I'm a 20 year HVAC tech, and when I'm rushing from call to call it's likely I might initially miss a deliberately unplugged igniter. That sort of problem doesn't ever just happen to a furnace, so why look for it? Of course once you've replaced the igniter and the new one doesn't work either, you'd of course find the real problem. A more fair test would be to set up the furnace with a faulty part in it and see if the tech could properly identify it.
so you would replace the ignitor without ohming it out? or even better yet dont you want to make sure voltage is coming out of the board to the ignitor? dont guess, be certain
Performance Based Heating & Air , most of the time a burned igniter will show a burned or cracked spot. If I don't see that, then yes I'm checking voltages. But my point is that this is a bogus test. When is the last time you responded to a call and found an unplugged igniter?
been doing this for 10 years. its easy to trick a technician with a disconnected plug.. when you do actual repairs you dont come across unplugged boards. a good tech will trace out the power failure and figure it out eventually but that is a dirty trick. what they should have done was put an actual broken part on the furnace and see if they find it and see how they take it from there.
Richard Recupero Exactly! I look for things that go out normally or vibrate loose.. what would happen every time a weather person misses a call.. those guys probably only know how to fix the basics.. if they fix your furnace for a hundred bucks you didn't get ripped, even if they try to save face by doctoring their diagnosis.
Richard Recupero While I agree that they should have put a broken part on the furnace, the one guy had it firing and still lied about the part needing to be replaced.
I call BS. Ive been in the industry for over 20 years and have come across COUNTLESS loose connections, broken wires, broken retainers on connectors, terminals pushed out. If you do “actual repairs” you don’t just throw out a part that isn’t working. You check to see why it isn’t working. Igniters need power to function. That’s the first thing you check if the igniter isn’t working. Just because the igniter doesn’t glow doesn’t mean it’s bad. Several things need to happen before the igniter will even energize. If you don’t prove draft it will never try to fire. That’s what the pressure switches are for. How do you know the igniter is supposed to be hot if you don’t check for output from the control? I can’t stand parts changers. They give us all a bad name.
I agree, Scott. As an example, recently I checked our pool heater because of failed ignition. Upon doing a resistance test on the HSI, it tested good, so it was something else. Turns out, it was a blown fuse. Replaced it, and 3 years later, still working great!
"Hey you're a scammer because you didn't find the plug that was manually disconnected that would never be disconnected in a real life situation." Says the journalist who works for comcast
I'm an HVAC technician and I'm amazed that most of these guys caught the problem. I find that so many guys just start trying to change out parts. If I saw a wire that wasn't pushed in together, my alarm bells would immediately be ringing. Those things don't come apart by themselves.
2:54 "how could you miss something so simple" Maybe because he isn't used to opening up a furnace and checking to see if someone sneakily disconnected a random wire and instead naturally is going to be on the hunt for a part that went faulty. I mean, come on! What trouble call are you going to get from some old lady who has no idea how a furnace work, and immedately start checking every single plug in the unit to see if someone messed with them. What sense does that even make?
+Michael G %100 agree with you. I have over looked a condensate drain shutoff switch spent a few hrs trying to get the unit powered up. OHHH was I pissed when I found out it was just the float was stuck.
+Michael G I have to agree. The connectors are designed not to disconnect themselves so it would not occur to most guys to check them. On the other hand, there's no excuse for just throwing parts at it.
I'm not trained in the air or heating business but what don't these repairmen do simple trouble shooting like I will do with a problem with a car? If I'm not getting any power or lights in my car, should I check the battery connections, then the voltage or just replace the starter and battery as my first choice? These guys were con artists!
Will M. The basics 12v DC starting system in a car isn't the same at this. A lose battery connection is very common in a car. A random plug becoming disconnected isn't common at all inside a furnace. Those are locking connectors, they click into place. The only way they come undone is if you disconnect them, and why in the world should a repair person suspect someone disconnected random wires, especially and old lady. Let's say that car won't start.....because I went under the car and sneakily disconnected the fuel pump connection part way. You start to take a look at the car. You find that you have no fuel pressure. You go into the fuse box, fuse is good, you take readings at the relay you have all the power at the relay. You don't hear the fuel pump running. Now tell me, are you honestly going to be like "Well let me see if someone pulled that fuel pump connector apart before I order a new pump"????? I highly doubt it.... 101 things can go wrong with the fuel pump circuit, but why in the world would you suspect sabotage if you had no reason too? Just like that repair man.
