However I can not understand how any one thinks that any legitimate reliable company is going to send out a trained technician, with a truck load of parts to diagnose their heating or cooling problem for free. All Home Comfort charges a diagnostic fee of $69.00 to cover our technicians wage, fuel, truck insurance, and our person who answered the phone. If you take in consideration the cost of the rent of our shop, Insurance, Phone, water, Electric Lines, Internet connection, Field Radios, Tools, On going training, advertising, Etc. You would find that our actual cost is calculated to be between $250.00 - $650.00 per service visit for us, just to break even. PLUS we waive this fee with any repair, service or Tune -Up we do! Now we clearly state our pricing policies (IN BIG PRINT) on our Internet site. We offer Free Estimates for replacement or new installations as a courtesy to our customers. (Also spelled out on our web site) We also strive to keep our repair prices amongst the GUARANTEED lowest in our industry for the Los Angeles area.
Today on a call when our technician arrives to a customers call for their Heating System not working, the customer states that "no one told him it would cost money for us to come out and do his repair" - Now you got to be kidding me - are these people for real?, Unfortunately I get this type of call every month, about 1-2 times per month. They must be shocked when the doctor wants to charge for a physical, the waitress for their sandwich, etc.
BUYER BEWARE - If you are dumb enough to spend your time searching for someone who will work for free, then you are Dumb enough to deserve what you are going to get, by an unqualified person working on a system in your home, that if the work is not done correctly can injure or even kill you. Now this is not just theory, ask any of our service personnel and they will tell you that at least 50% of our work is repairing mistakes or shoddy work performed by other people/companies. Now I am not saying that if someone charges you for work, that that guarantees that the work will be correct, But if they are doing so poorly in their business that they are willing to spend money and gas and time out of their own pocket to serve you then either you are dealing with a saint, or someone who is usually not very experienced (or licensed or insured etc.) and I don't know of to many living saints! So what happened to our customer today? well after getting on the phone with them to explain what i have just written in this blog, I convinced them to have us evaluate their heating System. It turned out to only need service so we gave them $40% off of our tune up rate and their call today was $99.00 for two hours of on-site work including a safety inspection with our multi thousand dollar inferred camera. (We do not make money at this rate -It is our lost leader item.) we stand proudly behind our spotless service record and Better Business Bureau Complaint free record. Now I understand that we are in a tough economy, but the old adage you cant get something for nothing holds true.
Bottom Line: Do not be penny wise and dollar foolish... If you want quality work, stocked trucks, presentable, courteous and knowledgeable service personnel who receive on going training to keep up with current changes and safety issues in our industry, then you have to understand that it costs money to provide these services and no one is coming out to work for Free.
PS. For those of you calling the Gas Company to have them check your furnace, they do not do repairs, only minimal safety inspections and the wait is usually several days to a couple of weeks for service, mostly to hear the words "You need to call a service company for this, we do not repair furnaces or sell parts." well I am off to lunch now where I plan on telling my waitress after I eat " I had no idea you were charging me for lunch - I could have had Bologna sandwich for free at home!"
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