Okay Furnace-savvy individuals, educate me

So, we are getting ready to list our house, and in the process of checking everything out, got a furnace guy to come out and do a check. The furnace, up until now, was working just fine. He did a check, cleaned some stuff, and pronounced everything A-OK.

Few hours later, there is an odd smell in the house, something burning. We walk around, and there was no smoke or anything identifiable on fire. But the furnace stopped working. We called the company again, they came out at about ten at night, and the “board is fried”. The have to order another one. Thank goodness it’s not minus 35 or something. They came back this afternoon and replaced the board.

The bill, right now is 200 for the original check and maintenance, 50 for the late night call and 700 for the board today. We haven’t paid yet.

I am not accusing anyone of anything, but the timing is suspicious, it was working just fine before they got here and then failed within hours…my spidey-sense is tingling, but I want to be fair.

Educate me…how often does this happen? Was this just coincidence, or should I be ready to fight this?

A second opinion wouldn’t hurt. I once had a computer that I took in because the disk drive didn’t work… they said I needed a new one ($200 or so). Couldn’t afford it at the time, so I just used it for web browsing and such. A little while later I took it to somewhere else to get fixed, they said the only problem was some coins and playing cards stuck in the drive slot (thanks to my then 2 year old). No charge, they even gave me the coins and cards back in a little plastic baggie, and the computer was good as new. FWIW, I don’t think the first place was trying to scam me, I just think they were incompetent.

So yeah, wouldn’t hurt to have someone else check it out. While your at it, see if they can tell you if it appears to have been tampered with.

It could be a coincidence, but I doubt it. I don’t think anything malicious was done intentionally. Somehow, something was shorted out or connected to ground and the board fried. It’s going to be impossible to prove anything. Chalk it up to experience. If I were you though, I would still plead my case with the company and make them aware how suspicious I was regarding the timing, and try to haggle a deal.

It’s possible that the inspection itself caused the short if they pulled the plate the board was behind and in the process wires came loose. Unlikely, but possible.

Magiver and Leaffan - that is EXACTLY what I was thinking, but I wanted to check and see what my more furnace-savvy friends might say…Turtlescanfly - I’ll look into a second opinion.