I do work like this all the time. I get a smile on my face when it's something simple. Because my customer smiles when they don't get charged $500. Making people happy is worth more than money!
BBB is an absolute joke. I was scammed and sued by a guy who had an A+ on the BBB. Your best defense is having knowledge about whatever is being worked on. Sad but true.
I normally like this specials but you guys need to apologize for Matt. He tried his best. He even called for help. You are nasty for trying to put him on blast
matt lied straight up to the lady and the reporter why feel sorry for him because he didn't take the $50 cause he was scared he would catch a criminal charge for taking money?
@@benson2873 it has nothing to do with the layout. That wire they disconnected would never be disconnected on a real call. Not only did they disconnect it but they tried to make it look like it was still plugged in. Those other guys tho... Yea fuck them
That’s what my local installer did. He called Trane technology. And they lied to my installer. A 2,5 day install took now 4 weeks, till my new xv20i was finally running as designed. I paid $19000, and Trane is lying to me and the installer
Got called out to a cold house with a single mother with 3 young children.....I could tell she was struggling. It was as simple as a tripped breaker! I couldn't bring myself to even charge a service call. Sometimes it's not all about Money!
Me and my AC.... 🙄🙄🙄 it was on the same line as the plug where I blow dry my hair and it had tripped. I checked the box outside but didn’t think to look in the BATHROOM. thankfully an honest man came & checked
@Ryan Carlen Exactly, I made a similar point above. There's an implied warranty when you come out to fix things. If something goes wrong or you mistook a simple fix for something more complex, the customer will expect you to return for free and quite often, will bitch and moan about paying for the real issue when you eventually diagnose it. Throw them a freebie for a simple call or charge them a low price and they'll expect you to keep your $50 from the first call but replace a breaker for example. I'm also in the service business, different business but same principle. You've got to get it right the first time, or give the customer a thorough explanation as to what you did and what your service call covers and that there might be another issue and you can check for them but have to charge full price. In my case most customers are happy with the quick fix and most of the time it's the right fix. The once a month or so it turns out to be something different a gentle reminder of our conversation keeps them on track.
As a repairmen in a different field, our experience plays a role in troubleshooting. We may work years in a trade without ever seeing any wire connection unplugged because they snap fit together and are never a problem. So we can sometimes be our own worst enemy. But that doesn’t imply dishonesty.
And no dishonesty was even implied on the one guy who couldn’t identify the issue, even if the newsman was maybe a little harsh in asking “How could you miss it?!?” Note that everyone else (both honest and dishonest) DID quickly identify the issue, negating the point about it being an unfair, easily missed ‘dirty trick’. The story isn’t about tricking techs to show incompetency. The story was about bailing scammers who DID correctly diagnose and resolve the issue, but then CHOSE to lie to the homeowner and suggest unnecessary repairs that would net them more revenue. I mean, Christ, the last guy gets caught, ADMITS he lied and did it because he needs the influx of cash. How much more evidence does one need to show that he was scamming?
This is not deception. All of the honest guys, except one, caught it. A decent tech should be able to catch this; and for the one guy who made the honest mistake, they made sure to convey to the audience that he wasn't being a crook. Good for them!
Yes it is no one expects a connecter the come unplugged by itself. The guy that plugged it in then lied is guilty but not sure about other. Why make trouble on purpose screams jewery.
@@techemically I guess you missed the part where he insulted him by asking "how long have you done this work and how could you miss something this easy'.
2:45 that happens more often then you think... I'm a lic tech and I misdiagnosed my own furnace. That happens that's why it's a learning process. As he said, if it didn't work he wouldn't charger her for the part. I would use him again,
I'm a licensed HVAC contractor with my own business.. Thermal Design.. I love when these crooks get busted!! They give us a bad rep. There is much more to being licensed than just being a tech. Anybody can call themselves a "tech". Here's a heads up.. those fittings are snapped/locked together. They don't just come apart. Any idiot could spot that setup!
