Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My oil furnace died in the middle of the night last night. Of course this happens on a saturday with temps between 20-30 all night and day.
Found a local repair guy that came out saturday afternoon. Says the transformer is bad, and doesn't have any. Said it would cost about $500, on monday. He recommends replacing the burner for $1100, as the burner is 20 years old, again for monday. I agree as it seemed like a good idea for an extra $600 I'd have a new burner that should last for years and is likely more efficient.
After he left I did some research and found that the transformer could be bought online for about $50. Then I see the exact burner he wants to install for $425. So unless this company gets $400 an hour for labor, the prices he quoted me were outrageous.
What really makes me angry is that he left us without heat for the rest of the weekend, when he could have got a new transformer from a supply place that was still open, even though he told me they were closed, and repaired it at a proper cost of about $250.
To top it off, I gave him a check for half as deposit so he could pick up the part by monday. After learning what I did about the prices and how he lied about everything, my head is about to explode.
I don't know what to do at this point. If I cancel they'll give me some BS about how they purchased the part already. I don't want to lose $600. If I let them go through with the repair I'd be paying probably double what the job should cost.
I checked online at the BBB, and for any complaints about the company. But they came up clean. The guy who came was a technician, not the owner.
My oil furnace died in the middle of the night last night.
Of course this happens on a Saturday with temps between 20-30 all night and day.
Are you suggesting that you didn't have your system tuned up in September or October?
Most oil suppliers have service crews and don't even charge (for labor) if you're on a contract with them.
Tsk. Bet you won't make THAT mistake again.
Quote:
Found a local repair guy that came out saturday afternoon.
Any advice?
Sure. Don't wait until something breaks to find these people.
Every homeowner will need a plumber and electrician at some point.
Boiler and oil burner mechanics too. Ask neighbors and friends for recommendations
...and then establish some sort of relationship with them. Know who you'll call if/when.
Last edited by MrRational; 12-09-2018 at 03:31 AM..
I have it serviced and cleaned every year, that wasn't the issue. The transformer had cracks from it being 20 years old. I have a normal service company, but being a last minute weekend problem, they were not available. I was at the mercy of who could show up. I called 5 different companies, and these people were the only ones that even called me back.
I'm pretty sure when he shows up to do the work monday, after he is finished, I will cut him a check for what my local service people would have charged, which will be about $500 less than what these rip-off artists want. They can sue me to try to get the rest. F-them. Our society is garbage these days, you can't trust anyone.
Just a minor point, but a boiler is a hydronic system (hot water) and a furnace is hot air. If you've got a boiler, you really need to have it tuned up once a year. Boilers can by quite finicky.
If it's an oil FURNACE, you still need to have it tuned up every year.
As to being ripped off, there's really not much you can do about it now, except find a better company and get on their maintenance plan, so that you're not in this spot again.
Edited to add: OOPS. I see you just posted about the maintenance issue. My apologies.
I have it serviced and cleaned every year, that wasn't the issue. The transformer had cracks from it being 20 years old. I have a normal service company, but being a last minute weekend problem, they were not available. I was at the mercy of who could show up. I called 5 different companies, and these people were the only ones that even called me back.
I'm pretty sure when he shows up to do the work monday, after he is finished, I will cut him a check for what my local service people would have charged, which will be about $500 less than what these rip-off artists want. They can sue me to try to get the rest. F-them. Our society is garbage these days, you can't trust anyone.
You say you have a normal service company that wouldn't show up? Do you have a service contract with them or are you a casual, pay as you go customer? If you have a service contract I would be upset that they couldn't do it over the weekend.
You say you have a normal service company that wouldn't show up? Do you have a service contract with them or are you a casual, pay as you go customer? If you have a service contract I would be upset that they couldn't do it over the weekend.
I buy oil from one place and have service from another. The oil seller doesn't do service, and the service company doesn't sell oil. The place I buy oil is way cheaper than anyplace that does both around me.
Yep, oil techs love to rip people off. Gotta find a good one.
I bought a new beckett burner from supplyhouse.com Totally complete with transformers, pumps, igniters, etc. Added nozzle, ignition electrodes, air tube, etc I think it came to $400. My oil tech charged me $100 to install. You should talk to supplyhouse support and they can look up what parts are correct. Its possible over the years the techs simply installed whatever was in their truck and its incorrect.
If I were you I would go to home depot and get a transformer. In the heating supplies section. Its two wires, impossible to mess up. Just to get heat again. Then I would order a whole new burner, etc, from supplyhouse and wait for it to arrive. Call around for pricing for an install and setup an appointment. After they remove the old burner, keep it for parts. Might be good in an emergency again. The transformer will fail again, so its good to keep that one from home depot handy.
If the guy who came out knew what he was getting into, he would have left you sitting in the cold. He made an emergency visit on a weekend when nobody else would, gave you two options, and will have it fixed within 48 hours only to have you rip him off.
If you have any inclination to do what's right, cancel payment on the check, pay him for the visit, and get somebody else to do it for your price. Otherwise, you're the rip-off artist.
You might want to stock up on long johns though, your house is going to be cold for a while.
Well, its very unlikely he ordered the parts on a Sat. Its likely he will simply walk into his supply place on mon morning, grab everything on the spot.
So I would call him today, cancel and pay him for his time to diagnose, maybe $100 or so.
I returned from out of town at noon on a very cold Saturday last January to find my HVAC died. Not unexpected, it was old. The company I called came out within in an hour to give me a quote and had a new system installed by dark that night. It was a Saturday and they had to go to a supply house for the unit. After unboxing the first one in my yard, they saw it was dented, so they went back and got another one that they unboxed and checked at the supply house before bringing it out. The company I used also said they answer their phone 24/7...never an answering service. There are companies that realize that losing heat in January is an urgent problem.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
