Public Mediation

Aquarius sales and service-Dispute-#8223232

D. A. vs. Aquarius Sales And Service
2047 E. Edgewood dr, Lakeland, Florida, 33803-0341, United States
Amount Involved: $65.00
    • Status: In Negotiation
      This claim has posted for public comment and negotiation. It will remain posted until resolved to the claimant's satisfaction. Suggest a resolution to help these parties reach a settlement.
    • View response from: Aquarius Sales And Service
    • Claimant Seeks: View.
    • Claim #: 8223232
    • Amount Involved: 65.00
    • Filed On: Apr 28, 2012
    • Posted On: May 09, 2012
    • Complaint(s):
      • Bad business practices
      • Problem with a service
      • "I just feel ripped off."
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Statement of Claim
Complaints Involved (3) - View
Claimant says:
"I called them twice to make sure that they were a authorized service for my Leisure Bay hot tub, They assured me that they were,they advised me that we could order the parts or they could but they would mark them up if they ordered them. they came to my home spent 20 to 30 minutes at my home where they then narrowed it down to 2 possible problems, They then told us that the company was out of business and they had no way to order the parts unless some one had them and we could get them from a third party on line. They did not service the hot tub or even trouble shoot the problem, they also knew when they came out that the company was not in business. I contacted them and they were rude and said under no circumstances would they refund my 65.00 dollars."
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Additional Communication Between Claimant and Aquarius Sales And Service Hide
  • May 03, 2012, Claiming party added:

  • Wow that is no where close to the truth. He did not reveal that the company was out of business until he was at my home. They were both rude from his wife the secetary to his self. Yes he has changed the whole chain of events, he has made it look as if he spent more time writing the response than he did working on the hot tub. Yes I did contact them twice to make sure of the ability to work on the leisure bay brand hot tub, and that he could trouble shoot the tub that had not power or so it seemed. We had already determined that it was most likely not a fuse. When I was on the phone with both of them yes I was upset. However I was in the store shopping and I was not yelling.They both were not even acting like it was a big deal, that they had not given me a reason for the tub not working. They narrowed it down to 2 possible things it could be..

What Claimant Wants Hide
1. Refund: service call May 13, 2012 $65.00
2. Other – Pay for claim posting cost May 13, 2012 $7.95
Cash total : $72.95
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Do you agree with the claimant’s demands?  (If you are a party to this claim, click here.)
Respondent's Counteroffer Hide
The claimant's settlement terms were rejected with the following explanation:
  • I disagree with the explanation / grounds provided

    "I am happy to respond to Ms Andersons complaint

    Can I firstly introduce myself ..
    My name is Iain Smith and I am the owner and service technician at Aquarius Sales & Service. Our business has been servicing the needs of spa owners in the Polk county area for 33 years. We are an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau and hold a state certified pool contractor’s license.

    Ms Anderson’s complaint contained too many untruths to address individually and it may be better for me to relate exactly what took place ……..

