WHAT A DOOZY

[ice_cube_30]

hey guys the comfort zone 44 and I work together. we ran into a doozy the other day. A customer called and wanted us to put in some new equipment that he had bought. he already had the a-coil in place. we had to install the condensing unit and run the line sets, hang a disconnect and etc.... any way the fittings on the unit were different than the fittings on the a-coil. it was the right tonnage so we made it work. this guy also wired up his outside disconnect box wrong. I had to rewire it other wise it would have kept throwing the breaker. what fun.

any way I had to pull the same customer's furnace out last year because the idiot installed it himself without converting it to propane. he ran it for three months like that and filled the whole house with CO. I took it back to the shop and took the whole furnace apart and cleaned it out. it was a 90 plus furnace so you can imagine how fun it was. the soot was so bad I actually had to pull the induced draft blower apart and clean the wheel in order to get the pressure switch to work properly again.

what posseses people to do stupid stuff like this?

[coolwhip]

Ignorance and stuborness are a volital combination.

[rob10]

I can't believe you did an e-bay install!!

[tinner73]

if they buy it....they can install it...they can make it work....RUN don't walk away from that mess.

[i_got_ideas]

The scary part is that someday this may be the norm.

You know, Menards sells toilets and then they have plumbers come fix thier F-ups. I see that someday this industry may be in that possition. Only those that are willing to change with the times will survive and though I don't agree with it, I can change.

What we can do is raise prices(to repair) when coming accross these types of jobs. The job mentioned for example. I would've told the guy, "well, I can put in a new furnace for $xxxx.xx or I can clean yours up for $xxxx.xx" with the cleaning only being $250 less or so. And then you tell him, then you get $xxx.xx from your energy company for a rebate, so then his new one is cheaper than fixing his F'ed up POS. If he wanted it cleaned and he thought I was too high he could hire someone else. But, if we all think this way, the other guys would price it nearly identical to me so then the guy, and eventually all homeowners would see that they may as well just have us install equipment we sell or they'll pay more anyhow.

It's been a long time since I have been asked to install a system that we didn't sell and the other times I simply said no. Next time I will shoot them a price at a 25% higher rate than standard and also tell them that if the unit is faulty we are not respinsible, that they will pay for repairs. Everythign will be time and materials. The installation contract will state this all clearly and they will sign before work progresses, oh, and they'll pay a down payment too.

I am flexible, money is money. The customer will pay for every minute on the job, every wire nut twisted on, and whatever else it takes to do the job right or the unit will never be enabled. The unit will have a covert, intentional disability until the amount is paid in full .

[Edited by i_got_ideas on 06-17-2004 at 11:36 PM]

[ice_cube_30]

guys when the boss tells you to do something you do it right. I had no choice but to put it in the boss man told us to.

[ink palion]

I had a tech out here last winter refuse to replace a sequencer on my electric furnace because I had taken the front panel off and stuck my Amprobe in there to find out which sequencer it was.

Is this common practice? I mean, I could see not touching a system if you came out and the HO had a gauge set hooked up or something, but using an ammeter to see which sequencer was sticking closed? I'm not trying to cheat some tech out of a diagnosis fee, I'm trying to feel like I'm worth something around here.

How do you guys feel about a HO (who knows what they're doing) working on the heating section of an electric furnace, and leaving the "hard" stuff like compressor/drier/coil changeouts to pros like yourselves?

[Green Mountain]

Originally posted by ink palion
I had a tech out here last winter refuse to replace a sequencer on my electric furnace because I had taken the front panel off and stuck my Amprobe in there to find out which sequencer it was.

Is this common practice? I mean, I could see not touching a system if you came out and the HO had a gauge set hooked up or something, but using an ammeter to see which sequencer was sticking closed? I'm not trying to cheat some tech out of a diagnosis fee, I'm trying to feel like I'm worth something around here.

How do you guys feel about a HO (who knows what they're doing) working on the heating section of an electric furnace, and leaving the "hard" stuff like compressor/drier/coil changeouts to pros like yourselves?

Hey if you own a house you should know how it works. When you know your limitations you hire out the work.

I hired out replacing the roof. I run my own wiring but I am hiring an electrician to change out the 100A service and up grade it to 200A.

What would be wrong is to say, "I bought these shingles would you put them on my house?" "I can get a 200A for the same price as you will you, have the supply house bill it to me?"

[Edited by benncool on 06-18-2004 at 06:08 AM]

[Roscoe]

Originally posted by ice_cube_30
guys when the boss tells you to do something you do it right. I had no choice but to put it in the boss man told us to.

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Give him this site, he desperatly needs some educating, before he goes broke.

[thecomfortzone44]

Hey guys, ice forgot to tell you that we both had a terrible day that day. Besides all the cussing and getting mad, about halfway through I was heading up out of the basement in a huff when BANG....... I hit my freaking head so hard it dropped me to my knees for awhile. I was really hurt. After that I was so stunned that I really mellowed out and proceeded to get my job done with minimal bitching.....I told ice that I found a new way to calm down, and offered to whack him with a hammer upside the head if he needed to calm down...... I guess he wasn't in need of calming cause he declined my offer.....I LOVE MY JOB

[midhvac]

Originally posted by ice_cube_30
what posseses people to do stupid stuff like this?

Cause they know your company will come out and take care of things?

[ice_cube_30]

CORRECTION MIDVAC THIS IS NOT MY COMPANY. I WOULD NOT INSTALL SOMEONE ELSES EQUIPMENT. ONLY STUFF I ORDER. I HAVE ALREADY BEEN DOWN THAT ROAD DOING SIDE WORK.. NEVER AGAIN. I ONLY HAD TO GET BURNT ONCE FOR THAT DEAL. THE GUY BLAMED ME FOR HIS UNIT NOT WORKING EVEN THOUGH HE IS THE MORON WHO BOUGHT THE WRONG SIZE A COIL. I DIDN'T SEE A DIME OUT OF THAT JOB AND THE GUY STILL SWEARS THAT HE GOT THE RIGHT SIZE COIL AT THE TIME. I JUST TOLD HIM THAT SINCE HE KNOWS SO MUCH THEN HE DOESN'T NEED ME. AND I HIT THE ROAD. SO NO I SWORE THAT I WOULD NEVER DO THAT AGAIN IF I AM PUTTING IT IN ON THE SIDE....

[thecomfortzone44]

you can quit yelling any time now ice......

[ice_cube_30]

Hey there comfort Im not yelling now.
Any way, I had the caps on and forgot to turn them off.
Then I got lazy and said hell with it.

Hows your head feel buddy?

[thecomfortzone44]

Head is much better today, just can't get rid of the crap in my lungs. Heard the stuff is going around a lot. Oh well, I'll live. Thanks for not shouting when you type, it's hard enough to put up with ya all day long.....just kiddin, my friend!!!

[Diceman]

I am trying to kick that too comfort, it is real nasty, I think some of that stuff is actually worse when you get it in the summer.

[thecomfortzone44]

Dice, so far I haven't went to the doctors, but there was a day or two there that I came close to it. Sunday will be 2 weeks since I had it and I am just now down to 4 or 5 hacking fits in a day. I don't smoke either. Crawling around in the dust under a old house doesn't help much either. Wish I would hurry up and win the lottery. L8ER