Friday my central air conditioner was not cooling, just blowing room temperature air. Near record high temperatures here in Indiana, temperature in the house was 82 degrees. Called a local H&C company in town eight miles from my house on a rural road. Thought it might be low on refrigerant. Nope, a mouse nest, two wires with chewed insulation, and tripped circuit breaker. Guy pulled out the nest, replaced two wires about six inches long, reset the circuit breaker in the panel in the garage. Here about twenty minutes. The charge? $195. $90 for service call, $80 labor and $25 for gas for his truck. Pure gross overcharge in my opinion but legal I'm sure. Didn't expect it, don't know how I could have avoided it
Scammer got me Friday.
- Thread starter alwslate
- Start date
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He is not a good business man. His wording invites contention. He should have just said service call, minimum 1 hour 195.00. They charge you 150.00/hour for for the low level tech that does your brakes at a dealership.
YeshuaIsa53
Member
The $25 for gas is something new to me.
Richard Simmons
Member
Don’t see any “scam” in what occurred. The fact the OP found someone to come out quickly was a miracle.
A scammer would have hit you for a leak, a whole lot more $$$$’s.
ACORN
Member
We had a local plumbing contractor come to my workplace to do our annual required backflow check on our water line.
Usually it’s one tech. In and out in 15 minutes
This time it took 2 techs 10 minutes (timed by me)
$200!
No parts, just the way cool paper tag they hung on the backflow valve.
Their shop is about a mile from work.
Usually it’s one tech. In and out in 15 minutes
This time it took 2 techs 10 minutes (timed by me)
$200!
No parts, just the way cool paper tag they hung on the backflow valve.
Their shop is about a mile from work.
Here in sunny AZ for 29 years, I have lots of experience with HVAC.
I would have been super happy to pay your HVAC guy!
My Pool company recently quoted my parts and service. They quoted $90 for travel fee to my home, about 45 miles away from their location. That is $1.00 per mile, and that is perfectly acceptable to me.
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Took my 2017 Subaru Forrester in for a "soft recall" on the rear wheel bearings & hubs. Parts were free via warranty/recall. Labor was 4 hrs. @ $175 per hour. I asked if I could just take the new parts with me & install them myself...they said no way Jose. Oh well, just rub your neck & write the check.
CAJUNLAWYER
Member
You had no idea what the problem was and would have spent hours "trouble shooting" and when you found the chewed wires would you know what to do or have the tools available t do the job? You don't pay them by time alone, you pay them to know how to, have the tools available to and to fix the problem. $195 sounds pretty reasonable to me.
Alton
Member
Sorry you felt you were scammed but with todays insurance and labor cost plus truck cost $200 is about right for a service call. My brother does service on ice machines and he gets complaints from out of town individuals all the time because do not like his driving time charges. His fix was to tell the out of towners to bring the machine to his shop saving them the driving cost. Many take advantage of this feature
ACORN
Member
They didn’t cover the labor?
Ridiculous
My sister had a Ford Fusion that needed front wheel bearings, under her extended warranty.
She took it to the dealer who verified the bearings were bad and would be replaced, no charge.
Then she got a call saying the tech noticed her front pads were low, and being they had to remove her old pads to replace the bearings, they’d replace the pads with new ones and all she’d owe was the cost of the pads.
They quoted her $300 for just the pads!
THAT, is a scam.
I sell brake pads all day long for anywhere from $22-$49. Depending on the quality of the pads.
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put a man in a truck, pay his wage, insurance, workmans comp insurance, truck insurance, truck depreciation, tool cost, training cost, ect.
the tech and truck were more than likely not sitting at the shop waiting for your call and could have been farther than the shop. If you were in business to make a buck you would understand why it cost $90.00 to pull into your driveway. Now adding $25.00 bucks for gas, that was bad business practice. He should have just charge $115 to park in your driveway.
the tech and truck were more than likely not sitting at the shop waiting for your call and could have been farther than the shop. If you were in business to make a buck you would understand why it cost $90.00 to pull into your driveway. Now adding $25.00 bucks for gas, that was bad business practice. He should have just charge $115 to park in your driveway.
Yendor357
Member
Mouse traps and mouse poison are cheap.
It’s the ounce of prevention/pound of cure thing.
It’s the ounce of prevention/pound of cure thing.
$120 for service call around here. Of course if your A/C quits between June and October you'll pay just about anything to get cool again. Recently had the air handler motor quit, replaced under warranty, still $240. Joe
My air conditioner quit about a week ago. I was lucky to get someone here quickly. Two nice young men showed up. Within an hour, they had it fixed. $400+. The invoice showed $180 for a capacitor. It was a large one. It was probably the going rate, but I don't think it was a two person job.
Most likely required by your local municipality, contractors around here need separate certification for the work.
I wonder if any service would have been included, up to a point if needed for the price.
I've installed a few on new services and had to immediately break them apart, usually the 4 inchers when some schmutz got stuck in the seat when we'd open the flow.
Capt. F.
Member
My oil guy ( honest as the day is long) just quoted me $2600 installed, for a replacement 275 gal oil “tank within a tank” to replace our old one.
Anyone remember when oil tanks were $300 and if you didn’t install it yourself, you paid a heating contractor $150 to do the work?
My how times have changed.
Anyone remember when oil tanks were $300 and if you didn’t install it yourself, you paid a heating contractor $150 to do the work?
My how times have changed.
14daMoney
Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2014
- Messages
- 202
- Reaction score
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Wow, am I ever getting off cheap. Had my A/C serviced just this last fall. The guy was here the day after I called. Here about 45 - 50 minutes. Clean the whole unit, changed out the old refrigerant for the new required coolant, checked everything else... $100 Definitely put him on my speed-dial list....
Location, Location, Location. I am used to paying a travel charge for distance from the shop as I live outside a small town with no service shops. I have never seen a gas charge but it gets rolled into a travel charge, I'm sure.
375hh1973
US Veteran
The $25 for gas is a lil bit sketchy but the overall price is reasonable.
I don't see it as scammed
I don't see it as scammed
