Warning on home warranty work (houses, prices, money)

[Slakkie]

Last week our A/C and heater stop working - we change out the thermostat and wiring and everything was good. Our home is still under warranty so we called the company that installed our AC and heater.

I got a call back and scheduled an appointment, I was told that the company that originally put them in went out of business but that they could handle the warranty work.

Sounds good right? .....NOT

The guy shows up, really nice - gets the heater working immediately, then switches to the A/C. BOOM not working.

After 30 minutes he gives me a laundry list of things that need to be fixed, most under warranty. He tells me I am lucky all I have to pay for is labor. He gives me the bill....SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS. For the labor.

I ask him how long the changes will take and he says 2-3 hours. At this point I knew something was fishy. I ask him what his hourly rate is and he says he does not know. By my math is is over $200 an hour. I tell him I will get back to him, I have to pay him a diagnostic charge and a 7.95 environmental waste fee (no clue why) and send him on his way.

Morris Jenkins did all of the work on our old house so I call them - they come out FOR FREE and find the real problem, two wires on my AC. None of the items listed from the other person needed to be done, he had us up and running in an hour. For a fraction of the cost.

We had our tech review the sheet I received for the other people and he could not believe the prices, he said that all of the work listed was overpriced even without a warranty.

I post this just to let people in newer houses to be careful - there are people who bought the phone information from companies that went out of business and they are mis-diagnosing issues to make a buck or two. Had this joker only listed one thing I probably would have been suckered. He would have gotten 300 bucks out of me but when he listed all these things wrong and could not explain the labor charges I got suspicious.

I am filing a BBB complaint - we will see what happens. I want my money back - they did not find the issue so I should get my money back.