Gettin’ cold in this neck of the woods. Last week, I tried to turn on my furnace and nothing happened. Neither Hubby or I know anything about furnaces, so we decided to call in a repairman. I went with a locally-owned company because I like to support local businesses. I was told when I called that I would pay a $125 service call charge. Okay, I said.
According to his invoice, the guy arrived at 6:04 PM. He took the cover off the furnace, tinkered a bit, and got it working again. After a while, he called to Hubby and I and told us that our heat exchanger was bad. He pointed to the six gas jet tubes which blow into the main part of the furnace. There were small tongues of flame, flickers really, coming back out around the lip. He said that we probably had a crack in the heat exchanger which was causing this “blow back.” The heat from those errant tongues of flame was tripping a safety switch which was why the furnace wouldn’t work. He told us our brand of furnace was “known for bad heat exchangers.”
I asked him if he had any idea of what the repair costs would be. He said, “Probably about half as much as a new furnace. I can put in a new furnace for you for $3400.”
Asked how long it would take to do the repair, he said it would probably take about three or four weeks to get the part in and about five hours of labor to install it. He mentioned at this point that he could have a new furnace in place in less than two days.
Crushed at thinking I was going to have to spend more than a thousand dollars on the repair, I agreed his company could price a new heat exchanger for me and call me with the estimate. He then handed me his bill: It was $215.75.
“Wait,” says I. “I thought that it was $125 for a service call.”
“Labor isn’t included, ma’am,” he replied smoothly. I went ahead and paid it. I was so upset over the cost of repairs that I wasn’t really thinking clearly. He left at 6:24 PM by his invoce, meaning he spent 20 mins. in my home.
Hubby went right upstairs to the computer room and started searching on the internet. Lo and Behold, our furnace is still under warranty. (20 years on heat exhangers.) He called the local company suggested by the manufacturer who said that while it was labor-intensive (the guy had been right about that) the part itself would be free. Rather than $1500 plus, we’d be looking at a couple of hundred dollars to repair it-- if it even needed to be done.
The furnace guy who came out cautioned me that I couldn’t run the furnace safely-- the safety switch would keep tripping. However, when he left, he left it running. Being cold, I decided to leave it on for a while and wait to see what would happen. I kept going down and putting my hand on top of the furnace to see how hot it was. (If it got hot enough, it was supposed to trip that safety switch.) It’s been three days now, and the switch hasn’t tripped, and the surface of the furnace (where the flames are licking out) is hot, but not so hot that it can’t be touched.
The second guy we called said that the first guy was a “crook” and this was the way he operated. Considering they’re business rivals, I took it with a grain of salt, but now I’m thinking about it and wondering if he should be reported to the Better Business Bureau.
If he’d presented this estimate to someone who wasn’t internet savvy or didn’t think to check to see if it was under warranty, they’d be stuck with paying a huge bill or buying a new furnace (as was suggested about three times). Secondly, the “labor not included” part doesn’t strike me as very fair, especially since I wasn’t told about that over the phone. All I was told was that it would be $125 for a service call.
What say you? Should I contact my BBB and let them know about this, or is this kind of dealings SOP for furnace repairmen?