I mean harm to no man.
Mssrs Tracy Janey and Jim McKintyre in LG Commercial in Madison, Alabama: John Piquaro, Operations Manager at GoDuctless in South Florida, Luis the operator at GoDuctless, Hank Jones in Go Ductless support, Greg, Victor and Jim West at LG Tech Support at 1 (888) 865-3026, Grant Meyers at Target Sales in Key Largo Florida, Tony Hong in Seoul HQ LGE, and anyone that has ever tried to help me with my non-working LG Art Cool unit gets praise from me for trying to help me.
I don't like to yell to a stranger that he is brother sucking mother chucker. In keeping with my self-imposed standard of comportment, however, I have gotten NOWHERE in repairing a simple situation: I purchased an LG product from GoDuctless.com that does not work. No quality control is 100%, and sometimes flawed products find their way into consumer's homes. However, there should be a contact, a process, an action to take, or some strategy for letting someone know of a problem. Such a channel doesn't exist for LG air conditioning products, in my 11 months of searching. I can wait on the other end of a 1(800) line until I am blue, and email and fill out online forms until I am violet, but at after nearly a year of trying to get anyone to recognize that I was shipped a faulty unit I only have the email address of this one dude in Korea. My powerlessness thus has led me, via the mob-rule democracy of the web, to create this website. IHateLG.com. Tell a friend or email me your story.
About warranty and repair problems with appliances and electronics made by Korean electronics firm LG, formerly known as Lucky Gold, now known by the motto "Life's Good" but ought to go by this slogan: "LG - at least our reputation is better than BP."
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
LG Art Cool - never again!
I purchased an LG Art Cool Ductless air conditioner from GoDuctless.com that has never worked correctly.
LAN095HV / LAU095HV - LG 9,000 BTU 19.7 SEER Art Cool Heat Pump Ductless Air Conditioner = $1298 purchased at GoDuctless.com
The LG Art Cool unit was purchased from GoDuctless.com on July 9th, 2009 and was delivered July 16th, 2009. My HVAC tech has made repeated attempts to repair and troubleshoot the unit in accordance with the warranty and LG Tech Support instructions. None of those efforts have made the slightest change or improvement in this unit: It runs for a few minutes, then shuts itself off, displaying error code C6. I am now seeking a replacement unit and compensation for some but not all of the futile repair expenditures.
Every time I contact GoDuctless.com they say “We thought that problem was resolved,” or “We were not aware of the problem.” However, my cell phone recordsindicate that I have spent over 4 and 16 minutes on the telephone with Go Ductless at (866) 793-0323, and sent 29 emails.
Every time I contact LG, they tell me how foolish I am to have bought their product online. Well, excuse me for wanting to own their product - it is not sold at my local stores. I presented my HVAC tech with a name, picture and description of what I wanted, I paid for it, and when it arrived I paid my tech to install it. I don’t get why that makes me a retard, but somehow, LG folks refuse to stand behind their brand name in the instance of an online purchase. Did they just learn about the Internet?
I will now detail month-by-month efforts in 2009 and 2010 to get cold air out of this LG air conditioning product.
JULY 2009
Installer David LaPlant of LaPlant AC came out to install the unit on July 13, 2009, and decided that a bonded electrician should run the wiring. Text on invoice below reads
"Installed Mini Split
customer has to get
electrician. Will return
to do start up."
Shortly thereafter, Cain's Electric (Lic# EC 13003801) tel. (386) 547-7102 - installed a brand new run of wiring to the unit, for which I paid $450.
LaPlant then returned July 22, 2009 to finish the installation. The unit worked for several hours, then showed the error code “C6”.
Since these codes are specific to the LG product, I never attempted to repair the unit myself, but I did seek on my own to find and download helpful information such as a guide to error codes (doesn’t come with unit) to save my AC tech the time and trouble. I spent some time searching out error codes from the LG Error Code Directory:
C6: Indoor Unit Coil Sensor FaultDisconnect from PCB measure resistance. 10kOhm at 10C and 4 Ohm at 30C. If not replace sensor. Split=Text 21
I also researched user feedback for the LG Art Cool online and was shocked to find that end users and owners of the LG Art Cool unit widely suffer this “C6” error code problem. A quick Internet search of “LG Art Cool Error Code C6” reveals that people worldwide having the identical problem with this unit. Enjoyable convo about turd-like AC units states that it is better to have an Fujitsu unit that looks like a big white turd on your wall than to have sexy LG Art Cool that performs like a turd on the wall.
