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Troubleshooters: Air conditioning problems in Portland

Posted at 9:29 PM, Jul 05, 2016
and last updated 2019-06-24 16:14:39-04

The Cook family lives on Oak Ridge in Portland.  They tell the Troubleshooters they’ve had enough of getting the runaround.  

The thermostat in their home reads 77 now, but the Cook’s say it’s been as high as 96 degrees. Yes, we’re talking about inside the home.

"For the last 3 weekends now, we’ve gone over to my husband’s mom’s house, or my mom’s house to do laundry ’cause you can’t do anything in the house when it’s 97 degrees," Chelsea Cook says.

Not only that. Cook says they had to buy a window air conditioning unit for the master bedroom just to survive.  And now their 2 year old daughter sleeps in there with them.

Cook says they haven’t bought groceries and they eat out often these days because it’s just too uncomfortable in the kitchen.  Their air conditioner is a combination furnace and a/c and is 38 years old.  And pretty much just stopped working in early June.

The Cook’s say they have a contract with First American Home Warranty to get problems like this repaired.  And that First American assigned the job to Air Force A/C.  It was determined that the unit needed an evaporator coil and filter.

Mrs. Cook says she spent time on the phone and online with First American and Air Force A/C.  Even filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.  

And even tho it’s comfortable in the house now, those 2 parts still haven’t been installed.  So she says she’s had it!

"This is not how people should be treated, especially when you’re pregnant and you have a 2 year old and it’s 110 degree heat index and you have warnings going off everyday.  And you’re having to worry about your air conditioner."

Turns out, Cook says the technician who managed to get the unit working said they need a completely new unit.  And that’s what they’ve been waiting to hear since the unit went out to begin with.

We called First American 3 times. The call was disconnected on their end twice.

We called Air Force A/C and spoke with a technician named Pete Rohdes.  He says First American orders the parts, then tells Air Force where to pick them up and install them.

We also spoke with Mrs. Cook, who says she spoke with a representative with First American on Tuesday.  She says they told her the new unit is in and should be installed by a different company, not Air Force, on Thursday.

We’ll let you know if that happens.