sperman Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 My AC went out today. It turns out the contactors had gone bad. The bill to replace the defective part was $300. This is a part that you can buy online for $25, and took about 15 minutes to replace. I guess the rest of the cost was for being at my house at 7pm on a Sunday night. (This doesn't inlcude the $90 to diagnose what was wrong with the system.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamma Slamma Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I run a roofing company. I can tell you that a $300 bill is cheap. I mean think about it for a second, Sunday's and Holidays are over time. For service calls I charge a minimum of 2 man hours. The part may be $25 but what about shipping and/or transportation of the part to your location. At the end of the day, even if they ripped you off, what for maybe $50? In my area a normal hourly rate for a M.E.P. service tech is about $90 an hour and $1.5x on over time. Materials are usually marked up anywhere from 20-100%. I understand, you probably had that $300 ear marked for some other project, I am right there with you buddy, money is tight! But seriously $300 aint that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outerlimits Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Gotta love unions (flame suit on)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EkuJustice Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 (edited) Thats why you dont get stuff fixed on a weekend. Even with the ac, its not that hard to wait a day for the weekday. I agree with you on the OT for the weekend. Holiday yes but if your in a service job, you shouldn't expect it to be M-F and bill extra for the weekend Edited July 18, 2011 by EkuJustice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ima45dv8 Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 From the Hate Froum guidelines, available at the top of this page: General or supportive-related comments are not prohibited; however - rebuttals are specifically prohibited. If you don't agree with someone's rant - keep it to yourself If you don't agree with Scott's Hate, stay out of it. No counter-commentary allowed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamma Slamma Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 (edited) Sorry. I wasn't necessary trying to argue, just trying to point out that contractors aren't all living high on the hog. I'll butt out now. I'll definetly stay away from this section of the forum in the future since I don't agree with that rule either. Edited July 18, 2011 by Hamma Slamma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankfan79 Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 My AC went out today. It turns out the contactors had gone bad. The bill to replace the defective part was $300. This is a part that you can buy online for $25, and took about 15 minutes to replace. I guess the rest of the cost was for being at my house at 7pm on a Sunday night. (This doesn't inlcude the $90 to diagnose what was wrong with the system.) I hate you got ripped off AND YOU DID. Standard service call is about $85-100. A contactor takes literally less than 2 minutes to diagnose. True to the fact of you DID call on a Sunday meaning that someone had to be dispatched out. Price of the part would depened on whether is was single or double contact. $300 is a little steep but I could see $200 easily. And yes, I am EPA and HVAC certified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trini Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 My AC went out today. It turns out the contactors had gone bad. The bill to replace the defective part was $300. This is a part that you can buy online for $25, and took about 15 minutes to replace. I guess the rest of the cost was for being at my house at 7pm on a Sunday night. (This doesn't inlcude the $90 to diagnose what was wrong with the system.) I know what you mean... On 1 July fan motor on heat pump when out at the lake house. I had to call a dealer about 50 miles away as the guy who installed system has never given me good service after selling me the unit. The person I talked to says that they have several calls and not sure when a person can get out to check the system but probably after 4:30 and do I still want them to come out. Wife and I have several friends coming for the 4th July weekend so what am I going to say... The tech calls about 4 p.m. and says he is on the way out.. Gets there about 5 and starts right in and and says "the fan motor is out" and man am I lucky that he still has one in the truck. When I talked to the dealer I gave them the model and serial number of the unit so he would come prepared to fix it. After about 40 minutes he was done and gave me a bill for $450. I wasn't a happy camper till I figured that the difference in cost between repairs being done during regular hours and after hours was only $90 (3 hrs. of the O/T) as I still would have had to pay for a service call, mileage, regular hourly rate and parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Yeah, every time I see the hourly rates that tradesmen charge for plumbing, electrical repairs, mechanical work, etc., it reminds me that I have no reason to ever feel self-conscious about the attorney's fees I charge my clients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVZ Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Yeah, every time I see the hourly rates that tradesmen charge for plumbing, electrical repairs, mechanical work, etc., it reminds me that I have no reason to ever feel self-conscious about the attorney's fees I charge my clients. I hope you realize the rates charged by the shop are not the amount paid to the Tradesmen MVZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitedog Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Amen to that. Ford charged $90. I got $22. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CocoBolo Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Yeah hookers and AC men they know your hot and desperate! I just bought a new furnace and a new evaporator the outside unit the first place I called was $6300, but I wasn't hot and desperate so I did some shopping got it done for $3183 (same equipment 31/2 ton 14 Seer) so what was the extra $3117, cause they can get it Eplurimus Unium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okc icore Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 i couldnt agree more with the bad hourly rates but your wife can live without ac and electric but would she walk 30yds to an out house when the temps are 15 degrees ? it could be worse and replace the whole unit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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