We've had plenty of these "stings" in our area in the past 5 years. There's always 1-2 techs that are dishonest but it's always out of at least 10 techs. It's like that in EVERY profession. 10-15% of companies and/or it's people will try to screw you. I always tell people to steer clear of the HVAC companies who pay their techs commission. I worked at a company that would pay commission on new equipment, certain thermostats, upgrade parts, etc. So many techs were salesman and barely knew how to diagnose systems. If they didn't know what was wrong, you needed a new furnace or ac.
Dude same here I worked at a very professional company and most of the techs didn't check pressures or look at the evap coil and say "holy shit that's dirty" then charge them 2 grand for uv lights, bulbs evap cleaning and so on. Even when I was there and it was clean as possible
The bust at 3:00 is an innocent mistake.The client was complaining about no heat, so he immediately opened the heating panel.The blower motor started up, so he didn't bother to open up that panel even though he should have.
It takes a certain kind of person to do this to someone. As a professional motorcycle technical it feels good to tell the customer that they dont need to spend as much money as they thought.. To make up a problem is despicable. Half the time we don't charge for the whole job let alone easy fixes! Those are free as a goodwill service and serves as the best word of mouth advertising you can get
What makes someone even happier than making someone else happy, is moneeeeey. Green baby, but I suppose if your an individual then honesty would be better, for regular business.
I like how the news guy asked how he could miss something so simple. I would've given him my meter and told him to check voltages in the sequence of operations while talking it out that told him it was the plug. (Volt coming in, door switch, transformer, etc) It is easy but still bet he couldn't do it lmao
WTF is your point. The whole point of hiring an HVAC tech and not a newsman to diagnose and fix a furnace issue is that the HVAC tech is trained and qualified to handle the issue. That’s kind of the way the whole thing works, paying someone a premium to fix something competently and quickly, that you yourself either a) wouldn’t be able to do as quickly or competently, or b) wouldn’t be able to do at all and/or potentially make the problem worse and end up needing to pay even more to replace the now more serious issue. What you’re saying is like yelling at a heart surgeon doing a triple bypass for removing the patient’s heart instead of fixing it, and the surgeon responding “Oglh yeah, let’s see how good YOU are at doing triple bypass surgery!”
A meter can diagnose most problems. These techs should know the sequence of operation. Also larger companies pay on commissions, which creates dishonesty and if you're not making sales and meeting profit margins, the company gets rid of you.
Mad love for Matt the plumber; he was a nice dude who spent a long time trying to fix this old ladies heating and he probably started where things often go wrong instead of something which cant just plug its-self. Id hire you any day!
Colleges suck at teaching the trade. Their only concern is pumping out “grads”. They don’t care about producing skilled trained techs. In my class of twenty, we had two that took it seriously. The rest of the class was there to get paid by the state. A literal hourly paycheck to attend trade school and learn basically nothing. Meanwhile as a veteran with an expired GI BILL I had to pay for my school and tools myself while a bunch of 18 year old idiots had sword fights with pieces of sheet metal. Good times. Spoiler, I’m one of three from my class that is actually in the trade at this point. And the other two were already working for the state in the trade.
I've been doing HVAC for 18 years and you following the sequence of operation. first if the furnace has been off for awhile first inducer, pressure switch. hot surface ignitor after. flame., flame sensor. blower motor. make sure furnace not short cycling, before all that check filter. make sure all supply and returns open, then if something is not happening that's when you go into troubleshooting. zIf furnace runs ok you ohm out hot surface ignitor and if its reading close to 100 ohms you recommend replacing it and if the flame sensor if its the original, 10+ you recommend that too,take amp draws of inducer and blower motor and see what is the max amp draw. if its higher recommend that too, check motor capacitors if reading 20% lower or too high recommend changing that too. have all this documented on invoice. give them option to replace let them make choice, if they ask how long does the unit have , you simply dont know could last one week or over a year you just dont know but you have this on invoice that way after you leave if one of the things you recommended happens it's not a call back. if the hot surface ignitor isn't coming on you check if it's open and if your getting voltage from the board. of course all safeties must be closed, if one is open then that's going to take you to another direction as to why it is open, if you get unit to run check flame and draft if you have a combustion analyzer do that to see if furnace is operating safely. In back of your mind you must think liability because you could be the last person there anything happens it's on you. You let furnace run but if it doesnt operate safely then you must shut furnace down and give reason on invoice have customer initial and sign all this for a service fee and if someone disconnected hot surface ignitor that would piss me off. I dont have time for games
Had ASI out several yes ago just before Christmas. Tried to get me to buy a new furnace for 3k. Yes THOUSAND. My friend came over and he replaced the filter and it's still working. Thanks William Chain!
