whirlcool
Well-known member
This is long... sorry
Some friends of ours always have their heating/air conditioning system maintained twice per year by their favorite A/C Heating company. They have a very large house, zoned into four sections.
When we were over there visiting they mentioned that every single time they have this company out to inspect their systems they have to have something replaced or repaired and the bill is never less than $2,000. Last time it was their ductwork was bad and needed immediate replacing at a cost of $13,000. They wanted to know if we have the same kind of costs. I told them of course not, but remember those "We'll check your furnace for $49.95" are usually a come on just to get a tech inside your home so they can "find" things wrong and charge you out the you know what.
So I told them to try the company that did our American Standard system as I know they were reputable. So they called this place and scheduled an appointment. The guy's wife called yesterday morning to say that her husband couldn't be home, but could I come over to help her deal with the tech. I said sure! So I go over there.
So I get over there, the tech comes in and introduces himself and sets about inspecting the four furnaces and a/c units. After about an hour he comes back and tells the lady of the house that she has "some serious issues to take care of".
I asked him what are the issues. He comes up with a laundry list.
1. The gas valve on two furnaces are bad and need IMMEDIATE replacement. He said he is legally obliged to turn off the gas supply to the house because they are bad.
I asked him if they are leaking, he said "No, they are just bad". I asked "how are they bad?" He said that he felt they were slow in reacting to the circuit board in the furnace and COULD stick open, flooding the house with raw gas. I know gas valves are designed that when they fail, they fail closed. I smelled a rip off in progress. I asked him "Did you try to see if they work?" He said "Yes, and the furnace did not light". He also said the spark ignitors were bad. I asked if they sparked and he said that the tips were "discolored, which means they are bad". He then gave a price quote of $1,800 for two gas valves and two ignitors. And when he handed the lady of the house the estimate he said "I sure do hope you get this fixed, I wouldn't want you to have any nasty accidents!" He said he was then going to turn off the gas to the house which would leave the homeowners without a stove, hot water or anything else. But I told him I'd rather have him stand by while I call the fire department and they would check for leaks and if they found a leak then he could turn the gas off. He said he didn't have time to wait and left. The friend of ours told the tech she'd have to discuss it with her husband that night.
Now the furnaces we are talking about are Carrier brand, and they are five years old. After the tech left, I told her I think he was trying to rip them off and that they should get a second opinion before spending any money. I told them I felt the product the guy was selling was fear and how much money would you be willing to spend to alleviate that?
So this morning the woman calls me and asks me to come by again. She called the same company back and said one of the owners of the firm is going to come by and
double check the techs work at no charge to her. She asked me to come over and monitor what they were doing.
I got there a few minutes before the owner of the A/C company got there. I went with him furnace by furnace and watched what he was doing as he checked them out. He even used a "sniffer" to check for gas leaks. When he got to the next to the last furnace it wouldn't fire up. He said "See, it has a bad gas valve". I pointed to the red power wire that had been disconnected from the gas valve and told him "If you connect that wire I'll bet it will work!". He did connect it and the furnace fired right up. He then put a meter on the gas valve and told me "Look, it's getting 24.5V of electricity. That's only supposed to be 24V, so it's bad.
I told him that the 24V comes from a transformer and even though it's rated at 24V 23-25V is considered acceptable as the decal on the gas valve said 23-30V. So I caught him. When he tested these furnaces he cycled them 5 or 6 times each. They all started each and every time. He then reminded me that just because they work in the summer doesn't mean they'll work in the winter. I told him we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Afterwards we all met downstairs in the kitchen at the table and had a little pow wow.
I told him that the tech they sent the day before came there specifically to rip these people off for parts they don't need. And today I proved to him to his own satisfaction that there was nothing wrong with those systems. I also mentioned I was a customer of his company and I certainly don't appreciate the fear driven sales tactics they used on friends of mine. He then went into an explanation that the tech the day before must have been in a rush and didn't diagnose the system properly. Then he started in on the "what if's" such as "what if those gas valves stick open during the middle of the night on your friends, they'll have a fire!"
"What if the heat exchangers rust through and flood the house with carbon monoxide?" I told him I had enough of his what if's and told him "What if I open the front door and kick your sorry ass out of it?". You should have seen the look on his face! It was priceless. He promptly left.
I have seen quite a few of these kinds of companies behaving this way. They know that most homeowners do not know anything about a/c or heating and they COUNT on that fact to make a buck. Don't they realize that there are people out there who are on to them?
