At the height of furnace tune-up season, you hear stories about another set of heating and air conditioning scams aiming homeowners. It can be a dangerous situation, putting not only your money at risk, but also your home and health at risk.
At Mister Quik, we value our customers and want you to be prepared with some key items to be wary about if you hear an HVAC technician say them during your appointment:
“See this? This is bad. You need a new one.”
Sure you may run into needing furnace parts replaced from time to time, but when a technician is being vague about why a certain part needs to be replaced (especially if it’s a big ticket item), feel free to question why. Think back on how your system has been working lately—has the unit been noisier than usual? Has there been a bad smell? If no to all of these, there may not be anything really wrong with your system.
Frequent Tune-Ups
Regular maintenance is an important factor to keeping your home comfort system running properly, but if someone is trying to schedule them every season or more (four or more times a year), put the brakes on–that’s way too much. Your air conditioner only needs a regular tune-up once a year (in the spring, specifically) and your heating system only needs one once a year (in the fall).
Using Used Parts
Your air conditioning unit and furnace is not a car—while it might be alright to use used parts in repairing your car to save money, it’s not the best idea to do so in your home comfort system. An honest contractor will never install a used part in your system because there’s a reason it’s been removed from a previous customer’s system. And it just won’t last.
Watch out for a Fake
A very common scam you might encounter is when a technician claims to have replaced a part on your system, with a guarantee that the problem will be gone in a few days. Yet, it doesn’t go away, and you end up calling the company for more service calls. Each call racks up service call fees and more “replacements.” Any fix to your air conditioning system should see an instant improvement. Besides watching the technician’s every move, the only way you can prevent this is by avoiding shady companies that use this tactic.
Beware the Leak
One big money scam is when a contractor says your system is leaking carbon monoxide, so you need to replace your entire furnace immediately. Ask the contractor to see the leak, and if he/she cannot show you a crack in the heat exchanger or show a reading on the carbon monoxide meter, it’s time for a second opinion.
Avoiding Scams
When it comes time to hire a contractor to work on your heating and air conditioning system, take your time finding the right one. Read reviews and ask for suggestions from friends and neighbors.
Don’t be afraid to ask for a second opinion when it comes to estimates—if the price sounds unbelievably high, it just might be. If something just doesn’t feel right, whether it’s a phone call or a visit, trust your gut.
Try to do some research on your system before the technician arrives so you have a little background on parts, etc. Showing that you have even a little bit of knowledge on your system can deter a technician from attempting any scams on you.
Your trusted technicians at Mister Quik offer you a satisfaction guarantee. We will work hard to gain your trust and help ensure your home and family’s comfort and safety. Contact us today.