David
Good Equipment and Price...but a few issues
I had never seen a RunTru before, and assumed it was simply a foreign-made Trane. Not really. The furnace is made in New Jersey, the compressor in Texas, and only the coil is from China. The ordering process through HVAC Direct was smooth, shipping was solid, and everything arrived in excellent condition. Once installed, I was impressed with the equipment. When RunTru says it has Trane quality inside, I believe it. The furnace is a tank: solid as a rock. The furnace gives up a little soundproofing and the outdoor unit doesn't have the weatherproofing of a higher-end Trane, but at this price, that seems like a fair trade. Unfortunately, there were some significant quality-control issues. First, the compressor copper lines were not factory-flared. My lead installer has installed a lot of equipment and had never encountered this before. Because of the limited working space, his flare tool wouldn't fit, so we had to buy another one for about $75. Problem solved. The much bigger issue came after we brazed the system and pressurized it. We discovered the unit had **no refrigerant in it at all**. We assumed there had to be a factory leak, but after purging and pressurizing the system, it held pressure perfectly. I contacted HVAC Direct, and Tiffany spent considerable time helping me troubleshoot the problem. She was excellent. Once it became clear that the system simply had no refrigerant, I asked whether I could drive an hour to their distribution center, pick up a tank, use the 5.1 pounds required, and return the remainder. That wasn't an option. I asked if they could ship me the refrigerant. They couldn't. My only practical option was to purchase a 25-pound tank of R454B for just under $500. We charged the specified 5.1 pounds, and the system ran perfectly. It has continued to run perfectly for weeks. I normally work on older commercial systems, so I don't stock R454B. I had no use for the remaining refrigerant, so I asked HVAC Direct to reimburse me for the tank. They agreed to reimburse the approximately 5 pounds I used, which I appreciate but I'm still out considerable money for a manufacturers mistake. I understand that the missing refrigerant and unflared lines are Trane/RunTru quality-control issues, not HVAC Direct's manufacturing mistakes. But HVAC Direct is the company I purchased the equipment from, and ultimately my conduit to the manufacturer. Returning the unit wasn't a realistic option after installation. Uninstalling and reinstalling the system would have added hundreds of dollars in labor and left everyone worse off. By solving the problem myself, I saved HVAC Direct and Trane the cost of a return, shipping, replacement unit, and additional labor. Yet I still ended up about **$425 out of pocket** because of problems that should have been caught before the unit left the factory. So, would I buy a RunTru again? **Yes.** I really like the system, and I think the value is excellent. The equipment itself has impressed me. Should a customer expect HVAC Direct to go above and beyond if something goes wrong? Based on my experience...no. That's the bottom line. RunTru appears to be very solid equipment for the money, but my unit had some basic quality-control problems, and HVAC Direct's response left me feeling like I was largely on my own to fix them. If you're buying one, I'd recommend inspecting everything carefully before installation. Unfortunately, checking for refrigerant wasn't a test we thought we'd have to do. Great equipment. Great price. But don't assume that a quality-control problem will be somebody else's problem once you've bought it.