HVAC Rant

[Drew]

Heres a rant. Yesterday morning, 430ish, I hear the furnace recycling without the usual noise of the flames firing (gas furnace). So I get up and discover that the ignitor is not....igniting. Now this could be the ignitor or the control board so I call our long time HVAC guy, answering service but calls back at 7am, who sez that they're closed for the holiday, I didn't know NYE was a holiday, but will come out for $170. Fearing no heat for days, sure come out.
He arrives at 8am, done at 830am after replacing a $23 ignitor and charges me $375 which was $170 for the trip and diagnostic and $205 for the part and labor. Murder WAS on my mind for a brief moment. I immediatly went on line and purchased an ignitor for $30 which included shipping so this will never happen again.

Drew

[winoweenie]

Join the ranks of the over-abused and under-serviced noble In-Speck-I-Tor! Will relay some of our experiences next call. HAPPY NEWSKI ANY-WHOOS!WW

[TheEngineer]

yikes,....pricey service.....chargeout rate of what....$750 an hour......not to rub any more salt into the wounds there Drew....

[hotwine]

Yow! Not much you can do but put the company on your black list and file a complaint with the BBB.

[Thomas]

Last winter, when the heating people took two months to figure out why our heating unit kept shutting itself down, and after they had replaced just about every part in it, I received a $900 bill to which I said--not on your life fellows.

The problem had nothing to do with any of the parts that they replaced. It was a simple matter of condensation needing a better outlet than the one that had rotted over the years.

We negotiated the bill down by 70%.

Always negotiate: even with thieves it can work.

[andrawes76]

hi Guys, I have lived over the past week on extension cords and space heaters with a pregnant wife. There is nothing fun about a Beverly Hillbillies Xmas... our circuit breaker lost half its juice and all electricians were apparently to busy to work on our deal... Camping in my own home is not as fun as I thought it would be!