Posted on December 21st, 2018
Honesty. Dependability. Fair pricing. These are important qualities that you probably want in all the people you deal with in your daily life, but especially in something as important as home AC repair. Air conditioning service is something that can be quite expensive, especially if you’re overpaying or paying for services you don’t need. How, then, do you find a company you can trust to service your AC? Here are a few tips.
The Value of Recommendations
The hardest part sometimes is getting started. If you don’t know where to start looking, it’s time to start talking. Ask friends and family who they’ve used and what their experiences were like. Look for more than just a vague recommendation. Some specific questions to ask include:
- Was the quote high, low, or about the same as others you contacted for quotes?
- Was the final price more, less, or the same as what you were quoted?
- Was the work what you were initially told to expect, or did it turn out to need something else?
- Did the technician show up at the appointed time? Or did they change the time at the last minute or show up late?
- When the technician left, was the problem fixed?
Reliability: Why It’s Important
Most people, when they are looking for home AC repair, look first at price. But there are other factors that are just as important, if not more so, and one of these is the company’s reliability.
Why is reliability so important? First of all, your time is important too, and you want a company that understands that. When you plan time out of your busy day to be home for a repair, you need to be sure that the serviceman is going to be there at the scheduled time.
Even more importantly, you need a company that you can count on to make promised repairs. Air conditioning may not be as important as, say, heating or plumbing, but without air conditioning, your home can still become very uncomfortable very quickly. There’s nothing more frustrating than to think you only have to hold out another day or two, only to find out that the technician can’t finish the work as promised.
What’s a Good Price?
The concept of affordability can vary greatly from person to person, but what it really comes down to is the best possible price in the industry for the best quality work. Home AC repair isn’t affordable if it isn’t done right and has to be redone, or if a company lures you in with a low quote and then upcharges you with more work that didn’t need to be done.
So how do you find affordable home AC repair? If you don’t already have a personal recommendation of a company with proven affordability, the next best approach is to get quotes from several different companies. Although it might be tempting to choose the cheapest quote, watch out for lowball quotes as they might represent shoddy quality or a bait-and-switch tactic. Instead, consider the quotes in the middle of the range. Most likely one of those will represent your best chance at high quality for an affordable price.
Trust Your Gut
Finding honesty, reliability, and affordability all at the same time can be challenging, so possibly the best advice you will ever get is to trust your gut. Do your homework first, of course: Ask for recommendations, research credentials, and get quotes from multiple companies. Talk to the technicians at each company before deciding, but when it comes down to it, trust what your gut tells you. Sometimes your best indicators of who you want to go with will come from having a conversation with the technician and deciding for yourself whether they seem like someone you can trust.
Looking for honest, reliable, affordable and experienced HVAC service? Maeser has been a household name in plumbing and HVAC for over 40 years. Contact us today to get a quote or schedule service with one of our technicians.