SEPTEMBER 2009
September included many telephone conversations and inquiries regarding this unfortunate situation.
OCTOBER 2009
LaPlant returned on October 8th, 2009 to troubleshoot the unit with LG Tech Support Greg. LaPlant did not invoice because unit was not able to be fixed on October 8th.
In the invoice below from a subsequent visit on October 19th, 2009 details LaPlant's all-day troubleshoot and intermittent telephonic communication with LG tech support handler, Greg.
Invoice below reads:
"Found unit off on Error Code, called tech support. Tech Support had me Ohm out compressor. All three legs had 1.2 to 1.5 ohms. Support said unit overcharged. Reclaimed freon. Vacuumed unit. In 30 mins, weighed in exact charge. Unit still not working."
DECEMBER 2009
The failed troubleshoot detailed above was then followed up by my attempts to get response to product warranty, which finally resulted in GoDuctless sending out a replacement motherboard for the outdoor compressor unit that arrived on December 29th, 2009. GoDuctless.com customer service agent Luis claims that the motherboard had to be manufactured in Korea and that is why it took almost two months to get to me.
JANUARY 2010
LaPlant returned on January 6th, 2010, to install the replacement compressor motherboard. Invoice below reads:
"Installed new board
Customer had ordered. Ran System.
Checked for proper charged.
Motor all normal at this time."
The LG unit was rarely used and could not be troubleshot for its ability to cool a room from a warm temperature, because this past January/February/March was extremely cold. The unit would not stay running.
But as it became warm enough to run the unit in April, we found that it still had the same problem: Error code "C6" would show, and the unit would turn itself off after a short time.
APRIL 2010
LaPlant returned Thursday, April 29th, 2010 at 10am to continue troubleshoot the C6 error code problem. He was able to unplug and reset the connection between the compressor and the indoor unit, and then it would work for a few minutes, but then it would quit. He did not invoice or charge for this visit, due to is own goodness of heart and his frustration at the inability to fix the unit. I totally recommend La Plant AC (Lic#CAC1815123 + Insured) (386) 760-3303.
MAY 2010
In May 2010, we bought a portable AC unit. Temperatures were becoming hot. With the room already cooled down to about 80 degrees by another unit, the LG unit was able to operate for the first time since its installation without shutting itself off. With the portable AC unit bringing down below 80 degrees already, the LG unit was able operate for several consecutive hours at a time before displaying “C6”.
Yet another invoice....
I feel that the companies involved are going to dilly-dally until my one year warranty is up.
I am now the proud owner of a $200 GE window unit from Wal*Mart, and guess what? I plugged it in and turned it on and it works! It is ugly, but the LG Art Cool unit is worse. I’d rather have a squarish mate that delivers than a slim and sexy one that only lasts six minutes!
LAN095HV / LAU095HV - LG 9,000 BTU 19.7 SEER Art Cool Heat Pump Ductless Air Conditioner = $1298 purchased at GoDuctless.com
The LG Art Cool unit was purchased from GoDuctless.com on July 9th, 2009 and was delivered July 16th, 2009. My HVAC tech has made repeated attempts to repair and troubleshoot the unit in accordance with the warranty and LG Tech Support instructions. None of those efforts have made the slightest change or improvement in this unit: It runs for a few minutes, then shuts itself off, displaying error code C6. I am now seeking a replacement unit and compensation for some but not all of the futile repair expenditures.
Every time I contact GoDuctless.com they say “We thought that problem was resolved,” or “We were not aware of the problem.” However, my cell phone recordsindicate that I have spent over 4 and 16 minutes on the telephone with Go Ductless at (866) 793-0323, and sent 29 emails.
