Air Conditioning Repair Companies=Assholes

[Teaser]

These fucktards screw me constantly.

"We'll be there tomorrow."

...waits....

"Well, there's a tiny chance we'll be late"

...waits...

"We've been held up, but you're next on the list"


...waits...

"Oh, we were just going to call you. We can't make it today."

God I really want a crowbar right now.

[skygazer]

1. Ah, customer service

It ain't what it used to be. When you call them, do you wait on hold for an hour and a half while a recorded voice assures you that, "your call is important to us"?

[Kire]

12. and when you work at a call center

you've got 437 calls that are important to you

[jmowreader]

15. Try working for a big chain...

Home Depot At-Home Services' nationwide toll-free number is 1-800-79DEPOT. If you want a roof installed, you call that number and sit on hold for thirty minutes being told that "your call is very important to us." (If you decide to call that number, do it on Sunday. You'll get right through to someone who can take your order.)

If I call the national center on behalf of a customer, I get to sit on hold for thirty minutes.

One would think they'd have a special number for store employees to call--so they don't have to pay us to sit on hold for thirty minutes waiting for the guy to get done talking to someone who wants us to install a purple roof.

[jobycom]

2. We called a repairman Sunday evening. He was there in two hours

He found the problem after three minutes, rigged the system to work overnight, and picked up the part early the next morning. By 10:00 AM Monday morning everything was working fine again. Not bad, since we didn't realize it was broke until aroun 5:00 PM Sunday night.

It helps when your daughter's best friend's father runs and AC company, AND owes you a favor.

[GOPisEvil]

5. Uhhh...can you pass along this company please?

I might be replacing my a/c unit soon. The one I have dates to 1983 and is quite ineffcient. (Hence the $170 electric bill last month). I'm on the lookout for someone I can trust.

[jobycom]

8. Sure, I'll find his business name and PM you later

We just call his house, I'm not actually sure of his company name. My kids are at his house now, to give you an idea of whether I trust him or not.

I can also recommend one NOT to call. The guy we hired last time was a bit shifty. I felt like he was casing the house, and made very sure for the next month that lights were on, doors were always locked, etc. This was about three months ago.

I asked the repaiman yesterday if he knew the first guy, and he groaned. Turns out the guy is now in prison for theft, and they are investigating several burglaries. He had gotten a good deal on the fan motor he replaced for me--he owed me a favor, too--and gave me the part for cost and the labor for free. One of the things he's in prison for is stealing tools and equipment from other repairmen, including the one who fixed mine yesterday (there's a lot of subcontracting in that field). So I may not have gotten that fan at HIS cost, after all. :-)

[GOPisEvil]

10. Excellent. Thanks!

:thumbsup:

[barb162]

13. My friend's son is a repair person in this field and yes, it does

help an awful lot when a relative is in the business and can come any time of the day or night and does it for free.

[jobycom]

14. It wasn't free!

It was just fast! Difference between relative and friend.

[MindPilot]

3. I'll bet it's one of the big chains like Servicemaster

Find an individual guy running his own business; as in support your local tradesman.

On Edit: It took me five attempts over six weeks in January and February with a Service Master affiliate (ARS) to get my furnace fixed. Finally I gave up, got a recommendation from my plumber and the guy had it done in less than a week. I now have a brand new heat/AC unit with new ductwork for $4000 less than the previous quote.

[Squatch]

4. Disagree. The last A/C repairman we had only made us

pay for the cost of freon used to recharge the compressor and none of his labor. Saved us $125

[Teaser]

6. The repairmen are *GREAT*

I have no beef with them. It's the companies that send out work to these guys who are the criminals.

[RummyTheDummy]

7. They've got nothing on cable companies

Oh the joys of the 5 hour window when they always manage to show up four hours and 55 minutes into it. Withouth fail. 100 perent of the time.

[jobycom]

9. Not true!

If YOU show up five minutes into the window, they will then have been right on time and have already left by the time you get home. I know. :-)

[Midlodemocrat]

11. We have central air, but the sunroom has a through the wall

unit that quit yesterday. It will be at least a week until they can get someone here to repair it, so we are throwing it out and installing a new one.

The heat index here is 107. We have to have air. We have my very elderly FIL, my three, husband, and niece. That part of the house is stifling.

[lpbk2713]

16. Did you see the recent Andy Rooney column?

He was ranting about no-show repair people, Verizon in particular.


Link: http://www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?file=20050722ctnxo-a.txt&catid=1054&code=ctnxo

[Enraged_Ape]

17. Our AC/furnace guy's pretty reliable

And in New Mexico, that's saying something.

Keep shopping around. Ask all your friends. AC guys are like anyone else--some good ones and some bad ones. The GOOD ones make a good living on word of mouth.