Do NOT call them, they scam people out of their hard earned money and I have reported this company to the Better Business Bureau. My complaint is below:
I phoned Empire HVAC http://www.empirehvacco.com/index.html on the morning of 12/23/12 and left a VM for the co. I explained that I didn't have heat in the house. Maria arrived to fix the problem the same morning. Maria discovered that there was a short and that she needed to get a few parts to fix the issue. I asked her the price to complete the work. She scribbled down some prices for me to review. The breakdown was $160 -labor, $240 for one part and $100 for fuses and tax would be a grand total of $530.00. I said that sounds like a lot. She said, ''Sorry.'' I said ok, that is how much it is. She did not have me sign anything.
She returned later that evening to install the parts. She had a few items with her. I asked her, what was the part that cost $240.00 and she said it is the ignitor and briefly held up the box. I said this cost $240? She said, ''Yes, it is very expensive. It is porcelain.'' I asked, ''Is the price marked up?'' She said, ''No.'' She proceeded to install it. My brother managed to collect the box after she took the part out and she exclaimed, ''I need that!'' He took out the papers inside, leaving them with her, and gave me the box. I searched for the price on eBay and found this part & model # was priced at $16.00.
She finished the work and starting writing out the bill. I showed her the eBay print out with the price. She was surprised, saying that is a good price. I said I am not paying $240 for an ignitor that is valued at $16. She said that is what she paid. I asked to see her invoice and she claimed she didn't have it. I again said, I am not paying $240. She scratched out the price and said I am not charging you $240 - I will charge you $140. This continued until the price again dropped to $100. I asked her again, how much did you pay and her final price that she claimed to have paid was $37. She became very agitated and said, ''Pay me what you want!'' I said the labor was $160, the part was $16 - I will pay $20. I asked, how much were the fuses? She said $98. I said I don't believe you. I said I will pay $20 for them for a total of $200. She raised her voice and said, ''NO, we need to get paid!! We provided a service!'' I said, ''I am willing to pay a reasonable amount.'' She said, ''It is Sunday.'' I said, ''If you would have broken out the estimate as a Sunday service call with a dollar amount, then that would be different. You lied about the cost of the part.'' She started to cry and stormed out of the house screaming, ''Just forget it!'' I finished writing out the check and my brother ran after her to hand the check to her. She drove off.
A few minutes later that evening, Paul, Maria's manager, called me. He said, ''I understand there was a problem.'' I agreed, yes there is a problem that I was being charged $240 for a $16 part - a markup of 1,500% and that your company is some sort of racket business, ripping off people. I also said that I was going to report them to the Better Business Beauro. He said we provided you with a service and you need to pay. I said that I am willing to pay a reasonable amount. He said you cannot name your own price. I again said I am not paying $240 for that part. He said, ''We don't need your business'' and hung up on me. read more
