I came across an offer from an affiliate of Home Depot for an AC tune-up for $8.88. Thought it was…read morea great bargain, and I'm sure many of you would too. So I'm going to give you a forewarning, it's a classic bait-and-switch (i.e get your foot in the door and then upsell). I was recommended a hard-start kit (aka compressor saver) and an air purification system. The cost? $1,800+.
I told the tech that that's a bit steep for me, so he said, how much could you afford? I said maybe closer to $1,500. The tech called his manager and inform me that they would do it for that price. Initially, I was happy to receive a 20% discount. That is of course, until I googled the PlasmaPure 600 Series and the hard-start kit they sold me after the technician left, and discovered I paid $1,200+ for 2 hours of labor. This was back in June 2025.
Give or take 10 months later, my air conditioner stopped working. Normally, I don't turn the AC on during the winter season, but as luck would have it, Los Angeles is having record breaking heat. I haven't used the AC for several months, and I only had a tuneup a few months before that. So I called the same company to determine why my AC wasn't working (hoping that they would stand behind their work).
Upon opening the equipment, the hard-start kit they installed in June had exploded. The cause, according to their tech, was that my AC compressor was grounded. The good news? Because my Lennox unit was less than 10 years old, it's still under warranty. The cost to install and repair it? Over $5,000...yikes! :-z But the $88 you paid us today to inspect the unit will go towards the cost of the installation. That's how they get you by the way, by offering you a lower inspection charge.
Since this company pulled a fast one on me last time, I decided to get a second opinion. I called Around the Clock considering it was them who initially installed my Lennox unit. They sent Oleg Stopsky out the very same day (I should mention that the other company took over a week to schedule a tech to come out). He confirmed that the compressor is in fact grounded. But because I'm a repeat customer, the cost of labor would be less than 1/3rd of what this other company quoted me. Additionally, the $125 I paid to have them come out to inspect, would be discounted from my total cost.
I wanted to get a 3rd opinion just to make sure. I hate to say it, but when you're a solo female, you can easily get duped. When it comes to mechanical stuff, most technicians just assume you don't know any better...and in my case, it's somewhat true. That's why finding an honest company is so important.
I contacted a company that was affiliated with Costco. They said they would give me a complimentary inspection. They too said that the unit was under warranty but their quote to repair was more than double of what Around the Clock offered me. I was glad that Around the Clock was the lowest because they were the most expedient and pleasant to work with.
So as soon as Lennox sent Around the Clock the compressor, the contactor, and the capacitor, they scheduled Oleg to come out the very next day. I felt really bad because my AC is located on the roof of my building and we had record breaking heat today. But despite the unbearable heat, he remained jovial throughout. He did a superb job and was kind enough to install a permanent dryer filter when he learned that I had weak lungs.
And just to show how honest they are, I asked Oleg if I should install a hard-start kit as recommended by the last technician, (because the previous one they installed in June exploded), he told me no. That since we replaced both the capacitor and the contactor (which were also under warranty), it's no longer necessary. This is probably why he's been with this company for over 25 years...because he's honest. I also like that I'm supporting a Ukrainian business. No more paying technicians from multiple companies to come out and inspect in the future. My HVAC company of choice is now Around the Clock.
I'm so relieved to have air conditioning again...hallelujah!!
