In eastern North Carolina your heating and cooling system will run an average of 12 hours per day throughout the year. This is much more than your car and yet we all know that the oil needs to be changed on a routine basis as well as maintenance is needed from time to time on our vehicles... but what about our hvac systems? My uncle used to tell me that anything mechanical will always break, it's a matter of when not if. The best way to avoid surprise expenses is to know when they are coming down the pipe line. We do this by having routine inspections and maintenance. Think of it like the brake pads on your car, you don't ever see them and if you don't have them inspected, they can really cause you a headache or worse. On the other hand, if you have a mechanic checking them out and he tells you that in 3 months you will need new ones, you have time to plan financially and emotionally for that hit to the budget.
I have literally seen clients break down in tears in front of me because of unexpected repairs even when the cost was less than $300. This emotion is a result of not only not being prepared for the unexpected cost, but the emotional stress of a dealing with something unexpected. In times like these we also sometimes make knee jerk reactions to a situation that we later regret after we had ample time to digest and analyze. Being informed and prepared can make a world of difference on our budget as well as our emotional well being.
Every company I've ever worked for has offered a maintenance program typically accompanied with a discount of repair services to help ease this burden. These programs are a win win situation for both the consumer and the business as it pretty much promises your business to the company and you get the discount on needed repairs. I will digress for just a moment and stress that you as a consumer need to be involved and informed in the maintenance of your equipment. If a technician makes suggestions for maintaining your equipment, ask questions and fully understand how those suggestions may impact you. Be engaged, it could save you thousands!
A good maintenance inspection should result in a report verbal, or written, or both; that outlines the good the bad and the ugly. Projections aren't meant to scare you, rather an educated guess to alleviate liability. A key instance of this could be your tech noting high motor amp draws. Motors can be very expensive and higher than expected amp draws is often a sign that the motor could fail in the near future. I typically explain this to my clients in comparison to high blood pressure, seeing a motor with high amp draws means it is likely to fail soon although we don't know exactly when, it's coming. This is a chance for you as a consumer to figure out how much that motor will cost you and better allow you to plan accordingly for it. Some people like to be proactive and say "just replace it now I don't want to be without", and others are just happy having the peace of mind knowing what to plan for. This is the where that emotional stress is taken away from the situation and you get to handle it with a clear mind and that can make the world of difference in the situation.
We have to discuss the hardest part of considering to routine maintenance and that is the trust factor. Can you trust your tech/contractor to be honest? This part is really tricky cause you may never know for sure; however I will try to give some indicators to help you make that decision.
THE FOLLOWING ADVISE IS PERSONAL AND NOT MEANT TO ATTACK ANY ONE, IT'S JUST PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS
Indicator number one of a bad contractor is the "sales" tech. If your tech starts to mention products or services that you didn't inquire about especially the "magical fixes all the worlds problems" stuff, that's a red flag to me. If you did not ask for special products or services, there's likely an agenda behind the tech being pushed by management and these techs typically operate with clouded judgement which distracts them from being able to provide a good and thorough maintenance.
Indicator number two of a bad contractor is one that uses scare tactics. This can be presented like "if you don't do this, than this is going to cost you a bunch of money". This one is only a red flag if the tech can't substantially prove and quantify the issue. If you have a capacitor going bad, it can certainly cause other issues if not rectified, this is not what I'm talking about. I'm referring to "add on" parts or services. If a tech tells you that something is dirty and needs to be cleaned, either ask to see it or at least a photo of the issue.
The last indicator I always watch out for is the scarcity tactic. "This is a special for today/this week/this month only". This is the biggest red flag to me. When I think of the special today only approach, I immediately think of a used car salesman or a furniture store. The element of scarcity is meant to get you to make a knee jerk reaction and get you to spend money that may not be necessary. I'm not talking about a special on services here, as many companies will reduce their pricing during slower times to keep their employees working and making a paycheck. I'm talking about the special deals on fancy upgrades that are not necessary to the functionality of your equipment.
The best way to know if you can trust your contractor is to first research them and know what their reputation is. The reputation of a company is typically a direct reflection of the owners and management. The next best thing is to build a relationship. If you find a certain tech at a company that you like, keep requesting them and allow them to be invested in your equipment. I speak from experience when I think about one of my most loyal clients who has a 35 year old lennox package heat pump. Before I started servicing his equipment he had several techs try and sell him a new unit even though his has been working just fine. Him and I build a relationship of trust and for 10 years now I've been the only one servicing, repairing, and inspecting his unit. It's still running but we did have a key indicator that it will likely give up the ghost soon. This discussion was very easy as he knows that we would only be talking about this if it was true. Relationships make all the difference.
Kenneth Casebier
Comments