Richard’s Ramblings

I sent a letter via certified mail to Day & Night Furnace Co (Contractor License #747061; owner Apollo Ray Johnson, aka Dennis Ray Johnson) today after realizing that we’d been completely taken for a ride.

Day and Night Furnace Co.:

Per my rights under California law, I cancel contract #2514 with Day and Night Furnace Company dated July 14, 2005. You are required by law to return within ten days the entire contract amount of $4,100 provided to you by credit card charge.

On July 14, 2005, I contacted Day and Night Furnace Company to repair a leaking evaporator. You sent out technician Rey who examined our evaporator and recommended replacement of the entire evaporator. He also recommended the replacement of the existing furnace as it was showing slight signs of rust in the inside side walls and was underpowered for the size of our house. Rey examined the paperwork from the previous contractor who installed the existing furnace and air conditioning units in August of 1999. He stated that the existing Janitrol furnace was a cheap contractor model and that it was manufactured in 1992. He also examined the outside air conditioning unit and indicated that it was functioning properly, and he recommended the replacement of the particle board on the top of the wooden box on which the furnace sits as evident water damage allowed easy crumbling of the board.

The installation began in the early afternoon of Saturday, July 16, 2005. During the removal of the existing products, I noted that there was almost no rust in the upflow coils, and there was a lot less rust in the heater unit than anticipated. However, when the deinstallation was completed Rey pointed to the top of the pile in the open-bed truck and remarked on the vast amount of rust on the coils. It was only after I pointed out that the coils Rey was showing me were not the ones removed from my house that Apollo, the owner of Day and Night Furnace Company, admitted that the coils in question were actually from a prior deinstallation and not from my house at all.

The installers (who included the company owner Apollo, technician Rey, and one other unidentified individual — the personnel list on the California Contractors State License Board indicates that Day & Night Furnace Company has certified that it has no employees and is therefore exempt from workers’ compensation) elected not to replace the damaged particle board on which the previous furnace sat. Instead they only covered the portion of the board outside of the footprint of the newly installed furnace with some sort of sealant, indicating that this would prevent additional damage. They did not seal any portion of the exposed particle board directly underneath the new furnace unit. Since the previous leak occurred inside the unit, the sealant would merely ensure that any additional water would be trapped inside the particle board. The unsealed particle board on which the new furnace sits crumbles to the touch. Not addressing this issue is entirely unacceptable, unprofessional, and negligent.

Apollo said that there had been an issue with the outside condenser during the startup phase of installation, indicating that it might have been something to do with the refrigerant or the refrigerant lines, and that he had installed something on the outside unit to help fix it — without my prior knowledge or consent. The installation of whatever this part was was done for free, he said, because he felt that it was their responsibility to fix because it was due to something done during the removal of the previously existing equipment. Details on this are vague; none of the information was written. The air conditioning system as a whole now functions about fifty percent of the time, whereas before the installation it always functioned properly except for the minor leak from the evaporator coils; it now occasionally functions merely as an expensive fan, circulating already hot air throughout the house. When I called the phone number listed on the contract on Sunday afternoon, July 17, 2005, to report the issue, Apollo answered and stated that he had been working eight-to-nine-hour days during the previous week and that it was his day to spend with his kids and that he had no intention of coming out that evening, despite the contract advertising that service was available day and night, seven days a week. He also said that it might either be a two-minute fix that he would do for free, or that it might be something larger that I would have to pay for as it is unrelated to the installation of the furnace and coils in the garage, clearly in conflict with the previous admission that something had happened during the deinstallation. He stated that he would send someone around to examine the system first thing in the morning on Monday, July 18, 2005; it is 3:30 p.m. as I finish writing this letter and there was been no phone call or visit.

Not only are some of the issues surrounding this installation suspicious and negligent, I now feel that I was grossly overcharged based on other written estimates. To top it off, the contract that Day and Night Furnace Company provided is criminally invalid:

• Day and Night Furnace Company is in violation of California Business and Professions Code Section 7030(a) because the contract did not contain the required statement: “Contractors are required by law to be licensed and regulated by the Contractors’ State License Board which has jurisdiction to investigate complaints against contractors if a complaint regarding a patent act or omission is filed within four years of the date of the alleged violation. A complaint regarding a latent act or omission pertaining to structural defects must be filed within 10 years of the date of the alleged violation. Any questions concerning a contractor may be referred to the Registrar, Contractors’ State License Board, P.O. Box 26000, Sacramento, California 95826.”
• Day and Night Furnace Company is in violation of California Business and Professions Code Section 7030(b) because the contract did not contain the required statement: “State law requires anyone who contracts to do construction work to be licensed by the Contractors’ State License Board in the license category in which the contractor is going to be working–if the total price of the job is $500 or more (including labor and materials). Licensed contractors are regulated by laws designed to protect the public. If you contract with someone who does not have a license, the contractors’ state license board may be unable to assist you with a complaint. Your only remedy against an unlicensed contractor may be in civil court, and you may be liable for damages arising out of any injuries to the contractor or his or her employees. You may contact the contractors’ state license board to find out if this contractor has a valid license. The board has complete information on the history of licensed contractors, including any possible suspensions, revocations, judgments, and citations. The board has offices throughout California. Please check the government pages of the white pages for the office nearest you or call 1-800-321-CSLB for more information.”
• Day and Night Furnace Company is in violation of California Business and Professions Code Section 7159(a) because the contract did not contain the name and registration number of the salesperson who negotiated the contract.
• Day and Night Furnace Company is in violation of California Business and Professions Code Section 7159(d) because the contract specified a down payment of $500 for a contract price of $4,100 which exceeded the 10% maximum allowable down payment for home improvements.
• Day and Night Furnace Company is in violation of California Business and Professions Code Section 7159(g) because the contract did not contain, in close proximity to the signatures of myself and the contractor, a notice in at least 10-point type stating that I have the right to require the contractor to have a performance and payment bond. There is, in fact, no such notice anywhere on the contract.
• Day and Night Furnace Company is in violation of California Civil Code Section 1689.7(a)(1) because the contract did not contain in immediate proximity to the space reserved for signature a conspicuous statement in a size equal to at least 10-point bold type, as follows: “You, the buyer, may cancel this transaction at any time prior to midnight of the third business day after the date of this transaction. See the attached notice of cancellation form for an explanation of this right.” There is, in fact, no such statement anywhere on the contract.
• Day and Night Furnace Company is in violation of California Civil Code Section 1689.7(c) because the contract was not accompanied by a completed form in duplicate, captioned “Notice of Cancellation”.
• Day and Night Furnace Company is in violation of California Civil Code Section 1689.7(f) for failure to inform me orally of my right to cancel and that the requirement that cancellation be in writing, at the time the contract was executed.

Day & Night Furnace Company also failed to sign the contract. Due to the above criminal violations, including the failure to notify me of the right to cancel the contract either orally or in writing, the Waiver to Notice of Right to Cancel section of the contract is void and unenforceable. As previously stated, this notice is to inform you that I cancel contract #2514 with Day & Night Furnace Company dated July 14, 2005. You are required by law to return within ten days the entire contract amount of $4,100 provided to you by credit card charge.

Sincerely, Richard D. LeCour

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