I had a furnace diagnosis done. $250.
PROS: neat, clean, polite, on time
CONS: expensive, pricing unclear, slow, charged labour rates to order parts and check on warranty, felt very sketchy.
I hired this company based on reviews from homestars site but later discovered the site is not considered to be very reputable. I thought the cost was $109 for the diagnosis but that is the cost to show up. Then they charge $129 per hour labour. I wouldn't have hired then if I understood that. However, even though they were unclear, I thought the misunderstanding was reasonable (though disappointing). The tech took the entire hour to "diagnose" the problem with 20 minutes of that hour spent in his vehicle.....checking on the warranty coverage. I don't think that this is legitimate part of the labour fee. Certainly the company I eventually hired didn't charge me labour for those things.
The second thing about the length of the diagnosis (exactly one hour), is that I knew what the problem was, I knew the error codes and told the tech. I needed the Hvac certified diagnosis to get the warranty. It's very simple issue to diagnose....I could appreciate that there are some standard best practices and extras to check to see if there maybe additional problems but it really shouldn't have taken more than 30 minutes at the absolute most (with all the extras)!
The third thing I was disappointed about was I told the company before coming was that it was a warranty job and I wanted the job under warranty. I was VERY CLEAR about this. I mentioned it twice on the phone and once by email. They told me after they had completed the diagnosis and I had paid the bill that they would offset my bill by the warranty amount but wouldn't do the job for the amount provided under the warranty (100% parts and labour).
To be fair, I dealt with three other companies and the warranty amount provided is less than market rates in Edmonton. One company even denied there was a warranty. It is not popular. The warranty company warned me about this and I warned First Call. If they had been up front and honest that they would charge me extra, I would not have hired them and I felt taken advantage of. It seemed dishonest to me to say you will accept warranty work but then charge the client extra.
Fourth, I was rather aghast when the tech told me I should appreciate their willingness to offset the warranty because some companies will submit warranty claims without telling the homeowners and pocket it as profit.......whaaaaaaaattttt?
I'm giving this place two stars rather than one because I think they may have been poorly represented by this employee. Their pricing is still higher than average but they are readily available. So if you need something done quickly, they can likely accommodate you without having to pay their overtime rate. I would suggest that you stay with them while working to insure you are charged for genuine labour. I would also make sure you agree up front that "truck time" is not "labour". read more
