Gulf Breeze Air installed a new compressor unit and air handler at my house. Two weeks later it stopped cooling. They would not come look at it in the late afternoon when it would be convenient for me since I would be home from work, so I took time off work to meet them in the morning (this was the case for all the times they needed to come back). They said the factory had over-serviced it, so they serviced it properly. Two weeks later it stopped cooling again and they came to look at it (more time off work to accommodate their schedule). They serviced it again and said they needed to talk to tech reps. The tech reps said there is a known engineering design flaw in a valve in the coils and that they needed to add a solvent to the coolant which would condition the seals and stop them from leaking coolant. They came out again to add the solvent (more time off work for me). It worked for cooling. However, I noticed the wood floor around the air handler closet was swelling. Condensation on the coils was not rolling down the coils to the drip pan like it’s supposed to. It was dripping off the top of the coils onto the floor and the pool of water that formed on the cement floor was flowing under the wood floor. They came to look at it (more time off work for me) and said this was another known engineering design flaw with the coils. Their “fix” was to install a deflector plate under the left side coils because that was the side known to have the flaw. The deflector plate was supposed to catch the water drops and direct them to the drip pan. That partially worked, but most of the drips were beyond the reach of the deflector and were still landing on the floor. I currently have two buckets positioned beneath the coils which I have to empty weekly.

Gulf Breeze Air said there was nothing more they could do and suggested I might manufacture an extension for the deflector plate or try spraying 409 on the coils so the water might roll down them better. Their last bit of advice was “you’re a smart guy, you’ll figure something out”. I contacted them again about correctly fixing or replacing the coils and they sent me a certified letter informing me that I need to contact the manufacturer because they were not going to do anymore work for me. I contacted the manufacturer and they said to have Gulf Breeze Air contact them. Gulf Breeze Air refused to contact them and the manufacturer then said I need to contact the distributor that sold the unit to Gulf Breeze Air or contact another installer and have the issue worked under warranty and I will have to pay for labor. They also said my homeowners insurance will have to pay for the damaged wood floor.

This is not warranty work. It’s not like the unit ever worked correctly and then stopped working. The original installation was never completed because it never operated correctly. Gulf Breeze Air installed a unit with known engineering design flaws then refused to accept responsibility to make it right. Now I will have to pay someone else additional money to finish the job that Gulf Breeze Air was paid to do. I do not recommend Gulf Breeze Error to anyone.