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Karma decided to punch me in the face this weekend by killing my A/C.
Little back story:
I have a combo furnace/AC unit. My wife and I had been noticing that the unit was "leaking" if the AC was running while the dryer was going. (Both are in a small mud room)
Granted, the A/C does not run super cold. I keep it around 76-78.
So my dad came over and decided to vacuum out the condensation out take. A ton of junk came out of it. So we decided to see what the next steps would be.
3 hours later, the A/C isn't cooling the house.
The unit fans turn on, the outside unit turns on, it's just not blowing cold air all of a sudden - so we're guessing it's a freon recharge, and that's all.
Hopefully.
I called AJ Perri after seeing their trucks non-stop on my commute. I'll let you know how it was.
My sympathy. I moved into my condo two years ago, when the July temps were regularly over 100 degrees. The 25-yr-old AC broke down twice.
I since got a new AC and furnace. Used AJ Perri. Some people will whine that they cost more, but they've been around for 30 years and aren't going to disappear in a year when something happens, like Joe Schmoe's HVAC-R-US.
So AJ Perri has a maintenance special which includes 2 pounds of refrigerant for 90 dollars.
AJ Perri decides to quote me $350 dollars for... 3 pounds of refrigerant.
Total estimate is over $1000 dollars. No way in hell I'm paying that on a old AC unit.
Here's the comedy though: I'm out $100 bucks and I know what's wrong with the system, but other AC places won't even quote prices on the phone without spending ANOTHER 100 bucks for THEM to come out and look at it.
So AJ Perri has a maintenance special which includes 2 pounds of refrigerant for 90 dollars.
AJ Perri decides to quote me $350 dollars for... 3 pounds of refrigerant.
Total estimate is over $1000 dollars. No way in hell I'm paying that on a old AC unit.
Here's the comedy though: I'm out $100 bucks and I know what's wrong with the system, but other AC places won't even quote prices on the phone without spending ANOTHER 100 bucks for THEM to come out and look at it.
It's summer and it's 90+ degrees out. They've got ya by the short and curlies, and they know it.
It's summer and it's 90+ degrees out. They've got ya by the short and curlies, and they know it.
I'm not going to say what happened because even I can't believe it but by an incredible stroke of luck the AC is back on and blowing cold. Let's just say I'm very lucky to have (wait for it...) an AC repairman as a neighbor and not even know it. *facepalm*
So AJ Perri has a maintenance special which includes 2 pounds of refrigerant for 90 dollars.
AJ Perri decides to quote me $350 dollars for... 3 pounds of refrigerant.
Total estimate is over $1000 dollars. No way in hell I'm paying that on a old AC unit.
Here's the comedy though: I'm out $100 bucks and I know what's wrong with the system, but other AC places won't even quote prices on the phone without spending ANOTHER 100 bucks for THEM to come out and look at it.
Yep. Been through this myself this season.
Anyways, I thought I'd post this article I just saw:
Rossen Reports: Are air-conditioning repairers being competent and honest?
In a hidden-camera investigation, 6 out of 6 tried to charge for unnecessary work
By Jeff Rossen and Robert Powell
TODAY
updated 7/10/2012 7:44:56 AM ET
You depend on them to keep you cool in these dog days of summer, but are air-conditioning repairmen taking advantage, charging you for repairs you don’t need? TODAY National Investigative Correspondent Jeff Rossen and his team went undercover to find out.
It's hot out, and we've all been there: Your air conditioning breaks, and it's an emergency. So you call the A/C company. We trust them to fix the problem at a fair price, but are they, really? We tested several of those companies on hidden camera, and experts say: Some are blowing hot air when they hand you the bill.
We set up our hidden camera test right smack in the middle of a heat wave. We rented a house in New Jersey and had three certified A/C experts inspect our system from top to bottom. Their verdicts: Our system was "in very, very good shape," "perfect," and in "excellent shape, good working condition."
Then we brought in Bobby Ring, president of a top A/C company and senior vice chair of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America. He set up what he said is a common and easy-to-fix problem: a simple broken wire that shuts the unit down. He said he would charge less than $200 to fix it.
“So if a technician tells us, 'You need other work done to fix this problem?'" we asked.
"They're either incompetent or dishonest," Ring replied.
[snip]
In the end, the results weren’t good. Experts say six out of six air-conditioning companies — every one we called — tried to charge us for unnecessary repairs.
"I'm really disappointed," Bobby Ring said. "I didn't expect to see the degree of dishonesty and incompetence we did."
I used one of the 6 companies featured in the hidden camera investigation. I wasn't surprised at the outcome.
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