Every time I contact LG, they tell me how foolish I am to have bought their product online. Well, excuse me for wanting to own their product - it is not sold at my local stores. I presented my HVAC tech with a name, picture and description of what I wanted, I paid for it, and when it arrived I paid my tech to install it. I don’t get why that makes me a retard, but somehow, LG folks refuse to stand behind their brand name in the instance of an online purchase. Did they just learn about the Internet?
I will now detail month-by-month efforts in 2009 and 2010 to get cold air out of this LG air conditioning product.
JULY 2009
Installer David LaPlant of LaPlant AC came out to install the unit on July 13, 2009, and decided that a bonded electrician should run the wiring. Text on invoice below reads
"Installed Mini Split
customer has to get
electrician. Will return
to do start up."
Shortly thereafter, Cain's Electric (Lic# EC 13003801) tel. (386) 547-7102 - installed a brand new run of wiring to the unit, for which I paid $450.
LaPlant then returned July 22, 2009 to finish the installation. The unit worked for several hours, then showed the error code “C6”.
Since these codes are specific to the LG product, I never attempted to repair the unit myself, but I did seek on my own to find and download helpful information such as a guide to error codes (doesn’t come with unit) to save my AC tech the time and trouble. I spent some time searching out error codes from the LG Error Code Directory:
C6: Indoor Unit Coil Sensor FaultDisconnect from PCB measure resistance. 10kOhm at 10C and 4 Ohm at 30C. If not replace sensor. Split=Text 21
I also researched user feedback for the LG Art Cool online and was shocked to find that end users and owners of the LG Art Cool unit widely suffer this “C6” error code problem. A quick Internet search of “LG Art Cool Error Code C6” reveals that people worldwide having the identical problem with this unit. Enjoyable convo about turd-like AC units states that it is better to have an Fujitsu unit that looks like a big white turd on your wall than to have sexy LG Art Cool that performs like a turd on the wall.
SEPTEMBER 2009
September included many telephone conversations and inquiries regarding this unfortunate situation.
OCTOBER 2009
LaPlant returned on October 8th, 2009 to troubleshoot the unit with LG Tech Support Greg. LaPlant did not invoice because unit was not able to be fixed on October 8th.
In the invoice below from a subsequent visit on October 19th, 2009 details LaPlant's all-day troubleshoot and intermittent telephonic communication with LG tech support handler, Greg.
Invoice below reads:
"Found unit off on Error Code, called tech support. Tech Support had me Ohm out compressor. All three legs had 1.2 to 1.5 ohms. Support said unit overcharged. Reclaimed freon. Vacuumed unit. In 30 mins, weighed in exact charge. Unit still not working."
DECEMBER 2009
The failed troubleshoot detailed above was then followed up by my attempts to get response to product warranty, which finally resulted in GoDuctless sending out a replacement motherboard for the outdoor compressor unit that arrived on December 29th, 2009. GoDuctless.com customer service agent Luis claims that the motherboard had to be manufactured in Korea and that is why it took almost two months to get to me.
JANUARY 2010
LaPlant returned on January 6th, 2010, to install the replacement compressor motherboard. Invoice below reads:
"Installed new board
Customer had ordered. Ran System.
Checked for proper charged.
Motor all normal at this time."
The LG unit was rarely used and could not be troubleshot for its ability to cool a room from a warm temperature, because this past January/February/March was extremely cold. The unit would not stay running.
But as it became warm enough to run the unit in April, we found that it still had the same problem: Error code "C6" would show, and the unit would turn itself off after a short time.
APRIL 2010
LaPlant returned Thursday, April 29th, 2010 at 10am to continue troubleshoot the C6 error code problem. He was able to unplug and reset the connection between the compressor and the indoor unit, and then it would work for a few minutes, but then it would quit. He did not invoice or charge for this visit, due to is own goodness of heart and his frustration at the inability to fix the unit. I totally recommend La Plant AC (Lic#CAC1815123 + Insured) (386) 760-3303.
MAY 2010
In May 2010, we bought a portable AC unit. Temperatures were becoming hot. With the room already cooled down to about 80 degrees by another unit, the LG unit was able to operate for the first time since its installation without shutting itself off. With the portable AC unit bringing down below 80 degrees already, the LG unit was able operate for several consecutive hours at a time before displaying “C6”.
