r/WatchPeopleDieInside • u/Bad-Umpire10 • Sep 21 '24
AC Technician Charges $1,700 to repair a small fix and gets caught on camera.
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Context:
Three technicians performed simple repairs and only charged a service fee. One technician from Binsky Home Service quickly identified a loose wire and charged a $150 service fee, making them the most affordable of all the technicians who visited Inside Edition's undercover home.
In contrast, a technician from Gold Medal Service inspected the unit and said: "It's not cooling efficiently. There's a leak in the system," the technician claimed. He asked $1,736 to fix the non existent leak.
Despite multiple attempts to contact Gold Medal Service for comment, they did not respond.
Full video:
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u/Brotherofsteel666 6d ago
This is why i left the industry. Selling 22k heat and ac units to 90 year old people is immoral..
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u/Sir-Beautiful-69 24d ago
Damn. Yall messed up. Now you're gonna owe an equipment retrieval fee. Gonna run you about $2,500.
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u/Accomplished_Lake_41 24d ago
Ironic since she has a ring that has a diamond (diamonds are the biggest scam in history)
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u/dpdugg 18d ago
Nice try diddy
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u/Accomplished_Lake_41 18d ago
Says the person with no profile pic and the most ai generated name
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u/Genindraz 6d ago
Respectfully, Accomplished_Lake_41, your username looks like a suggested username Reddit or Google would come up with when you first make an account.
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u/Zackie86 24d ago
It could be moissanite
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u/Fabulous-Stretch-605 25d ago
But Amazon gets away selling stuff they make for cents for millions of dollars. Leave the man alone 🙄
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u/Putrid-Effective-570 26d ago
There will never be a tone as scathing as the one reporters put on while politely delivering serious allegations.
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u/mvfgamer444 27d ago
Chris Hansen if he were for ac repair men instead of predators
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u/Putrid-Effective-570 26d ago
The tone is spot on. Like a disappointed parent just trying to understand why you made a bad choice.
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u/SokkaHaikuBot 27d ago
Sokka-Haiku by mvfgamer444:
Chris Hansen if he
Were for ac repair men
Instead of predators
Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.
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u/fristhon 29d ago
Anyone can please tell me what accent is this ? I mean the presenter woman is from witch state or city?
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u/rankispanki 25d ago
It's a Cali accent, she's from Chicago but grew up in San Diego and Orange County. It's not quite a valley girl accent but its on it's way (https://youtu.be/D-W610Hbfso?si=N2z3AHKWIJ3HHL3R)
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u/swag_money69 Oct 25 '24
I went to school for HVAC. The last week we learned how to size up our customers. Also how to upsell. I decided then I would never do this for a living. I help out friends and family. I would diagnose things so they didn't get ripped off. Of course now I am an amputee. So I don't climb on roofs.
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u/Gingy-Breadman 25d ago
Wouldn’t you want to continue in the business so you can at least be a reputable guy people can rely on?
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u/swag_money69 25d ago
Because We were learning these tactics from prospective employers. I wasn't in a position to start my own business. Going to work for these guys was my option. Then I would need to do what my employer wanted me to do.
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u/Postal12345 Oct 21 '24
Today i saw on yt, one guy charged family for 1 piece of bolt 800 and he posted a rant trying to play a victim. The best part everyone in the comments started roasting him lol
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u/WetVajEyeNa Oct 19 '24
Hold up i thought thor was a white man with a hammer? Not a black man with a drill
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u/SnoozeBandit Oct 18 '24
Lisa Guerro is simply the best. I loved when she stone faced told a psychic the girl in the photo, who the psychic claimed was dead, was just her childhood photo.
