HOA Nut House

By Brad Meyer

After years of dealing with neighborhood air-conditioning problems, residents of a Conroe-area neighborhood are uniting to demand answers and effective repairs on the units they claim are defective.

Organizers of a petition drive in the Summerset Estates subdivision say they have signatures from nearly 150 residents complaining about defective air conditioning units dating back to 2003.

But officials with the company that manufactured the units said in a statement that they believed the problems were being addressed and will work with residents on their complaints.

“This isn’t just an isolated incident here and there,” Summerset resident Kevin Simon said. “I’ve gone door to door in the neighborhood and it’s an ongoing problem throughout the subdivision.”

The air-conditioning units alleged to be faulty were manufactured by Goodman Air Conditioning and Heating of Houston when the Summerset Estates homes were constructed in 2003 and 2004. Simon claimed the units have defective coil assemblies that leak, causing the units to lose cooling capability and ultimately fail.

“We’ve talked to the manufacturer, the company that installed them and the company that is responsible for warranty work,” he said. “But the problem isn’t getting fixed.”

Charlie’s Air Conditioning in Conroe installed the original units and did warranty work for Goodman Air Conditioning. The biggest problem was replacing leaking and failed evaporator coils, said Kenneth Woodard, with Charlie’s Air Conditioning.

“The problem was the new coils were still defective,” Simon said. “We have no problem with the work done by Charlie’s Air Conditioning. The problem is with the units themselves.”

A year ago, Simon said, Goodman Air Conditioning appointed a new company to handle warranty work. The situation did not improve.

“It’s frustrating when you can’t get a company to resolve the problem,” Simon said. “I’ve been trying to deal with this by myself for a long time.

“Now it’s time to get everyone in the community involved.”

Simon has gone door to door in the neighborhood, he said, asking about air conditioning problems. He hopes to organize residents in the subdivision to resolve the problem.

The 5-ton air conditioning unit Simon now has on his 2,200-square-foot home is unable to keep the house cool, he said. The standard rating is one ton of air conditioning for every 500 square feet of space, according to the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, but there are several other load factors that can affect a system’s efficiency.

“The problem isn’t the size of the unit,” Simon said. “The problem is leaking coils. They come out and replace them and recharge the system, but it just leaks out again.”

Current temperatures in his house rarely get below 80 degrees, he said. Simon wants the problem resolved before the warranty runs out.

“Putting in a new system is an expensive proposition,” he said. “And you shouldn’t have to replace an air conditioner after five or six years – especially when it’s had the same problem since it was installed.”

A meeting of neighborhood residents is planned for 7 p.m. tonight at Summerset Estates Park to review the situation and discuss further action.

Goodman officials will work with residents, according to a statement released by a spokesperson with the company’s Consumer Affairs Department.

“Goodman strives to make every reasonable effort to satisfy consumers of its products. Goodman’s Customer Service Department has been working directly with the Somerset (sic) Estate’s homeowners and Homeowner’s association in this regard and believed that their issues were being addressed,” according to the statement.

“Goodman is disappointed to learn that some homeowners are dissatisfied with these efforts, and it will contact them directly and work with them to respond to their complaints.”

Company officials would not answer further questions.

“I would love for them to respond,” Simon said upon learning of Goodman’s statement. “It’s been frustrating to get their attention in the past. Perhaps we can finally get this situation resolved.”

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