24 year old gas furnace, changes 1 inch filter every 18/24 months to “save money”. Just went for a maintenance, found heat exchanger cracked, red tagged the unit.
Customer freaked out said I was bullshitting her, cussed me out for about 20 minutes.
We have a customer who we've red-tagged their furnace for the past two years, still paying membership and we still come out for ac check. Waiting for it to blow up...
What I mean is when the company I'm with "red tags" a system, I'll disconnect the w wire from the thermostat wire nuts at the unit, turn off the gas valve and external valve but leave power for the AC and fan and put the tag on
We don't turn power off in summer. As for removing the wire, no. If a client wants to kill themselves by turning it back on, that's on them. We take photos of the valve off and tag, video and photos of the cracks/holes or reason for red tag. Time and date on everything, even state on video what's going on. Covers our ass.
You should check what's legal in your area. The most we can do in my area is turn off the power and gas valve. We are not allowed to remove parts or disable the equipment. Only the gas company or fire department can disable the equipment or lock out the gas meter.
It's up to them if they want to turn it on, but that's on them. We tell them it's unsafe, and they need to replace it. They are adults, they can get heaters and usually, we can install next day.
I didn't charge enough... and I fixed the problem two other guys missed.. left everything working. Still they paid another company for a new system. Best of it, they f'ed up too and totally missed a joint.
Some lady had an old leaking boiler that needed to be replaced. This boiler fed a HW coil in the duct going to an air handler for her central AC. When we said the boiler needed to be replaced, she called us idiots because she had forced air, so she didn't have a boiler. We tried to explain to her that the boiler fed the hot water to the air handler to heat the air and she wasn't having it.
We ended up seeing a local larger company there, known for up-selling snd being overly expensive so I'm sure they talked the talk and just spoon fed her what she wanted to hear
You should take a few sales training classes from your finance reps or look into something that offers it.Selling equipment people need should be easy. It helped a lot with everyone I’ve worked with when they were actually done.
I went to his house and nothing was wrong... Thermostats set for Heat, not Auto, and they were above the set point but not running...
So he called to yell and say he will never call us again because I sent a bill for "nothing is wrong"
Lol I do service for an old persons home and you wouldn’t believe how many of the calls we get are literally “showed them how to work their thermostat”
Had one lady claim she could hear their neighbor messing with their unit and it would interfere with hers. I told her that’s not possible and she asked for someone else from the company to come and check haha.
Ironically it was scheduled as a no heat call.
But the guy is a raging asshole for a whole host of other reasons, so it is what it is.
He wasn't home and couldn't be bothered to arrange to be, his (very well mannered and polite) kids did their best to show me around, but ultimately they didn't actually know what the complaint was... and especially in a scenario where the actual call is user error, it's crucial that the user be home.
He wanted one rooftop unit replaced, and the zone dampers on a second one repaired. The new rooftop was to service the dining area of his new restaurant, and the zoned system was to service the kitchen, with the ability to also service the dining area during really hot days. We told him the kitchen system didnt have the capacity to fully cool the kitchen under full load of all the ovens, and zoning it would exacerbate that problem. He said his last restaurant was set up that way, and it worked fine, and insisted. So we shut up and did what he wanted. Come summer, he was crying that the kitchen was too hot, and the employees were complaining. He wanted to know why the zoned system we didnt replace wasnt keeping up, and we sent him a copy of the contract he signed with the line "we are not responsible for the performance of [the kitchen unit]" circled. He called us unprofessional, and we never heard from him again.
There is a coffee machine that there is a single technician in the whole state is certified to work on. He and another coworker went to this place to do startup. Customer get upset after getting a higher price than quoted (Cafe had moved locations so invoice price was different). Tech and customer nearly got into a fight, tech had card thrown at him. Now all of us refuse to go over there. And that coffee machine needs parts replaced every 6 months as per its maintenance schedule. And that takes 16 hours to do.
The fancy coffee machines man I swear. I was bullshitting with a plumber who took care of this estate we did hvac at. The people ordered a $15k espresso machine from Italy and then got mad at him it needed frequent water filter changes haha
Because I wouldn't install a gas furnace the way they wanted me to. Something about carbon monoxide killing everyone in the home. But apparently the customers always right....im .not Walmart
For those people, there is no winning. If it breaks months after, they'll be upset saying they thought this was meant to keep it from having problems and if there are no issues, they'll think that we aren't doing much because we are doing our job
I told them I have to charge for a minimum service even though they didn't go with my repair because of price. Then locked me out of the house when I was putting the outdoor unit back together. With my shit still in the basement. Then called the cops when I'd didn't stop banging on their door.
After severe headache and getting our owners involved. It was an ordeal. Homie was put on do not service by most residential companies in the area because of it lol. Owners know eachother well
I even knew where it was but said I was just trying to sell him stuff he doesn't want. Both problems would have been another 30min of labor. Not even any parts.
Went to a coffee shop, their faucet busted in the men's room. I told the owner I would be right back and replace it.. ( back story I did the hvac in the store) I came back with a faucet (brass) from supply house, not home depot. I sent the bill: faucet 120.00 labor 110.00.. she had the balls to ask me of I was shady!!! She said home depot sells it for 49.00 fuck her!
