Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/19/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Cool Tech took over maintenance of our Kohler generator in 2019. Our previous installer was no longer a Kohler dealer & was unable to fix problems. ****** replaced the $1100 motherboard but was unable to reestablish the internet connection for monitoring our generator. Performed annual routine maintenance himself until 3/20/23 when he sent two young men to do it. When asked about their Kohler training, they indicated that none was needed for the annual $190 basic maintenance. I spoke to Kohler customer service 4/18/23 & learned that Cool Tech is no longer a Kohler dealer & is not qualified to repair any issues we might have with our generator. His website still shows Kohler generator installation. I emailed ****** to ask for a direct contact but have not heard back.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/20/2023

  We did not receive a email from this customer looking to resolve the issue personally. This was brought to the BBB without any knowledge there was a issue. Our technicians do not need to be certified in repair for Kohler generators to perform a annual maintenance on the units. That they are more than qualified to do. Although we do not install kohler equipment anymore due to their lack of technician support throughout the warranty process we are still able to do a preventative maintenance for our existing customers. All we would have to do to be “qualified” to repair equipment again would call kohler and imply that we would be a dealer again. The closest qualified kohler dealer now is in St Louis. Most have dropped their line because of their customer/dealer issues. 
   I’m not sure why the ***** issue was mentioned in this complaint but I will also touch on that subject. I sold her a new board for 1100 in which my cost was 1036. I did this because their system should have been under warranty from the previous company who installed but he too left kohler. Their ***** would not connect (very common issue with kohler equipment) and so I called their internet supplier and kohler tech support and got the issue worked out. I spent hours of my time doing this for them and it was a issue with her internet connect-ability and Kohler’s software. It was connected. I’m not sure what else I could have done as a person or company to politely and courteously solve and and all issues for this customer for who’s equipment was not installed by us. The only customers we do pm’s for are existing and we do not take on new customers for generator service. If we have to send them elsewhere they will have to call a tech out of St. Louis resulting in a costly ($1,000 plus) maintenance every year. I really wish the customer would have reached out so this could all be explained. I thought we had enough of a good Customer/client relationship for this to be the case but I was mistaken. This is the only complaint in over 8 years I have received as a business and nothing but 5 star reviews on every platform. I find this complaint to be unwarranted. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/21/2023

   I am rejecting this response because: I am attaching a copy of the email we sent to Cool Tech. I received no response before I made the BBB complaint. ****** attempted to call me yesterday after the complaint was filed though I could not take the call. I agree with ****** that the oil change/filter change routine maintenance can be done by anyone even if they are not certified to work on Kohler generators. I also agree that ****** has always been courteous in his manner when he provides service. In the past, ****** and the previous dealer would also perform a computer system check of the generator system which was not done on our generator during the routine maintenance. I asked the two men providing the maintenance service if they knew anything about making the ***** work and if they were trained to work on Kohler generators. They said we would have to talk to ****** about the *****. These were the questions I had for ****** when I had emailed about our maintenance contract.  The ***** not being in action is a secondary concern because since Cool Tech is no longer a dealer or a certified service provider they cannot provide service on generator issues beyond the routine maintenance. I disagree with ******'s statement that the ***** was connected. He did make an effort to talk to our internet service provider at the time he worked on the ***** system. He stated at the time that he could connect it to his laptop but that it would not connect to our home internet & could not figure out why except that we needed a new router which we had obtained.  My primary concern is that I had to reach out to Kohler Customer Service to learn that Cool Tech is no longer a dealer and is not certified to address repair issues with our generator. The same lack of transparency arose with our previous dealer and we told ****** this when he started working on the generator. Regardless of the lack of availability of certified dealers in the Peoria area, the reference ****** makes in his response to our complaint that all he would need to do is call Kohler "implying he would be dealer again" in order to repair the generator cuts to the core of our concern. I only want other customers to know accurate information about the certified services that Cool Tech can and cannot provide.  When was he going to inform us about his status as a dealer? Even though he states that they don't do new installations and refers people out, his website still shows that they install Kohler generators: ************************************************. So how do existing customers know that Cool Tech cannot address major repair concerns?  A whole house generator is a big expense for any homeowner. Maintaining it with integrity is critical to long term functionality. Going forward, I was able to speak with a certified repair service that covers 7 states for Kohler generator service out of Mendon, IL and made an appointment for an inspection and full service in the near future.