Day-by-day timeline

Furnace tune-up

A Seatown technician performed a tune-up on our roughly 9-year-old American Standard gas furnace. As we recall it, the tech said there was “play in the motor” and the furnace could fail at any time.

Sale and financing, same day

We signed for a full heat pump system with new ductwork. The loan was e-signed around 5:05 PM through Service Finance Company, a Truist subsidiary.

• Amount financed: $25,225.26. Disclosed APR: 23.99%.
• 12 months with no interest and no payments, then 84 × $622.29. Total of payments: $52,272.36.
• The loan’s Notice of Right of Rescission gave us until midnight Sept 25 to cancel.
• The salesperson quoted about $3,500 in PSE and Seattle City Light incentives.

We were not given a separate Notice of Cancellation form, were not told orally about a right to cancel, and did not sign any emergency waiver. A copy of the signed contract never arrived in our email. After we asked for it, it took Seatown six days to send it.

Furnace removed; install begins

A crew removed our gas furnace and began the install. This was inside the cancellation period stated on our loan paperwork. We had no heat from this point.

The salesperson who sold us the job was not on site to walk the crew through the plan or confirm it with us. The install crew later told us that on larger jobs, the salesperson usually walks them through the plan.

We stop work over the duct layout

Long runs of flexible duct were being installed through the basement studio we use every day. It was not what we understood from the sale, and we stopped work. The electrical permit for the heat pump circuit was issued this day.

A $3,361.16 quote to fix it, then $0

Seatown first gave us an estimate of $3,361.16 to replace the flexible duct it had just installed: $2,400 for rigid duct, $2,240.40 to insulate it, less a $1,600 discount that applied only “if sold on site,” plus tax.

Only after phone calls with Seatown’s managers did it issue a revised estimate for $0. That revision covered the rigid duct only, not rerouting the refrigerant line set.

First: $3,361.16

Revised: $0

Heat restored around 3 PM

The system was turned on about three days after the furnace came out. No air filter was installed. We filed complaints with Washington L&I and the Better Business Bureau.

Fiberglass smell and debris from the vents

With the system running, we noticed a fiberglass smell from the new flexible duct. A technician later told us new flex duct can off-gas like that. Debris from ducts that hadn’t been cleaned was blown out of the registers into our house.

Permits issued after heat was restored

A crew Seatown had confirmed did not come. The duct repair was still unscheduled.

Seattle’s permit records show the mechanical and refrigeration permits were applied for and issued this day, two days after the system was turned on.

We sent Seatown a written list of concerns. In our experience the sales managers had been hostile on the phone, and we wanted everything in writing. That evening, on a call, a manager told my wife she was being unreasonable multiple times, then told me I had a point regarding the same grievances. Afterward we received a revised contract that took $2,500 off before tax. It was still dated Sept 22.

Rigid duct installed

We bought and installed an air filter ourselves that morning. In the afternoon a two-person crew replaced the flexible duct with rigid duct. The line set was not moved.

We sign the revised financing

Revised amount financed: $22,461.51, a reduction of $2,763.75 with tax (about 11%). The quoted incentives were written into the signed contract. The line set was not rerouted as we had requested.

City final inspection (scheduled)

We’ll update this entry with the result.