Yet another invoice....
I feel that the companies involved are going to dilly-dally until my one year warranty is up.
I am now the proud owner of a $200 GE window unit from Wal*Mart, and guess what? I plugged it in and turned it on and it works! It is ugly, but the LG Art Cool unit is worse. I’d rather have a squarish mate that delivers than a slim and sexy one that only lasts six minutes!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
June 2010
JUNE 2010
On June 1st, 2010, the LG Art Cool operated from about midnight to about 8:30am. Then both the indoor and the outdoor unit iced over, and the melt destroyed the carpet in the room as well as a mattress and a bedframe.
I am now the proud owner of a smelly and ruined mattress and a mildewed bedframe thanks to this crappy AC Unit's initial tour de force. 11 months after purchase, it managed 8 consecutive hours of performance. Indeed, before it did $1800 of damage to my home in belongings, it triumphantly cooled the room for the first time.
See above, the iced-over indoor unit
...the iced over outdoor unit
the melting indoor unit
the soaked wall, carpet, and bedframe
and the most current state of the bedframe, permanently blackened with mildew, that we now live with.
On June 7th, 2010, under the recommendations of LG Operations Manager John Piquaro tel. 1(866) 793-0323, extension 7002, my HVAC tech continued calls to LG Tech Support to try to get resolution. The support ticket / claim number CDM )
On June 14th, 2010 La Plant visited my home at 1pm. He installed a Supco brand 60.000 amp surge protector ($28.99) as this was suggested by Jim West at at LG Tech SUpport. The unit was restarted at 1:10pm and turned itself off with error code C6 by 1:16pm.
I am now ready to receive a credit for the faulty unit and a portion of the expenses associated with repairing it.
All the different support codes I have received over this fun year.
Jim West LG Product Support 1(888) 865-3026
CNM 100 503 2737 01
later, CNM100 608 859 987
Grant Meyers Target Sales (305) 451-3515
Support at Go Ductless (866) 793-0323
Support TIcket #292-5152
later, Support TIcket #210-2757
John Piquero, Go Ductless (866) 793-0323
Order#1607
The LG tech center seems eager to claim that past problems have been resolved and cases closed due to LG action, when in fact, no problems have ever been resolved. This is one way I got so many different error codes for the exact same problem. For instance, in the conversation between Dave LaPlant and LG Tech Support posited that the former problem must’ve actually been error code “C06”, not “C6.” The supposed “C06” problem must’ve been resolved by the new compressor motherboard send 12/29/10, and that only now now our new problem is “C6.” Well, that is not the case. This unit has always shown exactly the same error code since the first day it was installed. That error code is “C6” not “C06.”
At this time, going outdoors to pull the plug between the compressor and the indoor unit will allow the unit to work for no more than five or ten minutes before the error code c6 returns and the unit shuts off.
Simply put, this unit doesn't work and never has. I am seeking a working LG unit of any make or model, and a complete refund of all expenses associated with tech work mandated by LG tech support.
On June 1st, 2010, the LG Art Cool operated from about midnight to about 8:30am. Then both the indoor and the outdoor unit iced over, and the melt destroyed the carpet in the room as well as a mattress and a bedframe.
I am now the proud owner of a smelly and ruined mattress and a mildewed bedframe thanks to this crappy AC Unit's initial tour de force. 11 months after purchase, it managed 8 consecutive hours of performance. Indeed, before it did $1800 of damage to my home in belongings, it triumphantly cooled the room for the first time.
See above, the iced-over indoor unit
...the iced over outdoor unit
the melting indoor unit
the soaked wall, carpet, and bedframe
and the most current state of the bedframe, permanently blackened with mildew, that we now live with.
On June 7th, 2010, under the recommendations of LG Operations Manager John Piquaro tel. 1(866) 793-0323, extension 7002, my HVAC tech continued calls to LG Tech Support to try to get resolution. The support ticket / claim number CDM )
On June 14th, 2010 La Plant visited my home at 1pm. He installed a Supco brand 60.000 amp surge protector ($28.99) as this was suggested by Jim West at at LG Tech SUpport. The unit was restarted at 1:10pm and turned itself off with error code C6 by 1:16pm.