Some friends of ours always have their heating/air conditioning system maintained twice per year by their favorite A/C Heating company. They have a very large house, zoned into four sections.
When we were over there visiting they mentioned that every single time they have this company out to inspect their systems they have to have something replaced or repaired and the bill is never less than $2,000. Last time it was their ductwork was bad and needed immediate replacing at a cost of $13,000. They wanted to know if we have the same kind of costs. I told them of course not, but remember those "We'll check your furnace for $49.95" are usually a come on just to get a tech inside your home so they can "find" things wrong and charge you out the you know what.
So I told them to try the company that did our American Standard system as I know they were reputable. So they called this place and scheduled an appointment. The guy's wife called yesterday morning to say that her husband couldn't be home, but could I come over to help her deal with the tech. I said sure! So I go over there.
So I get over there, the tech comes in and introduces himself and sets about inspecting the four furnaces and a/c units. After about an hour he comes back and tells the lady of the house that she has "some serious issues to take care of".
I asked him what are the issues. He comes up with a laundry list.
1. The gas valve on two furnaces are bad and need IMMEDIATE replacement. He said he is legally obliged to turn off the gas supply to the house because they are bad.
I asked him if they are leaking, he said "No, they are just bad". I asked "how are they bad?" He said that he felt they were slow in reacting to the circuit board in the furnace and COULD stick open, flooding the house with raw gas. I know gas valves are designed that when they fail, they fail closed. I smelled a rip off in progress. I asked him "Did you try to see if they work?" He said "Yes, and the furnace did not light". He also said the spark ignitors were bad. I asked if they sparked and he said that the tips were "discolored, which means they are bad". He then gave a price quote of $1,800 for two gas valves and two ignitors. And when he handed the lady of the house the estimate he said "I sure do hope you get this fixed, I wouldn't want you to have any nasty accidents!" He said he was then going to turn off the gas to the house which would leave the homeowners without a stove, hot water or anything else. But I told him I'd rather have him stand by while I call the fire department and they would check for leaks and if they found a leak then he could turn the gas off. He said he didn't have time to wait and left. The friend of ours told the tech she'd have to discuss it with her husband that night.
Now the furnaces we are talking about are Carrier brand, and they are five years old. After the tech left, I told her I think he was trying to rip them off and that they should get a second opinion before spending any money. I told them I felt the product the guy was selling was fear and how much money would you be willing to spend to alleviate that?
So this morning the woman calls me and asks me to come by again. She called the same company back and said one of the owners of the firm is going to come by and
double check the techs work at no charge to her. She asked me to come over and monitor what they were doing.
I got there a few minutes before the owner of the A/C company got there. I went with him furnace by furnace and watched what he was doing as he checked them out. He even used a "sniffer" to check for gas leaks. When he got to the next to the last furnace it wouldn't fire up. He said "See, it has a bad gas valve". I pointed to the red power wire that had been disconnected from the gas valve and told him "If you connect that wire I'll bet it will work!". He did connect it and the furnace fired right up. He then put a meter on the gas valve and told me "Look, it's getting 24.5V of electricity. That's only supposed to be 24V, so it's bad.
I told him that the 24V comes from a transformer and even though it's rated at 24V 23-25V is considered acceptable as the decal on the gas valve said 23-30V. So I caught him. When he tested these furnaces he cycled them 5 or 6 times each. They all started each and every time. He then reminded me that just because they work in the summer doesn't mean they'll work in the winter. I told him we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Afterwards we all met downstairs in the kitchen at the table and had a little pow wow.
I told him that the tech they sent the day before came there specifically to rip these people off for parts they don't need. And today I proved to him to his own satisfaction that there was nothing wrong with those systems. I also mentioned I was a customer of his company and I certainly don't appreciate the fear driven sales tactics they used on friends of mine. He then went into an explanation that the tech the day before must have been in a rush and didn't diagnose the system properly. Then he started in on the "what if's" such as "what if those gas valves stick open during the middle of the night on your friends, they'll have a fire!"
"What if the heat exchangers rust through and flood the house with carbon monoxide?" I told him I had enough of his what if's and told him "What if I open the front door and kick your sorry ass out of it?". You should have seen the look on his face! It was priceless. He promptly left.
I have seen quite a few of these kinds of companies behaving this way. They know that most homeowners do not know anything about a/c or heating and they COUNT on that fact to make a buck. Don't they realize that there are people out there who are on to them?