When I see a disconnected wire or connector, I start looking around for a camera be cause I think I'm being set up lol. I probably would not have charge this lady a dime to reconnect it.
4:50 I just want to point out that, at 4:50 although he sounds cocky: 1. He was caught off guard by the question of "How do you know that" - most people don't ask about things like this. 2. Sometimes, you get a gut instinct that something is bad. You've seen similar patterns in the previous repairs you've done, and you literally fool yourself into thinking that it's just a routine problem. This really is just a kind of human thing to have happen. This is evident by the one guy at 2:33 who completely missed spotting the disconnected wire. (Keep in mind that disconnected wires can sometimes be normal - it depends on how the unit was designed, and likely is for some additional feature that isn't present.) Granted, there really are lazy/incompetent techs out there. I'm just trying to make sure we separate the good ones from the bad ones, as even the good ones have made a mistake or two now and then!
Im a licensed General Contractor and pride myself on being honest. I tell all my guys that we do it right or we dont do it at all. I ve had many calls that I only billed the service call fee of $58 for because of a simple fix like with the HVAC unit. Its sad that these people feel they need to rip off people and give our trades a bad name. I m thank full for each and everyone of my customers and always try to provide the best service possible.
I would have figured out once the ignitor didn't come on and checked voltage from the board noticing the plug then. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that you wouldn't expect a furnace to be sabotaged because what would a ghost come in and disconnect it.
THANK YOU. So many people trying to defend the tech. The guy guessed, didn't even take out his volt-meter. I've been in the field two years and i've learned the hard way that guessing is a costly mistake.
Wow, first time dude tried to cheat someone and gets put on national television.... Guy must be unluckiest man on the planet, or a bold-faced liar. I'm guessing liar.
I was a contactor in Lower Bucks Co.,Pa. and these contractors are ANGELS compared to a company named ACTION A/C and Heating,off Route 13,Levittown,Pa.Ben Lomus the owner basically hires people off the street,pays them a low salary but tells them they can make ALOT more by selling parts,and condemning heaters,A/C units,and Heatpumps.This is NOT hearsay,but FACT.His nick name through the Tri-County area is "Ice Pick Benny" because he is known for poking holes in homeowners(and Businesses) refrigerant coils.That $125. Ignitor the service guy was gonna charge would of been $300-$400.+Labor.
Great job guys !!! Trane is doing the same thing. Not the dealers/ installers. No Iam talking about the big company TRANE. I bought a xv20i , 04/2020. With a xl850 thermostat. 850 never worked but tRANE technology assisted it is my airflow. I never Beloit. Iam ase Master certified automotive technician. 4 weeks after starting new install, several calls , and requested help from attorney general, and install of 2 xl850. The dealer finally replaced the xl850 with a xl1050, and all is working! No airflow problem as stated by Trane. Trane is selling faulty xl850 thermostats to dealers, and tells installers to add a wireless temperature sensor. Trane is hiding the faulty thermostats, and charging customers for the faulty parts. St. Louis
There is an HVAC company owner in my subdivision. I called them to check my heat pump after it was installed three years prior by someone else. It was running perfectly, but I wanted it checked. His “best technician “ came and told me I needed all new ductwork and the start capacitor was bad. New ductwork was $12,000 and the $15 capacitor was $325. I said, ok replace the capacitor. He said thats a different service call and couldn’t do it now. I scratched his name off my list and told every homeowner around about his company.
“Why do you try and sell her something she doesn’t need?” Well it’s called making a living. Why do you try and sell us stuff we don’t need. You work for the news right? We don’t need your bs either but you make your living just fine don’t you”
I don't work on hvac but I do service stihl chainsaws. Today I had two perfect examples. One guy handed me his livelyhood and said it's tearing up chains and overheating. I tore it down and turns out it just needed cleaned in an awkward spot. Charged him for the diag and the other parts he wanted replaced while it was there. Walked out with a smile. Not an hour later another walks in complaining that the chain isn't moving. I already know what it is but I go through my routine. He didn't know how to operate the chain brake. Guy walked out feeling pretty dumb but smiling and I didn't charge a dime.
