I own a cottage (well to be truthful, a walkout ranch) in northern Wisconsin that I heat year round. I try and get up there at least every two weeks to check on it and make sure everything's OK, etc. This last Thursday I went up there to find the temperature to be 80 degrees. In the basement I found that one of the zone valves was stuck open (two zone hydronic baseboard heat).
I called a local heating & cooling place who sent out a technician within two hours of the phone call who replaced the old zone valve in forty minutes.
This Saturday I received the bill. Total cost was $300 itemized as follows: truck charge: $20, labor & travel: $105, zone valve: $150, flare connectors: $10, tax: $15.
Overall I am very happy with the whole experience. $300 is a lot of money for me, but I fully understand that running any business in a small community has it's costs. (skilled employees, trucks, inventory, etc). Having the ability to place a call and have service performed so quickly was great.
My only question I have is the pricing of the actuator/valve. An internet search for the zone valve & actuator (Erie poptop) shows that I could buy one for about $50. Does this mean a) my local H&C vendor is getting overcharged? b) his markup is around 350%, c) the internet item is a "grey market" item? or d) pricing of hardware is generally overinflated so the bill for labor doesn't look so bad.
My guess is D, I think a bill of $160/105 parts/labor looks more palatable to customers that $60/205 even though the total is the same. Yet finding the same item on the internet could raise issues for some people who could see the price disparity as an issue.
Like I said, I had a very good experience but I am interested in the rational used to determine parts pricing.