help on Trane air/heat - SaltwaterCentral.Com

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seapro180
Posts: 567
Location: Winston Salem
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Thu May 31, 2018 11:29 am
As cheap and easy as small claims is, that would be my solution. Not because I'm a cheap ass but because I'm stubborn. If I'm quoted $300 and charged $400, fine. Maybe even $450 I would be okay with. But $800. Oh hell no. If I'm going to pay them $800 it's going to be because the court ordered me to.

I would get quotes from a few different companies IN WRITING explaining the parts needed, hours needed to do the job, etc. Those quotes would be going to court with me so I can ask them and make them answer in front of a judge why they charged double what they quoted and double what everyone else charges. Not to mention the court WILL SIDE WITH YOU in the fact that they did work you did not authorize (being everything they didn't quote you)

Odds are, if you slap them with a small claims suit, they won't take it that far and be willing to only charge you what they quoted
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fishangel
Posts: 816
Location: Morehead City, NC
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Thu May 31, 2018 11:41 am
I agree with seapro 100%.  
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downeaster
Posts: 359
Location: Carteret County
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Thu May 31, 2018 1:19 pm
am I supposed to initiate the small claims court approach or supposed to wait for the company to take me to court? Not going to send them a dime until they come closer to the price I was quoted or the price that others have suggested it should have been. The following is their last statement of charges:Diagnostic 89
One Shot Tank & Recovery 180
Installing a TXV & filter drier with shipping and brazing materials then pulling a vacuum 465.20

This totals 734.20 - 15% (senior citizen discount) = 624.07

624.07 + 6.75% tax = 666.19
  
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cashmorkie
Posts: 89
Location: Topsail Beach
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Thu May 31, 2018 2:57 pm
Sorry to jump in especially since I missed the initial thread but...I agree with Seapro with one small addition. If they originally quoted you $300 and have finished the work, I personally would send them a check for the initial agreed amount. That way you have honored your part of the initial understood agreement. The business likely will not pursue this in small claims court, they are more likely to place a lean on your home-which the law does allow.
My $400 check to them would include a letter addressing my understanding of the initial estimate and advising "Full and final payment for estimate # ___". Just my 2 cents. Good luck
  
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seapro180
Posts: 567
Location: Winston Salem
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Thu May 31, 2018 4:32 pm
downeaster wrote:
am I supposed to initiate the small claims court approach or supposed to wait for the company to take me to court? Not going to send them a dime until they come closer to the price I was quoted or the price that others have suggested it should have been. The following is their last statement of charges:Diagnostic 89
One Shot Tank & Recovery 180
Installing a TXV & filter drier with shipping and brazing materials then pulling a vacuum 465.20

This totals 734.20 - 15% (senior citizen discount) = 624.07

624.07 + 6.75% tax = 666.19


Keep in mind...I AM NOT A LAWYER. However, not only do I have a very good understanding of our judicial system, but I unfortunately have initiated small claims court 3 times for the exact same kind of BS your dealing with now. The outcome? I won all three. The first one, I called to get all of their legal information and explained to them that I had no problem paying what I was initially told but I wasn't paying a dime more. If they wanted to accept full payment of the original amount then they could write me out a bill for that amount, I'll pay it, and it would be done. However, if they continued to refuse an officer of the court would be dropping off papers in the next 15 days and the next time we spoke would be in front of a judge. This resulted in them agreeing and I paid the original amount and it was over.
Second time, I did the same thing as above. Except this time they said see you in court. Court day arrives and I have done my homework to present as much evidence as I possibly could to the judge showing what I was told why I was being screwed etc. Remember in my previous post I said "THE COURT WILL SIDE WITH YOU in the fact that they did work you did not authorize"??? Well, this is what got them. The judge ruled in my favor because they did not "consult the client".
Third time...this one was the easiest one yet. I won by default because they didn't even show up!

Be sure you subtract your court cost from what you agreed to pay them as well. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Make them pay for the time cost and frustrations they have caused you.

Now, to answer your question. Yes, you should initiate it. No, do not wait until they do it. If you do it, you have leverage. This shows you want to pay them and that your not just trying to skip out for free service. THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY WITH A JUDGE. (Especially if he has been screwed by someone like this before)

First thing you need to do if you choose this route is to call them one last time. Be sure you speak with the owner/person in charge.

