You know what pisses me off? / Rant Thread

[Twitchin Kitten]

0

HVAC Rip off artists.

Last summer, out AC bill was like $500+ / month. At first I thought it was the electric company sticking it to us. I called them and the dingbat on the phone went through a whole check list of things being used and says it's normal for my house. Bullshit. I have a TINY house - 24' x 36' and my bill was never over $250 in the summer months with the AC running. She blames the pool filter and the heatwave. Again, bullshit.

So this summer I confirm bullshit. I notice on cool days that I can't cool this house down past 77 degrees. Something is not right. The unit is running constantly. Cold air is coming out of the vents with the proper pressure and it seems fine. Well I call my friend Bobby and he has Matt check the coil. That was useless. I don't know that Matt even knows what the coil is. So Bob suggests we get someone to take a look. Dave next door is in the appliance repair and has a friend who will "take care of you and if he doesn't, I'll make sure he does".

OK, great! We do Dave tons of favors so its our turn.

Roman comes Tuesday. Beautiful cool day so the air is off. We turn it on and its instantly blowing hot air out the top of the condenser (? that thing outside... condenser? compressor?). It's explained to me that this should blow cool air and only if the coil is blown it will blow hot air. It gets so hot you can't touch the metal on the lid.

What he didn't check was the freon levels, and meter it. He instantly wanted to sell me $1000 worth of work and a used compressor. Condenser? We talked about options and a new system would cost me over $4k. Its a 2 ton unit and he's telling me I'm going to need 30 pounds of freon in the thing I replace too. More bullshit that I am 100% sure of because in 03 I had the whole thing moved to the side of the house for $250. That meant new freon, new lines, new wiring. Idiot builders had it on the back of the house right where you sit and enjoy the yard, and in 100% direct sun all day.
I tell him I need to look into this and then he asks for $75 for a service call. I lost it. Now I don't mind paying someone for their time but he didn't do shit. At least blow smoke up my ass and meter the thing and write me out a PROPER estimate with the options we discussed! I asked what the "Dave Discount" was and he said he'll take the $75 off when he comes back to do the work. I walked away mid sentence. ANYONE who does paid estimates does not call them service calls and does absolutely take that price off if hired to do the job. That's no "discount".

I paid him and sent him packing.

Bobby meanwhile is doing me a favor I had no idea of. He's in the city daily and there are HVAC guys all over. He walks up to one, tells him the situation and there's a used 5 ton unit on the sidewalk next to them. He asks how much for that and he says $200 and he'll give him the freon free. He's talking about my house and all and confirms my 2 ton unit shouldn't take more than 2 pounds of freon, not 30 and I probably do not need a new system if it's still blowing cold air. It was suggested I clean the coils and fins first. Guess what is working like a charm today?

I told Dave that I didn't like his friend trying to take advantage of me. Dave got very huffy over that! Well Dave, you can blow Roman for all I care, but I have no intention of allowing myself to get ripped off.

Thank god for Bobby - he's always there when I need him. Since 1968
I'll make him a ravioli dinner for this.