the unit and the system had leaked everywhere. All electrical wiring covered in water. Entire HVAC system covered in water. There were metal pieces of the system that were corroded. Our flooring is water logged. We called Clayton in Hunstville and were told to call the installer Mr. Chill. Clayton asked me to email them photos which I did within the hour. I called Mr. Chill and the receptionist asked me to forward her the email with 16 photos that I sent to Clayton, which I did immediately. I got a 2 sentence reply back from a J J at Mr. Chill - those aren't our wires. No mention of the leaking, no we'll send someone out, nothing. I wrote back how are they not "your" wires when they are in the bottom of your unit. I need you or someone from your office to call me. A week goes by I hear nothing.

I called ICP who told me to call Blevins. Called Blevins and spoke to Chris Rodriguez who stated that the Smart comfort systems by Carrier are notorious for leaking as they have a down coil and that all of the complaints they received like ours the coil was switched to an upflow. I have yet to hear from Mr. Chill. Blevins had to act on my behalf as they were not calling or emailing me back. Patricia from Blevin's called Mr. Chill last Thursday and they finally called me. A tech came out without the coil, looked at it and said oh yeah these systems you need an upflow coil. Blevins told them to send the rep out with the coil. They wanted to charge me $159 for ignoring Blevins request and coming out to do nothing and leave. The tech said that they would be calling me to set a time to actually fix it. That was last Thursday and it is now Monday and they have not contacted me.

This is a newer system and Chris stated that they have just been waiting for customers to call them when this known issue/defect causes leaking. Where is the integrity? If you know that this particular system has leaking issues you need to replace them. Not wait until the damage is done and leave the homeowner with the bill - service fee of $159 plus labor? ICP tried to tell me that my system was not registered and I was responsible for all costs including the parts. Things is, it was registered and I have a copy of it with the confirmation number.

This is a manufacturer defect - researching online there is a plethora of us who have the same system and have had the same leaking issues. I should not have to pay for anything associated with getting this fixed. This would have never happened in the first place if the HVAC system Clayton homes had installed was of decent quality. I have spent hours on the phone between calls with Clayton, ICP, Safepoint, Blevins and Mr. Chill. We have had no AC or heat for 13 days. I have asked ICP who has authority to make decisions re defective systems and was told to call the distributor Blevins. I called Blevins and they told me to call ICP. I find it hard to believe I am the first homeowner asking these questions as I was told BY Blevins that this system has been a nightmare re the number of calls they have received due to the leaking. I need someone to contact me please. I have gotten nowhere over the phone and am just being bounced back and forth between Blevins and ICP. No one can answer my questions and that is very concerning. When you have a car that is prone to having issues due to a defective product the dealer doesn't charge you to fix it - it is the responsibility of the person who designed the product. This should be no different. [protected] stephanie.[protected]@gmail.com

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