Any time someone is lying to you they will cross their arms or scratch themselves and will have difficulty maintaining eye contact. Believe it or not, it is very hard for the average person to knowingly tell a lie. Most ppl are good deep down and doing wrong makes them uncomfortable.
for all the years ive worked in repairing troubleshooting furnaces, and boilers ive never replaced a pressure switch. and never walked out of a job without completing, even if it took sometimes up to 3 or 4 trips
I replace pressure switch's all the time, I live at a high elevation and allot of my competition is all about the quick sale knowing nothing about current specific gravity and static pressure not to mention leaving the furnace over-fired. YES pressure switch's do fail as well, I have a stack of Goodman York and Intertherm (nordine) pressure switch's to prove it!
Actually I have replaced a carrier. Switch. Pressure switches fail all the time. But usually something else isn't working properly. Out of the past 1000 service calls I've been to only replaced 1 pressure switch. And probably only left maximum of 3 jobs without fixing problem.
Well ether you have not been in the business long or you're just lucky. Elevation is a major factor when selecting a furnace brand. most brands use pressure switch's for elevations up to 4500 feet above sea level, any higher elevation requires a high elevation pressure switch which the supplier should provide. Our company ran into a slew of York furnaces that all had the wrong pressure switch in them over 500 of them most of which we installed. York of blamed the problem on us until we had a rep from the factory come out and figure out the pressure switch's were all wrong, we told them that from the beginning it costed our company $1000s in callbacks York only provided the new switch's and never admitted they were wrong (of course) but every one of those switch's were bad at least at 5200 feet. good at 4500 and below.
Sometimes you overlook stuff as a contractor. Customer says toilet or sink is leaking in the basement because of wet spot. You don't see any evidence because they failed to tell you the caulking in the shower is gone and 3 people took back to back showers when it leaked.
Any computer tech this is cemented in my head always check the switches and power cables , connectors. This is part of basic repair procedures regardless of it's a desktop computer or a furnace!!!
My sister was quoted $1,500 for a new furnace 20 years ago because the heat exchanger was cracked. I took it apart and the top was rusted and had holes in it. I called a welding company and had them bring a 1/4" round steel plate and weld it to the top of the heat exchanger. They charged $50.00 for everything.
As a commercial and residential window washer, I work every job like theres a nanny cam somewhere. I go into mansions with LV bags, belts, xboxs, playstations, computers worth more than my truck, jewelry. I dont even acknowledge them. I was once blamed for stealing a 5k$ ring, the customers called once I left and I said then I'll see u in court...they called back and their maid of 13 years saw her chance to steal while framing me, the pawn shop recovered the ring and she was caught. She called back but I more or less didn't accept her apology cuz her husband said he saw me take it and she said he'd never lie about something like that.
look where the furnace flue and water heater flue go through the ceiling. 1 inch to combustibles and nobody said anything about that! im a licensed real estate inspector.
I understand missing the disconnected wire. Why would you even look for that? If the furnace is several years old, your first instinct isn't to look for installation issues. It's to look for a failure. If I had been diagnosing the issue, I would have let it run through the steps, and seen: 1) Powers on. 2) Inducer turns on. 3) gas valve turns on (you hear the click, so you know the pressure switches are good). No flame, and I never saw the igniter get hot (or spark, if it's that old), so it must be a problem with the igniter. Put a meter on the terminals for the igniter, and I have power. There you go. Igniter failure. Now, when I went to pull it out to see what model it was, I probably would have noticed the connector and plugged it back in. Then I would have asked who else has been messing around with your furnace.
15 years as a tech. I see loose connections quite often, usually a wire nut though, I also follow up on other techs and companies and scratch my head wondering what the heck? Most techs are not techs. They are parts changers. Latest example that got me a account with 11 commercial building, commercial 3 phase pkg unit, not cooling or heating, customer said the original company said the unit needs replace for over $10k he called another and they said it needs a compressor $6k. Third opinion was mine. Compressor was loud and not pumping. Opened blower section blower was running backwards. Swapped 2 power legs and it all worked, my first thought was where the heck are the cameras. Told the customer what it was and he didnt believe me that it was working, that was almost 3 years ago now. They are still working and a lifetime customer. Honesty, even if it hurts your pride and current pocket book, is still the best policy.
