ORANGE PARK, Fla. – A routine air duct cleaning drove an Orange Park couple from their home.
It’s been 10 months since Tyler Collins and his girlfriend have been able to live inside their home. They say the company they hired improperly cleaned their fiberglass air ducts and contaminated their home and their belongings.
The damages are close to $70,000. The homeowner reached out to the News4JAX I-TEAM as a last resort for help.
“Ultimately, I’d like to be able to live in the home we purchased,” Collins said.
Collins had moved into the home just three weeks prior to the service. As a first-time home buyer, he wanted to refresh the space built in the ’80s. He started by installing new carpets, buying new furniture, and was looking into replacing the air ducts which were lined with fiberglass duct boards.
Rather than replacing the air ducts completely, the company he hired, Charlie’s Tropic Heating & Air, assured him they could safely clean them.
“The tech came out, and he looked over everything, he’s like, ‘Oh, I mean, don’t worry about spending that kind of money right now, like, we can safely clean it, it’d be 600 bucks to, like, clean the ducts. We won’t use any kind of, like, rotor brush, anything like that. We just use a vacuum and air pressure, and we’ll get you set up,’” Collins said.
The invoice details that the company would clean the entire duct system “using a negative air vacuum.” But when a tech came out to perform the service, that’s not what Collins says happened.
“Unfortunately, the day, whenever they sent the tech out. He couldn’t speak any English at all. Couldn’t communicate with him, so he just kind of started doing his thing,” Collins said. “About halfway through, I went to check on him, see what was going on. I noticed, like, Oh, he’s using a rotor brush, just like what they said they wouldn’t do.”
After contacting a manager to raise concerns, Collins said he was promised there would be no issues.
“I guess around like midnight or so, the air must have kicked on while we were asleep, because I woke up at like, two in the morning, just lungs on fire. Couldn’t breathe at all,” Collins said.
Collins and his girlfriend had to go to the ER the next morning. He later followed up with a pulmonologist, who told him his lungs were only at 50% capacity because of the poor air quality inside his home.
“It just infected most of the house. Like our pillows. If we use those, even after washing them, they would make our throats itchy,” Collins said. “Clothes that were in the house, no matter how many times we’ve washed them, we’re just unbearable to wear our couch, and it covered it.”
Demand letters sent by Collins’ attorneys have gone unanswered. Between his medical bills, air quality testing, and the estimates to repair his home the damages total almost $70,000.
The company only refunded Collins the $600 he paid for the cleaning.
State records show that Charlie’s Tropic Heating & Air Conditioning Inc. is no longer in business. Because of that, Collins and his lawyers have hit a dead end. He will likely have to cover the cost of repairs himself which he can’t afford to do immediately.
“I just hope they do the right thing at some point,” Collins said.
The I-TEAM reached out to the company that purchased the business, they asked us to air this statement in its entirety:
“Weather Engineers, Inc. purchased the assets of Tropic Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. DBA Charlie’s Tropic Heating & Air Conditioning in February 2024. The issues that arose with Mr. Collins were before our purchase of Tropic Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. and were handled by Tropic Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. and its insurance company. We are sorry for the issue Mr. Collins had with Charlie’s Tropic Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc., and we look forward to helping them in the future if they so choose to use Weather Engineers, Inc. We have been in business since 1963 and we stand proud of the training our employees receive at Weather Engineers, Inc and the work our company has performed.”