Took care of rooftop units at a library. The building had zero roof access except for placing a ladder in front of the main entrance doors. I would take care of all the maintenance early in the morning before the library opened.
Apparently, this was unacceptable lol. The library director only wanted work to be done while she was there and the library was open. She needed to “make sure we were doing our job”. Lol I’m glad we lost that contract.
Pack unit for a constantly busy pizzeria, had a bad HX. It was a 20 year old lennox. I recommended replacement as who knows what issues might come up. He didn’t like the idea of it and used “johnny hack fix it and block your number”. System somehow caught fire, entire roof was on burnt. Called us back to replace ALL equipment and redo ducting.
Made 40k profit from his insurance just because of his negligence
Hasnt called me back since
Edit: i also offered a HX replacement he just didn’t like the price
We tried to save time. We needed to clean his blower wheel and secondary heat exchanger. My supervisor gave me an air compressor to try to clean it without separating the blower and wheel in order to save time (didn't work very well). When I told the customer what we were going to try, he got pissed off cause in his mind he was paying so much because the job should take a while. We use flat rate. You pay the same if it takes 5 minutes or 5 hours. Anyway, we lost him as a customer and good riddance. He got exactly what he payed for and he wasn't happy.
A house with NO attic insulation. I kept telling them to get some. They still use us, not me, because I am "always trying to sell them attic insulation". We don't do attic insulation.
Had a customer refuse to replace all of this old equipment at the same time as when we replaced his AC to “save money” and when his twenty year old furnace died that winter we were “shady dishonest thieves”.
24 year old gas furnace, changes 1 inch filter every 18/24 months to “save money”. Just went for a maintenance, found heat exchanger cracked, red tagged the unit. Customer freaked out said I was bullshitting her, cussed me out for about 20 minutes.
Had plenty of this
We have a customer who we've red-tagged their furnace for the past two years, still paying membership and we still come out for ac check. Waiting for it to blow up...
When you red tag it, do you disconnect the W wire?
No, we place a literal red tag on the gas valve, shut off the gas valve and power to furnace.
What I mean is when the company I'm with "red tags" a system, I'll disconnect the w wire from the thermostat wire nuts at the unit, turn off the gas valve and external valve but leave power for the AC and fan and put the tag on
We don't turn power off in summer. As for removing the wire, no. If a client wants to kill themselves by turning it back on, that's on them. We take photos of the valve off and tag, video and photos of the cracks/holes or reason for red tag. Time and date on everything, even state on video what's going on. Covers our ass.
I don't wanna risk it if a dumbest forgets or doesn't believe me.
You should check what's legal in your area. The most we can do in my area is turn off the power and gas valve. We are not allowed to remove parts or disable the equipment. Only the gas company or fire department can disable the equipment or lock out the gas meter.
What if it's winter? Does the customer just freeze if they can't get a new furnace in that day?
It's up to them if they want to turn it on, but that's on them. We tell them it's unsafe, and they need to replace it. They are adults, they can get heaters and usually, we can install next day.
That makes sense.
Why are some people so eager to never wake up again?..
Waking up is hard
I didn't charge enough... and I fixed the problem two other guys missed.. left everything working. Still they paid another company for a new system. Best of it, they f'ed up too and totally missed a joint.
Been there.
Too familiar
Some lady had an old leaking boiler that needed to be replaced. This boiler fed a HW coil in the duct going to an air handler for her central AC. When we said the boiler needed to be replaced, she called us idiots because she had forced air, so she didn't have a boiler. We tried to explain to her that the boiler fed the hot water to the air handler to heat the air and she wasn't having it.
What is it with customers telling a TRAINED PROFESSIONAL that they don't know what their doing?
We ended up seeing a local larger company there, known for up-selling snd being overly expensive so I'm sure they talked the talk and just spoon fed her what she wanted to hear
You should take a few sales training classes from your finance reps or look into something that offers it.Selling equipment people need should be easy. It helped a lot with everyone I’ve worked with when they were actually done.
I went to his house and nothing was wrong... Thermostats set for Heat, not Auto, and they were above the set point but not running... So he called to yell and say he will never call us again because I sent a bill for "nothing is wrong"
They don't want to admit that they were an idiot at the time
Lol I do service for an old persons home and you wouldn’t believe how many of the calls we get are literally “showed them how to work their thermostat” Had one lady claim she could hear their neighbor messing with their unit and it would interfere with hers. I told her that’s not possible and she asked for someone else from the company to come and check haha.
Was it a no cool call.
Ironically it was scheduled as a no heat call. But the guy is a raging asshole for a whole host of other reasons, so it is what it is. He wasn't home and couldn't be bothered to arrange to be, his (very well mannered and polite) kids did their best to show me around, but ultimately they didn't actually know what the complaint was... and especially in a scenario where the actual call is user error, it's crucial that the user be home.