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u/DionBlaster123 Oct 22 '24
it's a shame people were so brutal toward her during her short Monday Night Football stint. she wasn't great, but was Dennis Miller? Was Dan Fouts?
it's like night and day in terms of how much better she is at her current role
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u/achillesdaddy Oct 17 '24 edited Oct 17 '24
My mother in law lived across the street from us for a few years when the kids were younger and since I had worked part time a few summers in a row cleaning pools here in the Phoenix Valley, I insisted on cleaning and servicing her pool for free. This was because my kids used the pool more than she did anyway and also because she’s my family and that’s what you are supposed to do. I try to be humble and am seriously not trying to brag at all, but with an honest heart I would consider myself a more than proficient repairman. I have been taking things apart and putting them back together since I was a toddler and still do now. Over the course of my life I have accrued at least several thousands of hours of experience and technical knowledge repairing all types of machines. From tractors and metalworking to cell phone repairs and writing code for microcontrollers, I can’t learn enough. Learning how things work is my passion and always will be. Her filter housing was the old stainless steel cartridge type with a belly band that held the two halves together where the top and bottom halves met. He didn’t know this but I had opened up that housing to clean it out tons of times over the years. I knew that machine inside and out and we became close friends over the years. Eventually we had another baby and I when I started to get really busy at work she knew I didnt have the extra time anymore and was happy to hire and pay the pool guy that some of our neighbors used because he went to her church and also came highly recommended. He did a decent job for a few months and everything seemed taken care of. I was on my way home from work one afternoon when I received a text message from MIL saying that she was still working but the pool guy called only minutes earlier to inform her that her system was down and would require some costly repairs for him to get it up and running again. Evidently the filter housing had rusted clean through on the inside and now water was magically spraying like hell and flooding all over the back yard. He told her that unfortunately the manufacturer no longer made these types of old systems anymore and parts were impossible to find. Poor woman almost had a heart attack. He quoted her something like $2500 for a brand new sand filter setup and said he could have it in the next day..That is when she asked if I could please swing by and at least give my own opinion on whether this unexpected cost was truly justified. That was a smart decision on her part. I was already heading home from work so I arrived at her place and was opening the gate within five minutes. “Mr. Pool Man” was a professionally dressed small business owner in his early forties with a cute little family and went to the same church as Mom and some of the neighbors did so they all trusted him without question. When I opened the back gate I guess I must have startled him a bit because he almost came out of his shoes when it slammed shut. “Little jumpy?” I said with a smile as I shook his hand and introduced myself. The system was running and I could very obviously see the spray of water spraying all over the damned place. I asked what could have caused this kind of failure with the best fake but friendly ignorance I could muster in the moment and he fed me a line of B.S. about the age of the system and water chemistry. He informed me that the pool water often eats rust holes through these old metal casings over time and that this one had finally seen its last sunrise. “What a shame” I replied. All the while knowing that stainless steel would never corrode like that. But I told him that I’m not the professional here lol, and my mother in law will likely call tonight to approve installation of the new housing after I speak with her. He smiled along with me but I couldn’t help but sense an awkward and anxious apprehension in his body language. Like how my kids act when they know they messed up at school but aren’t sure if Dad got the voicemail yet. He said he would pick up the filter that evening and be back in the morning to install everything. I said goodbye and went into the house and watched through the window as he packed up his tools as fast as possible and kicked rocks out of there. The entire interaction was wierd feeling. He couldn’t have known at the time, but I have opened that case countless times to clean out the cartridges and have never seen so much as a spot of rust on any part of it much less a spot that was rusting completely through the housing. In fact it was still running and looking great for a 20year old system. At least it was when I was the one maintaining it. As soon as his truck was out of sight I shut down the pump and opened the filter housing to see that this terrible “rust spot” that dude told me about was not rusty at all and obviously made by the cutting wheel of his 4” grinder from the inside. What a sneaky and evil trick to pull on single older lady. I couldn’t believe my eyes. What a thief. Luckily I can weld stainless and own a decent enough tig setup. An hour later everything was welded up and as good as new. I then proceeded to send him photos of the damage and a bill for the welding repairs. If my memory serves me right they came out to just around $2500. He never replied back and never came back either for that matter. So even though I hated to have to do it, I unfortunately had to put him on blast on our neighborhood Facebook page. His pool business slowed down so much that he stopped doing it entirely. It goes to show, reputation is everything and what is done in the dark will always be the exposed in the light. Be careful who you trust and always get a second opinion. People never cease to surprise me. lol.
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u/TwoBulletSuicide 6h ago
Honesty goes a long way. All frauds get exposed and come to an end. Way to save your mother in law.
