I'd like to specify at first - We were going to give these guys a rave. They have been prompt at coming to our house usually to check on ongoing furnace maintenance issues vs other heating companies that we have seen this winter, but throughout this whole process somethings were not the best. I'm truly not one to complain on social media, but this is ridiculous.
They came out and took a look at our furnace. A previous alternative company came out and did *maintenance* and Ralphs said that the heat sensor wasn't cleaned at all when previous company said they did do that - said it looked like it never got cleaned, it worked for a couple weeks and then they had to come back out on one of the coldest days of winter. They told us that the inducer motor is going out when they sent someone that really specialized in plumbing vs heating and he was on the phone with coworkers to get help the whole time. He was able to give us a hard restart fix, but again, suggested that we get our inducer motor out.
Fast forward to a couple weeks later, our heat went out recently during the last extreme cold temps. We had called around 8:30am, they said they would give us a call back when they could head out. No calls.. it's now around 3:30pm. We call again, they said that they should have someone calling us to be able to come out. When I got home from work, after 5pm - so after business hours - I give them a call and transfer to the phone service for after hours. I explain that we were supposed to be seen today and that no one got in touch with anyone. A women says that she will pass along the message. An hour goes by, I asked my SO who's at work if anyone got in touch with him, he says no. No one called me back either. I called the phone service again, explained, that I called right around 5:10pm and he was very prompt (kudos to him) and said I will make sure to get in contact with someone and I personally will call back to let you know he will be in contact with you, or any other answers.
As I get off the phone with him, my SO texts me from work and said did you get a phone call? I said no... and he sends me a number to call back. I call the number and talk to another gentleman, he said that he's already almost home, he doesn't want to get us to be charged the after hours rate, and that we will be the first stop that he has in the morning. He asked some questions about how we are keeping our house warm, and that we should be okay for the night. He says we will be the first stop that he has in the morning around 8am, he arrives around 8:30am and tells my SO that it is the inducer motor for. He said that he must do some checking and will get back to him.
My SO got a call late in the day, Thursday. He said that there isn't anything in town and they wouldn't get the part until Monday. So we go the entire weekend without heat. Monday - they show up in the afternoon, they install it and our heat works perfectly. Said that they will send us a bill.
* Not once was the price of the inducer motor mentioned.
* When asked about, they didn't know the cost.
It's a $500 inducer motor, and our bill is a little over $930 between the two visits. We have not yet received our 2nd invoice; these costs were told over the phone to my SO. He said it was roughly seven hundred and some for the 2nd trip making our bill around $930 dollars. When my SO calls on it and asks the gentlemen who answered the phone about it, he says that he didn't know the cost of the inducer motor until right now. He said at this price, we could have gotten a new furnace. He is very unapologetic.
NOT ONCE did they say that we should get a new furnace, tell us the costs, or anything of the sort. We also are charged for an hour and a half of labor with EACH bill we have gotten, and they aren't even in our household an hour.
As a heating/plumbing company, isn't it your job to advise the customer on what is wrong, what to do, give pricing estimates, give recommendations if you need a new furnace? read more