***Tell them about your research and that you feel your getting taken advantage of. Not only because other companies have said they would charge half of what they did but, that you was given a quote and based off of that quote you authorized the work OF THAT QUOTE. No other work was authorized. (Notice I keep saying AUTHORIZED) this is a very powerful word especially in front of a judge.
Proceed to tell them that this IS YOUR FINAL ATTEMPT TO PAY FOR SERVICES RENDERED for the amount and only the amount you were quoted and if they choose not to accept, an OFFICER OF THE COURT will be delivering papers to settle the matter in front of a judge MINUS COURT COSTS.***

Since I have played this game before I will be more than happy to walk you through the whole process one step at a time. I would definitely call and follow the steps I wrote above first. If they still say no, then you haven't lost anything. You can then choose to move to the next step or not. Youst might be surprised. Nobody wants to take a day off work to go deal with the court. You just might be paying your quoted cost as I doubt they will want to deal with it.
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fishangel
Posts: 816
Location: Morehead City, NC
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Thu May 31, 2018 5:34 pm
The people at Carteret County Court House are very nice and if my memory is right, it is $35 to file with the court and $25 each for the Sheriff to deliver the summons, in this case just one, which you get back from the defendant if you win. You are the one who has to file.  
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downeaster
Posts: 359
Location: Carteret County
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Thu May 31, 2018 6:13 pm
thanks folks for the much needed help.  
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glacierbaze
Posts: 825
Location: Chapel Hill/Pine Knoll Shores, NC
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Thu May 31, 2018 8:02 pm
You said the original quote was "around $300", so do what Seapro suggested. Offer them a one time settlement for $350, and before you hand them any money, have your original bill voided and signed, and a new one for the agreed amount signed, "Paid in full". No one is going to court for the balance. If you need to, point out that potential customers have over 1300 views at this thread, and you haven't even mentioned his name, YET!  
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jasonafox
Posts: 605
Location: The LA
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Fri Jun 01, 2018 7:09 am
baytro23 wrote:
jasonafox wrote:
baytro23 wrote:
You guys that hate Trane, go buy a Lennox. lmao Around Raleigh the going rate to replace a TXV in warranty is $600-$900. The refrigerant can be re-used. We run it thru a filter dryer on the way out.

This job involves going out to diagnose (15 mins to 3 hrs depending on the competency of the tech) // going to the parts house to pick up the part // going back to your house to install which involves brazing, nitrogen, and sticks of solder at $4 a piece // vacuum // re-charge // checkout // then driving back to the parts house to turn the warranty part in // then getting billed for the part for 3 months in a row because they refuse to issue warranty credit til the owner (me) goes in and talks to a manager (yes this happens more often than it should).

We get $75 per lb of R410 and $125 per lb (lowest in town) for R22.

You people bitching about the 2 hrs a tech spends at your house have no clue what it costs to run a business. I'll be the 1st to admit there's a lot of crooks in HVAC. Choose wisely. I haven't paid for advertising in over a decade and my business has grown every yr.

We're entitled to work as hard as we want to fund our food, mortgage, boat, retirement, social security (double), have as many kids as we want and can afford, etc., etc., etc.

How much do you make? How much is your employer funding for your ss each month?, for your 401k? for your health insurance? When people bitch about what the trades make they compare (in their minds) their takehome pay. Compare apples to apple sometime and you might be surprised.

FYI - why should we make less for an in warranty job? We're missing out on the parts profit so we charge more for labor on in warranty repairs to try and net the same profit (we're doing the same job). We give a 2 yr warranty on labor and I give my customers a break on labor after that so most of the above is talking about warranty jobs we did not install.

End of rant.



So if you quote a guy $400, then charge him $800 because you weren't skilled enough to diagnose the problem and perform an accurate estimate, said guy should be on the hook for your incompetence?


I don't know how to answer that. I always diagnose correctly and bill what I say. Why would anyone use a company that can't do the job right?

No sir. If you go a dollar over your estimate, and you expect to get paid for it, you better damn well get a customer's approval before doing the "extra" work. I think that's what small claims court will say.



If I quote $400 I charge $400. How did you get I charge double or that I am not skilled enough to diagnose any problem I run across from my post?


I did not mean you had done that, I just wanted to make the point that if you make a quote, and you need to charge more due to some unforeseen problem, then you can't just run the bill up and hold your customer accountable without their consent. You just happened to be the guy trying to defend technicians doing the work. Nothing personal.
  
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help on Trane air/heat - SaltwaterCentral.Com