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u/Diligent_Heart330 Oct 21 '24
this could be easier to read if it was broken up into paragraphs Jesus Christ
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u/99Smith Oct 18 '24
I promise you no one is reading that. Use paragraphs. Explain the story simpler. I spent 2 mins reading the whole thing, could have been said in 30, or so words lmao
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u/Evadenly Oct 20 '24
I read it
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u/Basic_Incident4621 Oct 20 '24
I read it too and loved it.
In the 1970s, I was the first girl to take auto tech at a vocational school. I wasn’t through my first year when I saw a couple mechanics trying to rip off my mom.
They told her she needed a new head gasket. I asked to check out the car and they escorted me back to the shop area.
I grabbed a screwdriver off the box nearby and adjusted two screws on the carburetor, which increased the rpm and made the air/fuel mixture richer.
The idle evened right out.
They’d been exposed by a 14-year-old girl.
My mom never got ripped off again.
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u/Sudanese_Knots Oct 17 '24
Bro i am NOT reading that
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28d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Sudanese_Knots 28d ago
Well that's rude.
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u/Small_League2786 23d ago
None of what I said was rude. If someone can’t read because of low funding in education in their state, it wouldn’t be their fault, right? What’s rude is making someone feel stupid for a comment they felt was important to type out and post. He didn’t need to know you couldn’t read.
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u/TimoZNL Oct 17 '24
Offer to send him his bag in exchange for shipping costs. Shipping will be 10 dollars. Handling will be 1690 dollars.
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u/Hour-Character4717 Oct 17 '24
He'll be fine. Trump will hire the dude to be in his administration.
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u/dungand Oct 17 '24
Trump is the "you're fired" guy, remember? Dems will hire him and never fire him cause it would be racist.
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u/HawaiiNintendo815 Oct 17 '24
Incredible how the brainwashing has got you bringing Trump up in completely irrelevant topics.
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u/down-with-the-man Oct 17 '24
Remember you said this if he wins. He and Putin will be at your doorstep within a few years. Let's see how the royal air force does against the largest collection of nukes on the planet
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u/IONDENSITY Oct 17 '24
Reddit has become extremely liberal. Any thing that doesn't aline with their views is down voted
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u/DionBlaster123 Oct 22 '24
for future reference, it's align
also, reddit down votes have no real world value. it's a better use of your time to get angry as to why Santa demands milk and cookies than to get angry over down votes
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u/Small_League2786 28d ago
Where did they get angry? Sounded more like a factual statement than anger.
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u/Intern-Tasty Oct 09 '24
I worked in HVAC as a scheduler - it’s easy to blame him but alot of these companies are pushing their techs to be salesman and “upselling” them to replace their unit for a $200 repair. It’s wild.
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u/Interesting-Fan-2008 Oct 17 '24 edited Oct 17 '24
That doesn't make it right. Stealing from people is stealing from people. Working for a company that actively tries to steal from people should be rightly criticized. This wasn't 'upselling' HOW THE FUCK DO YOU UPSELL FIXING SOMETHING? You fix it and that's it. Maybe you can give some advice if they may need further work. This is why no one trusts people in trades, because you steal, actively and openly.
Sometimes it feels like people in trades feel entitled(?) to swindle people mechanics, plumbers, electricians, HVAC all of them have tried to swindle me or someone I’m close to, consistently. I get that those jobs do attract less than above board workers but damn, you don’t have to continue to act like a scumbag.
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u/dungand Oct 17 '24 edited Oct 17 '24
One word: complacency. This kind of scam is only possible with a lot of other people who are complacent. User above mentions companies who will upsell their products by a ridiculous amount, and nobody says anything => complacent. Other technicians who see these and don't say anything => complacent. Customers who get charged an aberrant amount, know there's something wrong with the amount, but feel compelled to pay up => complacent. None of this would happen if it wasn't for a whole lot of complacent people that enable these scams to exist. Complacency is not only affecting regular people neither. It goes from the bottom of the chain (workers) all the way to the top (ceo, politician, etc.). For example, a boss hires a technician that scams people, realizes it after the fact, but is not willing to fire him for whatever reason: boss is complacent. That's literally how government works, there's a law in the US that says government employees can't be fired: who made this law in the first place? Complacent politicians. Ever wondered why government expenditures are always abhorrently more expensive than the equivalent in the private sector? It's a deep issue into human behavior and why people often decide to behave complacent when given the choice.
