Kat L.
06/08/2022 12:00:00 SA
The receptionist who scheduled the appointment was timely and professional. She told me that the diagnostic fee was $69 and the technicians travel in fully equipped vans with most parts and have the ability to repair the same day. Perfect. My air conditioner was making a high pitched squeal when it kicked on. Similar to the sound of a belt on a car when it goes bad. It is an older machine but I've never had to call for service prior and it was blowing cold air, just making an awful noise while doing so.
James came to look at the machine and he was kind and professional as well. I have no qualms with their customer service. My problem is with the hidden sales tactics. I work in finance, I know how sales tactics work and I know how financing works. James noticed my dirty air ducts, the house is 100 years old and I'm sure the ducts probably have 40 years worth of dust in them. I also have pets, children and 100 years of dirt in my historic home. It's on the list, the never ending list of an older home. He had a suggestion for a $876 electric air filter, complete with a video to watch. This would keep me from replacing air filters for 3 years. I was too nervous to ask what happens after the 3 year guarantee. How much would the replacement be? Another $900? Pass. They offer a great financing option that doesn't run my credit. Woah! Impressive. After a bit he finally told me it would hit my credit after approval. There we go, that makes more sense than a credit less financing. With probably the interest charge to match. He tinkered around some more and didn't really diagnose anything. But that certainly didn't stop him from suggesting the 3 solutions: immediate, more efficient, and you guessed it, replacement. The immediate solution was $2,700, the middle one was over $5,000. I figured I didn't want to know what the replacement cost was with this company. I still don't know what was causing the noise. It stopped after he did a tune up. I suspect it just needed cleaning. However, I will be shopping around for a more trustworthy company. Look, I get commission. It's tough to make sales goals, but sometimes you win some and sometimes you lose some. These quotes were purely for parts to make my machine more efficient, not an actual repair for my initial problem.
Also, he was about to schedule a second appointment to have someone come out and fix the machine, because after all, he just does diagnostics. Which is not what I was told. But after dodging sales pitches for about an hour I was drained. I pretty much said the machine gets fixed today or I have to look elsewhere. Coincidentally, his evening became free and he was able to actually do something. Even though I'm still confused on what he did. I was fairly certain he was about to bring in the final sales guy and I would have ended up with a brand new HVAC unit and ducts.
I gave a star for initial customer service and a star because at the end of the day, the machine is quietly running and blowing cold air. I already found a different company to work with in the future.