    Ms Anderson contacted our store on 2 separate occasions requesting assurances regarding the service call charge and our ability to perform that service. She did ask if we were authorized to service Leisure Bay spas and was told that we were licensed to work on all brands of spas.
    She was told at this point that Leisure Bay was out of business and in the event that she required any non-generic parts this could present a problem. We also informed her that when we worked on spas which contained proprietary parts, we asked the customer to source these parts as we cannot get them at wholesale price and would pay the same cost as the customer.
    Ms Anderson decided to proceed with the service call and informed me that I would be met at the spa by her brother who was “very handy”.
    I carried out the service call on Monday 23rd April and was met by Ms Anderson’s brother.
    Nothing was working on the spa.
    The spa was supplied by 3 lines and a ground wire (2 lines, neutral and ground). I tested between the 2 line wires and achieved 240 v and then tested between each line and neutral and achieved 120 v. The board contained 4 fuses, which all tested good and there was no visible signs of damage to the controls.
    As a field technician, this is as far as you can troubleshoot.
    The spa control is made up of a push-button topside and a board … both consists of printed circuits and form a communication loop.
    During my time at the spa, and in conversation with Ms Andersons brother I found him to have a good basic knowledge of electrics and the workings of the spa control, and when I explained to him that the appropriate voltage was supplying the board and running through the fuses and that in the absence of any visible damage to either board (eg scorch marks) or topside (eg water damage) there was no way to determine whether both, or just one component was bad, he seemed to understand.
    On completion I presented him with an invoice for $65.00, which he paid without complaint.
    Later that morning my receptionist received a telephone call from Ms Anderson who, without introducing herself, began shouting incoherently.
    After several minutes the receptionist asked the caller to introduce herself
    The receptionist then managed to ascertain that Ms Anderson was unhappy with our service and that she wanted the technician to call her. Our receptionist confirmed that she would pass the message on.
    Not content, Ms Anderson continued shouting about being unhappy with our service and being ripped off. After several more minutes of listening to Ms Anderson shouting the receptionist advised her that she was not prepared to listen to any more abuse and terminated the call.
    On receipt of this information, I called Ms Anderson to discuss her concerns.
    I was basically met with the same incoherent shouting as my receptionist had listened to earlier. At one point during the conversation I actually managed to relay to Ms Anderson my findings after troubleshooting her spa.
    She had previously complained that she was going to contact the BBB and Bay News 9. At that point I suggested that she contact Balboa, who manufacture her spa control components and relay the troubleshooting information that I had previously given her, and assured her that they would tell her exactly what I had told her …… that it could be either component, or both, causing the problem.
    To single out either the topside or board in the absence of any visible damage would be purely guesswork.
    During the 4 telephone conversations that we have had with Ms Anderson, and considering her telephone manner, we feel that we, at all times, dealt with her in a professional and courteous manner.
    To conclude:
    Ms Anderson has a spa made by a company that no longer exists and has had to pay an agreed $65.00 service call charge to be told that her controls are no longer functioning as they should …. so we do understand her frustrations and her confusion, which is evident in her written complaint where she firstly states “they came to my home spent 20 to 30 minutes at my home where they narrowed it down to 2 possible problems.” and then later on states “They did not service the spa or even trouble shoot the problem.”

    "

This claim will remain posted until resolved.

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  • Comment: by John Beauvais — Online mediator
    • On: 05-17-2012
    View more
  • I would agree with the previous poster that Aquarius was right to decline a refund in this case. Unfortunately for customers, payment for service calls is necessary for many service providers. Not every call results in a profitable repair for such businesses. Payment for these calls helps to compensate these companies and their employees for the time that they spent on the call and helps to lessen the negative impact of unprofitable calls.

    Unfortunately for the claimnant here, facilitation does not always mean that you will get the result you desire. A facilitator’s job is to encourage discussions between parties to a conflict; it would be unethical for a facilitator to encourage an unjust result unless it is the product of an agreement between the parties. In this situation, Aquarius has offered a clear, substantial argument as to why it has refused to give a refund. Absent a compelling rebuttal, it appears its position is justified.

    This explanation is more than many customers get when they are dissatisfied with a service. Often times, an explanation of one’s actions may be all that is gained from facilitation. While this is often less than what a customer wants, it at least holds a business accountable for its actions and gives the customer knowledge of why a certain result occurred.
  • Comment: by acevans30 — Online mediator
    • On: 05-09-2012
    View more
  • MR. SMITH ACTED WELL ON HIS PART HE WAS HONEST WITH YOU AND EVEN THOUGH HE ASSURED YOU ON THE PHONE PRIOR AUTHORIZATION, NOT EVERYTHING CAN BE FIXED WITHOUT TAKING A LOOK AT IT, BUT HE WAS NICE ENOUGH TO CHECK IT OUT, AND GIVE YOU A BILL FOR 65.00 DOLLARS, ON THE OTHER HAND HE COULD HAVE TOLD YOU WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR AND LIE TO YOU AND TELL YOU THAT HE COULD REALLY TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM TAKE YOUR MONEY AND DO A SH-TTY JOB. BUT THAT WAS NOT HIS INTENTIONS. JUST BE HAPPY THAT YOU WERE LUCKY AND PLEASE DON'T BE SO NASTY, WE ONLY LIVE ONCE. TAKE CARE AND THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK.
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