A warning to home air-con owners and buyers

To all potential customers: A warning to those wanting to purchase a home
air conditioning system in Sydney Australia.

NEVER use Echo Air Conditioning Pty Ltd (613 Tower Road Bankstown Airport,
NSW 2200) - email is .

My air conditioner went on the blink , at the start of January. It simply
would not turn on. We called the company who installed the Panasonic split
system, 5 years ago - Echo Air Conditioning Pty Ltd.

The service technician came out to my home, and told me that the split unit
had a faulty circuit board. He said he would have to return (in a week) with
two replacement boards, and added that one circuit board costs $200, while
the other is $600. He wasn't sure which one we would need.

He returned in a week, tried the new circuit boards, and then concluded that
the power supply was at fault. He said he would have to return in TWO WEEKS
because the part needed to be ordered... blah BLAH blah.

I told him to go stick his two week wait where the sun doesn't shine. Two
days after he left, I realised that the Fridge was off. I went around the
side of the house, and LO AND BEHOLD - the air conditioning and
refridgerator were running through the same safety switch. That means the
air-con was incorrectly plugged into an existing circuit - and the
refridgerator no less.

The technician had failed to flick the fuse switch back to ON before he
left, causing a loss of around 200 dollars in spoilt food.

After throwing out a couple of hundred dollars worth of food, I decided to
call another company to get my air conditioner looked at.

They came a few days later. After only minutes, I was told that the power
supply in the Air-con wasn't at fault, there was a burnt out plug and wiring
in the roof.

So, I called an electrician. He went up into the roof, that day, and
reconnected the air conditioning power directly to the circuit box.

Echo Air Conditioning had used a normal socket, which was up in the roof.
They cut the plug of the end of power cable which came with the air
conditioner, and wired up a normal 10-amp plug (like used for appliances).

Not only was the Air conditioner drawing power from a circuit shared with
the fridge, but the plug was not ample for level of current.

The elecrician brought the plug and socket down to show us. The plug was
completely black, with a hole right through it, where the plastic ignited.
The white socket was also blackened with soot.

Once the electrician attached the air conditioner directly to the circuit
board, the air conditioner worked.

So, all up - 1 month without an air conditioner, three service calls (138
dollars each), an electrician, PLUS 200 dollars worth of spoilt food.

THANKS TO Echo Air Conditioning Pty Ltd (613 Tower Road Bankstown Airport,
NSW 2200).

Echo Air Conditioning installed the air conditioning in my home incorrectly,
ignoring safety standards by attaching the unit to an existing circuit, and
cutting the plug off the end of the Air-conditioners power cord. None of
their staff acted in a proffesional or competent manner. Including Mr
Neville Page. Give him a holler -

Nothing to do with a travel group -
you should have gone to Fair Trading or somewhere

David Bennetts