I am now ready to receive a credit for the faulty unit and a portion of the expenses associated with repairing it.
All the different support codes I have received over this fun year.
Jim West LG Product Support 1(888) 865-3026
CNM 100 503 2737 01
later, CNM100 608 859 987
Grant Meyers Target Sales (305) 451-3515
Support at Go Ductless (866) 793-0323
Support TIcket #292-5152
later, Support TIcket #210-2757
John Piquero, Go Ductless (866) 793-0323
Order#1607
The LG tech center seems eager to claim that past problems have been resolved and cases closed due to LG action, when in fact, no problems have ever been resolved. This is one way I got so many different error codes for the exact same problem. For instance, in the conversation between Dave LaPlant and LG Tech Support posited that the former problem must’ve actually been error code “C06”, not “C6.” The supposed “C06” problem must’ve been resolved by the new compressor motherboard send 12/29/10, and that only now now our new problem is “C6.” Well, that is not the case. This unit has always shown exactly the same error code since the first day it was installed. That error code is “C6” not “C06.”
At this time, going outdoors to pull the plug between the compressor and the indoor unit will allow the unit to work for no more than five or ten minutes before the error code c6 returns and the unit shuts off.
Simply put, this unit doesn't work and never has. I am seeking a working LG unit of any make or model, and a complete refund of all expenses associated with tech work mandated by LG tech support.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Company rating of ACWholesalers.com aka GoDuctless,com
Okay, well, a C-(minus) is still passing, but hard to bring home to mother.
GoDuctless and AC Wholesalers share the same address:
14359 Miramar Parkway #322
Miramar, FL 33027
1 (866) 793-0323
....dang, I know that number by heart after 4 hours 49 minutes on hold with them. No joke, i exported my AT&T records into Excel to find that I have spent almost 5 hours of time on the phone with this company ...mostly on hold of course.
Whereas on the GoDuctless website you'll see this Sheridan Address:
Email: sales@goductless.com
3389 Sheridan Street #125 Hollywood Fl, 33021
Toll Free: 866-793-0323
while AC Wholesalers lists this address:
3525 Tyler St., #7
Hollywood, FL 33021
1 (866) 631-6389
The phone numbers are different, but when you call either number, it pipes you through the same bungled phone tree system. When you search out this Tyler St., address on Google Earth you will see that it is a U-shaped apt. complex (a la Melrose Place) with a swimming pool in the middle. Either my office needs a pool, or this is just some guy in apartment number 7 running a drop-ship operation with a VIOP phone tree front that goes nowhere.
Other reviews of ACWholesalers and the relationship between GoDuctless and ACWholesalers as described by Trustlink's review of ACWholesalers....
RE: AC Wholesalers (also known as GoDuctless)
I recommend AGAINST doing business with ACWholesalers. Their website showed as in stock and ready to ship a mini-split system I needed to complete a project. I placed the order on a Friday and when I called Monday afternoon to inquire about the status of my order it was revealed that they did not have the item in stock and it would be more than a month before they could deliver on my order. Although the look of their websites is different, the content/text and pricing on www.acwholesalers.com and www.goductless.com is basically identical. When I asked if they were in reality the same company, the phone agent for AC Wholesaler said they are "sister" companies. Funny...they must be conjoined twin sisters since he was the same guy I talked with when I called Goductless. I had a remakably parallel experience with a goductless order. Showed on the site as in stock while I waited and waited as two *promised* shipping dates were missed. I recommend reading reviews for both companies before placing an order...and I strongly recommend that you take your business elsewhere.
Please read the rest of these horrid reviews on Trustlink....
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Gentle, Gentle Hong! Sweet Hong!
I felt enthused when I received an email from Seoul with some concern about my broken AC (well, since it never worked, it never really broke, but anyway_
The advice is to check the warranty card, but unfortunately, there was none. nevertheless I felt pleased that somebody so faraway as Hong cared that I am stuck here in 94 degree heat with no AC...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)