A1 American Plumbing Heating & Air Take Advantage of Elderly Clients - Price Gouging - Terrible Management Chesapeake, Norfolk, Va Beach, Hampton, Internet

My elderly parents chose A1 because of their big ad in the phone book. "God Bless America".  What nerve.  They gave an extremely high estimate to replace a compressor in an old A/C unit, then told my mother that if she wanted the work done quickly, they'd need her to sign their form in two places and pointed those two places out to her.  "Sign here and here".  She signed, gave them her credit card info, and off they went.  They put a hold on her credit card for over $3K immediately.  When my sister and I saw the huge price they were planning to charge, we told mom to cancel that contract immediately.  She called them but was told that she could not cancel because she had "waived her right to cancel the contract" by signing in one of those two placed the tech had pointed out to her.  She was stuck.  She explained to the man on the phone that she didn't realize what she was signing, he told her that he wasn't in the business to explain contracts... he was in the business to make money.  I tried calling them to reason with them to no avail.  They wouldn't speak to me.  The office manager, who stands behind their shady business practices, called my mother and left my elderly mother in tears. She told her they had in no way coerced her into signing anything (A TOTAL LIE), and that she WOULD honor that contract.  She then gave my mother the option of breaking the agreement by paying a restocking fee for the part that I believe they already had on their shelf or in their truck to begin with, for the low-low price of only $700, plus the cost of the service fee!  My mother mentioned disputing the $3K charge only to be told by this office manager that she could "go ahead, but it won't do you any good.  It will take days and they're going to end up paying it anyway."  Obviously they've been thru this many times before.  What does that tell you?  My mother asked the office manager if she would be willing to speak with me but this wretch told her, "no, I'm talking to YOU, not your dauther, and you have until NOON TOMORROW to make up your mind."  This is not how you treat your customers, let alone the elderly.  What kind of operation is this?  I spoke to 10 On Your Side and was told that they have received NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS about this EXACT SITUATION against this same company.  They railroad people -- trick people -- into signing this "Waiver", then they are forced to go thru with the work or buy their way out of the overpriced contract.  How do they get away with it.  We have filed complaints with the BBB, the State Corporation Commission, the Consumer Affairs and the Complaint Board.  Please, don't let this happen to you!