Stupidest Service Call you've run!!!

[BNME8EZ]

I remember driving for an hour to a no heat call. Got there to find an Adams Speed Flame power burner torn apart, no 2 parts left together, even the centrifical switch off the end of the motor. Put it all back together so I could diagnois it, found the thermocouple was bad.

[KEFCOPRES]

Years ago, had a customer call about a gas leak. Was sent out to check it. Walked in the basement to see some bad looking corroded pipe with a garden hose between it. The man said he knew it was leaking at the hose connection and wanted to know if I could put a new hose washer in it. Needless to say I happened to just use my last washer on another job and hadn't had a chance to restock that item.

[KEFCOPRES]

Also had a customer with no heat whose husband decided to save some time by venting the dryer into the chimney. I have never seen so much lint packed into a heat exchanger flueway before or since.
He had blocked off the flue diverter to stop the dryer exhaust backflow from it.

[moto823]

Last week I took a no heat call...turns out they had heat all along.


The most interesting was when we installed a wallhung at a hoarders house. She called back saying the home never warmed up...walking around the home was not possible or necessary, all the baseboard was blocked with boxes.

[cehs]

The most interesting was when we installed a wallhung at a hoarders house. She called back saying the home never warmed up...walking around the home was not possible or necessary, all the baseboard was blocked with boxes.

I find that the tenant thinks that FLOOR length draperies are NECESSARY for baseboard hot water heat.....
Oh and the beds and couch should be warmer against the wall also....
.

[airredlands]

Send tech to "no heat, thermostat is bad" call. Homeowner shows the tech that the outdoor sensor that reads 68 is broken because 'yahoo' says its 70 outside.

[BigBacardi]

lol....i had one similar to that last year....customer said tv temp wasnt same as tstat.....tv was reading airport temp.....15 miles away!!!!!

[Stamas]

Got to say the guy that defrosted his York Champion with a hatchet was in the top 10. Including the park when I went to clear the rest of the ice to assess the damage he came back out with the hatchet.
Whacked thru 3-4 passes with one good whack.

[ernestomartineziii]

got a call for a fire house in houston. ac not cooling as it should. went out to check. shot infrared on diffusers. sure enough, warm discharge temps. went outside to condenser. threw some gauges on, crazy pressures! you gotta step back and take a look sometimes. I asked chief when last service tech was here, about a week ago. what was the call? he said high temps. (houston is always hot!) okay, what did he do? Said something about a filter, but our filters are clean. see above comment on stepping back and taking a look...on the liquid line, i found three liquid line filters installed obviously in series, with three different install dates on them...need i say more?

[shaygetz]

1983, condo project had specially designed down flow A/Hs made by York that used off the shelf components. The coil boxes had York badges on them that, when installed, were upside down...no biggie. Buyer complained of no cooling, plaguing my boss for a week. Finally he sent me and my mech out to see what we could do, since the H/O wouldn't listen to any of our techs.

Got there to find he was a retired engineer and that he believed the problem was that the A/H was installed wrong. We left him in the LR, went upstairs and stood there looking at the A/H for a few moments. We looked at each other with that "you thinkin' what I'm thinkin" look, popped the badge out and turned it---and the spec sticker---right side up. After 20 minutes of rattling tools and thumping the cabinet for effect, we came down stairs.

My mech asks, "Notice any difference?". "Yes, you guys are the best...", walks upstairs, sees the swapped tags and says, "...I was right, wasn't I? Those guys (meaning me and Steve as we did the original rough ins and installs) didn't know what they were doing."

...sigh...

[2sac]

Got to say the guy that defrosted his York Champion with a hatchet was in the top 10. Including the park when I went to clear the rest of the ice to assess the damage he came back out with the hatchet.
Whacked thru 3-4 passes with one good whack.

Reminds me of a call I got from a movie theater on Christmas day. The ice machine is frozen and one of the kids deiced it with a screwdriver until it started hissing.

[trouble time]

A call, no heat on an oil fired Octpus furnace. Customer; "the pilot will not stay lit" ME" sir this is oil fired it does not have a pilot. Customer: "yes it does, I lite it all the time" Me " could you show me how you are lighting it?" Customer; "Sure......."
He proceeds to tell me how this had to be done quickly.
He lit a match, pushed the reset button, after a few seconds, opened the access door and through the match in....................
I dam near fell on the floor laughing.....

It did light!

[steveoo]

beer cooler down,found condensing unit missing.

[BigBacardi]

So far I gotta say.....This is my favorite forum....

and I know you guys arent lieing...cause i see it every day!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sdrees]

I don't know about the dumbest, but here is definitely the weirdest I've dealt with.
Someone calls in a no cooling. It's about 50F outside, the condenser is frozen solid, so I go to explain the basic limits of the unit to the tenant. Inside the apartment I find an over-sized homemade coffin complete with lid, mattress, and a ventilation system. The guy slept in it (beneath his huge wall painting of Dracula) and the coffins ventilation system just didn't do enough to keep him cool. His solution was to crank up the A/C.

[coolperfect]

Two15 ton splits,units started and running a few weeks,customer not happy many calls.I get a call on standby.Pressures crazy up and down low and high check condensing unit,see no problem.Go to check TXV's,not there liquid lines ran straight into distributers!

[hus]

No heat call, go there and right off the bat I notice no power at furnace. Home owner thought the furnace switch is a light switch and turned it off. Sigh had fun explaining why I have to charge for wasting my time.

[Williamsma]

I ran this no heat call on a oil furnace that was running a few days before. I asked the lady when the last time they checked the tank and was told that they got oil 2 weeks before. I check the furnace and found water in the oil filter. I went outside and found the garden hose in the fill pipe. I told the homeowner what I found and she yells upstairs for her two boys to get downstairs now. When questioned by Mom they fessed up that they were playing oil delivery guy since they saw the nieghbor get a delivery of oil earlier that day.

[John Markl]

I ran this no heat call on a oil furnace that was running a few days before. I asked the lady when the last time they checked the tank and was told that they got oil 2 weeks before. I check the furnace and found water in the oil filter. I went outside and found the garden hose in the fill pipe. I told the homeowner what I found and she yells upstairs for her two boys to get downstairs now. When questioned by Mom they fessed up that they were playing oil delivery guy since they saw the nieghbor get a delivery of oil earlier that day.

oh nooooooooooooo !!

On the other hand, while an expensive lesson, you gotta give the kids credit for some imagination.....something sadly lacking in today's children.

[edward301]

Went on a no heat call, customer had a dirty trashed home. After
checking various items, I find he has no gas. Went outside to check
the gas meter, and there is NO gas meter. It was gone.

I told HO, and he says ..........., he fessed up that his gas had been
cut off for no pay, but he knew how to get gas back ok, said he
had done this twice.

I told him well they got you this time.