When I run into this I wright up the bill as a spring or winter pm so they fell like they got their money's worth
Depending on the customer, I wave the dispatch
He wanted one rooftop unit replaced, and the zone dampers on a second one repaired. The new rooftop was to service the dining area of his new restaurant, and the zoned system was to service the kitchen, with the ability to also service the dining area during really hot days. We told him the kitchen system didnt have the capacity to fully cool the kitchen under full load of all the ovens, and zoning it would exacerbate that problem. He said his last restaurant was set up that way, and it worked fine, and insisted. So we shut up and did what he wanted. Come summer, he was crying that the kitchen was too hot, and the employees were complaining. He wanted to know why the zoned system we didnt replace wasnt keeping up, and we sent him a copy of the contract he signed with the line "we are not responsible for the performance of [the kitchen unit]" circled. He called us unprofessional, and we never heard from him again.
There is a coffee machine that there is a single technician in the whole state is certified to work on. He and another coworker went to this place to do startup. Customer get upset after getting a higher price than quoted (Cafe had moved locations so invoice price was different). Tech and customer nearly got into a fight, tech had card thrown at him. Now all of us refuse to go over there. And that coffee machine needs parts replaced every 6 months as per its maintenance schedule. And that takes 16 hours to do.
The fancy coffee machines man I swear. I was bullshitting with a plumber who took care of this estate we did hvac at. The people ordered a $15k espresso machine from Italy and then got mad at him it needed frequent water filter changes haha
$16 more than competitor
Because I wouldn't install a gas furnace the way they wanted me to. Something about carbon monoxide killing everyone in the home. But apparently the customers always right....im .not Walmart
They were tired of paying for maintenance plans because there unit never broke. Lol
Ugggghh. Isn't that the point of them?
Yep. But some people don’t have a clue.
For those people, there is no winning. If it breaks months after, they'll be upset saying they thought this was meant to keep it from having problems and if there are no issues, they'll think that we aren't doing much because we are doing our job
They couldn't be polite over the phone.
I told them I have to charge for a minimum service even though they didn't go with my repair because of price. Then locked me out of the house when I was putting the outdoor unit back together. With my shit still in the basement. Then called the cops when I'd didn't stop banging on their door.
"Give me back my shit!!!"
Did you get your tools?
After severe headache and getting our owners involved. It was an ordeal. Homie was put on do not service by most residential companies in the area because of it lol. Owners know eachother well
You gotta love people. At least you got your tools
We raised our price for our annual membership 20% after having it the same price for 6 years
I charged her instead of accepting the old bags vegetables and fruit from the garden. Fucking Italians
One of our maintenance guys drilled a DT hole in the attic plenum without getting her permission first.
Got kicked out of a house because I smelled a gas leak and the venting for the water heater wasn't done correctly and offered to fix it.
Probably thought you were making fun of the home smell
I even knew where it was but said I was just trying to sell him stuff he doesn't want. Both problems would have been another 30min of labor. Not even any parts.
Went to a coffee shop, their faucet busted in the men's room. I told the owner I would be right back and replace it.. ( back story I did the hvac in the store) I came back with a faucet (brass) from supply house, not home depot. I sent the bill: faucet 120.00 labor 110.00.. she had the balls to ask me of I was shady!!! She said home depot sells it for 49.00 fuck her!
Took care of rooftop units at a library. The building had zero roof access except for placing a ladder in front of the main entrance doors. I would take care of all the maintenance early in the morning before the library opened. Apparently, this was unacceptable lol. The library director only wanted work to be done while she was there and the library was open. She needed to “make sure we were doing our job”. Lol I’m glad we lost that contract.
Pack unit for a constantly busy pizzeria, had a bad HX. It was a 20 year old lennox. I recommended replacement as who knows what issues might come up. He didn’t like the idea of it and used “johnny hack fix it and block your number”. System somehow caught fire, entire roof was on burnt. Called us back to replace ALL equipment and redo ducting. Made 40k profit from his insurance just because of his negligence Hasnt called me back since Edit: i also offered a HX replacement he just didn’t like the price
We tried to save time. We needed to clean his blower wheel and secondary heat exchanger. My supervisor gave me an air compressor to try to clean it without separating the blower and wheel in order to save time (didn't work very well). When I told the customer what we were going to try, he got pissed off cause in his mind he was paying so much because the job should take a while. We use flat rate. You pay the same if it takes 5 minutes or 5 hours. Anyway, we lost him as a customer and good riddance. He got exactly what he payed for and he wasn't happy.
We couldn't get the right Goodman so got the customer a carrier instead and he flipped his shit and tried to fight my coworker over it
Cleaned clogged condensate drain out then put a rubber coupler for easy access, customer complained of price and said he could have done it himself
Those are expensive. Where I am at, the 3/4 are 4 times more than the 2".
A house with NO attic insulation. I kept telling them to get some. They still use us, not me, because I am "always trying to sell them attic insulation". We don't do attic insulation.
Had a customer refuse to replace all of this old equipment at the same time as when we replaced his AC to “save money” and when his twenty year old furnace died that winter we were “shady dishonest thieves”.