Lesley Turner turned to NBC Connecticut Responds about what happened during her annual furnace and AC unit inspection.
In October, Turner said an Aiello service technician came to her home to do an inspection on the furnace and AC unit. She said she’s been an Aiello customer since 2016.
“It was the same tech that was here the year before to do a checkup. So, I felt fine with him and I didn’t have any complaints or issues,” said Turner.
During the inspection process, the technician told Turner that her unit was releasing high carbon monoxide levels. He was able to adjust the gas pressures to get the CO readings down from over 1500 PPM at no additional charge.
“He explained to me that anything over 100 was unsafe to run,” Turner.
The technician then discussed repair options and replacing Turner’s furnace and AC unit because he told her the current one is 20 years old and beyond the 15-year life expectancy.
Turner said the service tech shut off the gas, disconnected the furnace and red tagged the unit, as required by the Public Utility Regulatory Authority when high CO levels are detected in the home. And Turner said, she was told by the technician, “this is not safe to run, you need to have it replaced.”
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Turner said she agreed to have an Aiello sales representative come to her home that night, and the representative quoted her a new $10,000 furnace and AC unit.
“With winter coming, you don’t want to be without a furnace,” said Turner.
Turner wanted a second opinion and contacted Connecticut Natural Gas to check her unit and the carbon monoxide levels. She said CNG’s inspection showed that the CO levels were acceptable. However, the CNG technician did recommend a carbon monoxide detector in the space.
“He did a couple of readings with CO2. He said there’s nothing wrong,” said Turner.
Turner said she called Aiello and the company agreed to cancel her service agreement. During the conversation, she expressed her dissatisfaction with the situation and wanted to speak with a manager. She was told her complaint was forwarded to a department supervisor.
When she didn’t hear back from Aiello, Turner reached out to NBC Connecticut Responds.
Responds contacted Aiello and the company told us they discovered that Turner’s message was sent to the email of an HVAC manager who had been terminated saying:
“Aiello immediately responded to NBC and the customer.”
The company said they tried multiple times to reach Ms. Turner by phone and email, and left her messages. When they finally did, the general manager said in part:
“…a resolution was made within the 15 minute conversation.”
The company also told Responds:
“Aiello strives for 5 star service and can only achieve this when there is an open line of communication between the customer and the company.”
Turner said the company refunded her $480 for the one year service contract.