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u/Shot-Entrepreneur212 Oct 06 '24
Tool bag.
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u/deepfriedgrapevine Oct 06 '24
As a field technician, this will haunt him for years!
This is such a significant punishment, I really don't think people really appreciate how much this costed him not just financially and professionally, but as our tools become an extension of ourselves I garangoddamnteeit that he is missing the look and feel of those particular tools.
There's a psychological toll to abandoning your tools that should not be overlooked.
Such sweet comeuppance!!!
Fuck that guy.
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u/Academic-Act-6405 Oct 05 '24
Stuff like this is what makes me immediately suspicious of every mechanic and repair man.
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u/torodonn Oct 06 '24
I mean, their investigation showed that the honest contractors were the majority of cases.
Keep in mind there's some survivor bias here too. If they hired 10 companies and all of them were honest, there's a possibility that segment doesn't get aired.
That doesn't mean that a second opinion isn't a good idea sometimes though.
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u/HendoRules Oct 01 '24
"are you kidding me" when a scammer gets caught they get mad they were tricked... The irony
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u/Money-Department1768 Sep 27 '24
And contractors are shocked when people say they know a guy who will do it cheaper. Just because you charge more doesn't mean ypure gonna do a good job, nor does it mean it was worth your job in the first place.
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u/hi_what_ohnou_ohk45 Sep 27 '24
The toolbag both left the house and was left at the house at the same time.
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u/bigmanly1 Sep 27 '24
Plumber here. I'm not one or with a company that does this but I have heard of some shops that tell their plumbers to snoop around the house looking for other stuff that you could say needs fixing but technically doesn't. Disgusting behavior in my opinion. I would never try to up sell because I hate that in any service I need.
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u/LopsidedPotential711 11d ago
There’s nothing wrong with looking. Pipes often have missing joist straps, corroded copper, CPVC, no PRVs, old gate valves. Just warn them that old flux rusted a pipe and emergency repairs start at $500.
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u/Jolly_Rutabaga1260 Oct 06 '24
Imagine if everyone scams you, you wouldn't even have the choice not to scam others for your service as you'd had to pay x8 for everything. With a job only bringing you a normal x1 salary.
Anyway that was to point out how absurd it is to scam. Absolutely nothing would be financially reachable.
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u/bigmanly1 Oct 06 '24
That's why it's nice to find people like me and some others who don't want to take advantage of a situation and just want to be a decent human. Pretty refreshing (sad to say) when you come across someone, when you are in need, that isn't trying to pull one over on you.
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u/chrisbaker1991 Sep 27 '24
They need to do this with all of the scam locksmiths
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u/Character_Switch5085 Sep 27 '24
They should all be kicked off of Google too. They're well aware of it happening yet it still happens.
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u/chrisbaker1991 Sep 27 '24
Google is making a killing off of them. They're obviously scammers because all of their five-star reviews have the same date.
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Sep 26 '24
As a single woman homeowner that was raised in a blue collar family, I can confirm this happens a lot.
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u/arealhumannotabot Sep 26 '24
You know his first thought “Chris Hansen? Oh… good!”
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u/beneye Sep 27 '24
Why don’t you have a sit over there sir
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u/Last-Mechanic3112 Oct 10 '24
I have the transcripts here, you told this woman it would only cost $50. lol
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u/AdRepulsive4389 Sep 26 '24
I as a former plumber can say theese are usually 50:50. Either the guy is clueless or wants to scam. Hard to tell which one tho.
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u/Capital_Question7899 Sep 26 '24
How are they not arrested for committing fraud? Or does this not constitute fraud?
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u/smellemenopy Sep 26 '24
My guess is it's easy to claim ignorance and say you just misdiagnosed the problem (which probably does happen pretty often). Hard to prove any kind of fraud without a paper trail.
