freind s 5 ton ac went out last wed.they had about 7 ac companies come to give estimate, they all said unit was 20 years old and wouldnt fix the leak.estimates were about 5000.00 and not a good time for my freind to spend that much . its getting pretty bad when you cant get a leak fixed..sunday i went to napa,got a ac compression fitting , cut out the bad part ,put it on,vacumed and recharged. i realize its an old system,but i think you should be able to have a leak fixed if you want with no guarantee. lucas
And if someone did fix the leak and the 20 year system failed after a short period your friend would be calling the AG and every TV station about those evil businesses that charge for repairs that didn't hold up.
Trade licensing essentially outlaws minor repairs by making it difficult to enter the trade, restricting supply and raising costs. Thus the market provides only more expensive repair methods (such as remove-and- replace) even though a cheap, quick fix like your leak repair may be well worth doing.
In other words, the licensed contractors stand to collect $5K installing $1.5K worth of equipment, because they've colluded and licensed themselves into an agreement to fleece you by that much. They will justify such markups in their minds by the apparent costs of these self- imposed restraints, rather than being honest with themselves that they are running a legal racketeering organization. Anyone who tries to operate more efficiently is forbidden a license and forcibly stopped if operating unlicensed.
This is the trade licensing scam. You should be able to run an A/C business without such artificial barriers to entry. Let those that want to "protect the consumer" certify contractors who meet technical standards, but don't force the uncertified from doing business. The consumer can choose whether to hire certified contractors. This is basic economic freedom. The US is quite unfree, a police state, in this regard.
Believe it or not, it's actually easier to replace a whole condensing unit than to replace a compressor or to repair a leak. I never cease to be amazed at how lazy some HVAC guys are but it's all about speed and profit. People want that AC working real quick and are often willing to pay a high price for it. But for some reason, it's very hard to get people to pay for preventive maintenance. The $5000.00 price tag is not far out of line for a 5-ton system. A rough estimate for me and my guys used to be $1,000.00 per ton for the then normal
10 SEER system. Now that the government (US) mandated minimum efficiency is now 13 SEER, prices have gone up. I can't wait until the R-22 units are phased out for the newer even more expensive higher pressure refrigerant HVAC systems. I'll have to wear ear plugs to preserve my hearing because of all the obscenities being screamed at me when I give someone a price on a new system. All I can tell them is "You voted for them, the people who passed these laws".
[8~{} Uncle Monster
Clearly you have never been involved in the operation of a business. If you operate a service business of any type and fall into the "it only has to work for a few more weeks" or whatever repair on old/marginal equipment there is 99.97% certainty that they will behave as if they paid for a new equipment installation and will become irate when it fails in any way (including things that were not even touched). Business operators know it is best to walk away when someone wants their "pinto" repaired.
Yup - you are right. All the air conditioning and heating contractors are fat, and happy living in their luxary homes with big fancy cars and smoking huge cigars! You are right, all they want to do is rip people off........
Then there's the one about the southern bride who came back from her honeymoon in tears. When her mother asked her the problem she replied that her husband was always using nasty four-letter words: DUST, WASH...
wrote: So why didn't you fix it in the first place?
------------------------------------ they thought an hvac company could fix a simple leak.. when our seven locals couldnt.they asked who does mine and my rental properties. i said i did ,,and they asked me to fix it. my heart wasnt in it,bu it was 105 degrees last few weeks..now they were willing to have it done with no guarantee in writing. but the hvac guys wouldnt/couldnt do it.. i think they are just parts replacement repairmen,no real skill in fixing a leak. lucas
wrote in news:61e03$46c3bf4f$9440c41e$17848 @STARBAND.NET:
Lookit here son, I say son, did ya see that hawk after those hens? He scared 'em! That Rhode Island Red turned white. Then blue. Rhode Island. Red, white, and blue. That's a joke, son. A flag waver. You're built too low. The fast ones go over your head. Ya got a hole in your glove. I keep pitchin' 'em and you keep missin' 'em. Ya gotta keep your eye on the ball. Eye. Ball. I almost had a gag, son. Joke, that is.
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