Posted: Jun 21 2010 at 3:36pm | Views: 251990
I have the same question. Looks like no one from management cares to answer it.
When you look at the flier they may have posted in your building (it has disappeared from mine) you see that they say
Friedrich air conditioners make the right size, but that there may be other brands. It is very difficult to find the right size unit if you search online since on most sites you cannot search by unit dimensions (except on the A. J. Madison site, but they do not carry any that fit the J bedroom-window size, which is what I'm looking for). I saw elsewhere on this website that PC Richards was recommended for buying air conditioners that fit, but again, when I clicked on every Friedrich unit on their website (a huge pain) there not one unit that came within .5" of the specs Parkchester wants.
I ordered a unit that I thought would fit my window since it was a Friedrich with a height of 15.5", but when the technician came to install it today he told me it was too wide at 24". This is insane because for safety reasons, only the height needs to be close to the height of the window frame, but slide-out units are designed to fit varying-width windows. Parkchester, however, has cheap pre-cut pieces of styrofoam with green painted particle board adhered to them that make the window fit only a 20" wide unit. They refuse to alter the size of these little panels. They say it is to create a uniform look (so purely aesthetic, no safety issue. But what looks good about a beat up piece of used painted styrofoam, I don't know. My brand-new slider panes that came with my unit would look a lot nicer, and allow the unit to be centered in the window.) It is absolutely insane. It is bad enough that there are hardly any 15-15.5" high units that will fit these windows, but none publicly advertised on the internet that I have found that fit the width as well.
The Parkchester technician as well as the Service Department told me that I should have called PC Richards in Co-Op City to get the exact model number that will fit, and they assured me that they carry one that will fit even though there is nothing listed on their website with the right dimensions. This information would have been very helpful to put on the flier. It would have saved me the $450 I spent on the wrong Friedrich unit, my installation fee, and 1 1/2 wasted days off from work (since you also have to go in to the Service Dept. during their limited business hours in person to hand them a money order to make your appointment, and no, you're not allowed to mail in your fee and have them call you when they receive it, or, heaven forbid, do something online.). The woman in the Service Dept. told me they don't put this info on the flier because they don't have a contract with PC Richard, they just supply them with the flier and let PC Richards guide customers. If they give them the flier, why can't they mention that fact on the flier? Or why not just provide a list of units that will fit, and allow me to find them in stores or online knowing that I have the right unit numbers at least? Why would they assume that I would go to PC Richards in Co-Op City and tell them I'm a Parkchester resident? But I guess if you call them to complain, they'll give you the hint over the phone. Idiotic.
This whole process is obscenely and unnecessarily arcane. If Parkchester hopes to lure new residents to their community, they had better start providing some service for the outrageous fees they charge for things such as a simple air conditioner installation.
I am very annoyed with the management of this issue. If Parkchester would like to redeem itself, it can contact me. I'm the woman who complained on 6/21 about a J window installation and requested a refund of the install fee. If they can make this situation right, I'll consider recommending them to others again. Otherwise, I'll be posting negative reviews of their management policies on websites such as this one.
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