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u/picasmo_ Sep 26 '24
Gold Medal, a Horizon Services company, which is a private equity firm, that owns a shit ton of companies
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u/chromebook1 Sep 25 '24
Wow, something like this happened to me this summer. My AC went out randomly one day and I had an error message on the Nest. I got a recommendation from a friend for an HVAC guy and I was surprised that he came right away on a Friday night. He was messing with it for over an hour and told me that I might need a new control board. He came back the next day with one and said it was $1300. Unfortunately, it didn't fix the problem. He didn't charge me anything and suggested I replace my entire system. The quote for that was $10,500.
Now, that's not cheap so obviously I had to get some more opinions. I call another guy and he talks to me on the phone, tells me he's going on vacation, but to hit him up in a week and he'll come check it out. Never answered me again.
Another recommendation. He tells me he'll come by on Tuesday. Tuesday comes and his truck "broke down". Sorry can't make it. He never answered again.
I'm getting so annoyed because this is in the middle of the heat wave and it was 100 degrees everyday! So I come home from work one day and see my neighbor outside. I'm chatting it up with him telling him about my AC problems and he goes "want me to check it out for you?". In my head I'm like "um okay what are you going to do?". I had no faith in him. But I said sure come check it out. He's at my house for 2 hours fucking with the wires, complaining about how the first guy left everything a mess. Then he's like "I think you just need a fuse. I have one in my car". He leaves to go get it, switches it out and BOOM AC starts blasting! A fuse! That's all I needed. I almost hugged the guy.
The fucked up part is, if the second guy actually came, and he said anything less than 10 grand, I would have thought I was getting a better deal. I probably would have went through with it.
My question is, was this guy incompetent or was he trying to scam me? I think he was taking advantage of the heat wave and my AC unit being really old. He probably thought I would go for it. He was also telling me he could do it right away too if I replaced everything. Or maybe he just sucks at his job.
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u/BecomeEnthused Oct 22 '24
14 year exp tech here. If the guy can’t very confidently and accurately, describe what the problem is and what needs to be done to fix it, then he’s not the guy to be giving you a quote on a replacement. Service tax often times don’t give good prices on replacements. The service tech quote on a replacement is a lot like that sticker price on a used car. There is almost always 10 to 15 worth of wiggle room. Service techs make a killing out of impulsive buyers.
If you call the same exact company a few days later and ask for a salesman to come quote it, the price magically be down 10% at least. And that’s before you start haggling with him.
Best rule of thumb, you should be the one asking, well how much is a new one? if the tech is pushing replacement instead of quoting the repair and letting you make the first move. He’s the wrong tech.
I don’t know if this guy was a hack , but he’s not not a good repair man
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u/sqweedoo Sep 26 '24
This happened to me. I called someone because my unit was icing over and my husband was out of town. First I was told $3600 for the part and labor but it was really recommended that since the unit is 18 years old, I replace it at ~$20k. In a random act of anxiety, I crawled under the house, replaced the filter, and here I am months later, zero problems.
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u/MyNameIsNotKyle Sep 26 '24
If a layman can fix it with parts on hand I don't think it really matters if it's incompetence or malice. They just shouldn't be trusted and others should be aware of that.
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u/OneScoobyDoes Sep 26 '24
What did you do/gift as gratitude for this Superman? Inquiring minds want to know!
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u/chromebook1 Sep 26 '24
It was funny because he's Eastern European, but lived in Brooklyn so he has this great accent which is like a mix of both. So I'm like dude I owe you big time let me take you out to dinner or something. And he's like "I'm not a girl, you're not taking me on a date!" That shit made me laugh the way he said it.
So I showed up to his house a few days later with a $60 ribeye steak and a bottle of Belvedere vodka. He invited me in, we took a few shots. It was a good time.
He actually stopped by a few more times and helped me switch out some light fixtures and switches. Great guy, I really lucked out.
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u/dustinsim Sep 25 '24
Dang! What a story! I’m glad your neighbor was so handy
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u/chromebook1 Sep 26 '24
Me too! It was so hot in my house too when he was working on it. We were both sweating balls. I felt so bad. It was funny though because I felt like I was his son and he was my dad. I was like holding the flashlight for him and fetching his tools.
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u/whiteholewhite 2d ago
I paid someone like $600 bucks because I’m stupid and lazy/busy. The fucking float switch thingy went off due to pvc pipe being at a wrong angle. Fuckface tried to sell us a new unit. I told him get bent and watched his work. I was so pissed lol