The dude who missed the wire is right, that shit happens sometimes. Doesnt mean hes bad just means he missed something simple, happens all the time doesnt make him bad at his job.
11 years appliance repair experience, you know i can recall less than 10 occasions where a loose plug or connection of any sort was the problem. broken wire, sure, burned out connection, sure. but just a loose plug? thats an honest mistake. if you work on the same systems over and over, you see the same problems over and over, so trends and probability and deductive reasoning is part of the diagnosis depending on the complaint. for most techs including myself, "chasing wires" is typically a last resort, when all other explanations have been eliminated.
best thing is " when you find someone honest that treats you good at reasonable price keep them !! i see this all the time.. if the guy needed a little money, you can always clean the coils, and basic service. Ask them first, 9-10 times they will like to know the system is running most efficient. No deceit needed theres your 100-125 bucks he so desperately needed. Everyone walks away happy..
Every news team in every city needs to do this at least once a year. It seems they are fair and report equally. These companies need to operate as if there is a camera watching them all the time, but most of all, operate honestly because you want to.
I worked for a guy that use to cut wires 2 sell change outs....i found wires cut and informed the home owner about it and quit that company....not sure if he was sued or not but at least i can sleep at night...buyer be ware get a 2nd or 3rd quote on major upgrades
As soon as I saw it unplugged I would think someone is screwing with me or an previous company came prior. That's why I always ask if a company was there before.
I guess it gets easier to scam your customers when they don't ask you if you're sure that is the problem. You have to be direct and show interest in resolving the problem. Don't leave your service man alone and ask questions. If he doesn't like it, ask him to leave. I don't mind having a customer looking over my shoulder at all. In fact I enjoy talking to people and when I find an easy fix, I love watching the how happy they are. I just couldn't operate any other way. I don't know how these guys can justify being dishonest or even just making a mistake. I make mistakes too, but I'm not going to lie about it. This episode is pretty small stuff. Most of the scammers in my area usually go big. I'm talking a complete new HVAC system selling the Hero program with 100% financing for systems that only need a minor repair. If they offer free duct cleaning or inspections, don't call them. Companies that advertise free service or free duct cleaning are just trying to get in your door to nail you with a phony diagnosis. I hear the stories every day from customers who fell for that phony free offer. These scammers get people to sign up for $25,000 or more of Home Improvement Credit card at 25% interest to pay for unneeded repairs and replacements. It's sad, but true that some of these crooks actually encourage their customers to take out 2nd mortgages with crooked companies that are impossible to pay back and end up foreclosing on these vulnerable people.
A buddy of mine had a policy. If he *couldn't* fix it, then no charge, If he could and customer didn't want it fixed (or replaced), then a service call. If customer paid for the repair (or replacement) then only parts and labor no service call. He had more customers than he had time for! Most times he charged what he paid for the part and some labor. No markups.
Back in '99 I went to a no heat call. Went up into the attic and they had 3 big lights there, shining on the furnace. I also noticed 2 cameras up there. I knew immediately that I was going to be part of some sting operation. I took the furnace panels off and saw the air proving switch hose disconnected. Reconnected it and voila, furnace working again. Went ahead and checked everything else out before I buttoned it up. 3 days later, saw myself on the news along with 6 other techs, our faces blurred out. I was 1 of 2 techs that didn't try to sell them parts. 2 guys tried to sell them complete systems. The systems were less than 10 years old and in good shape. Probably still had some manufacturer warranty left too. SMH.
To charge someone for the work you've done is one thing. Even if its a unplugged wire, Its when you see the wire being the problem..and try to sell them a brand new unit instead of an easy fix.that is when you turn into a shitty person. Probably take the old unit, plug the wire back in and sell it used to some other chump. doube the money. Right?
My best advice for when you have people do work in your home is watch them. I have some maintenance backround which helps, but even if I din't I would still watch them. Good,honest techs won't mind,but those hoping to pull a fast one will. It may be just enuff to make them think twice. Also ask questions about why they are doing what they are doing.
Keep it up... About 6years ago, a crooked HVAC outfit here in Seattle bilked my mother out of almost $7,000.00 for a furnace she didn't even need! These phony outfits need to be shut down.
The case is that there is a service call, the furnace is not working properly and no matter if they switched off on purpose, the customer must pay for the service a charge of $ 75 for a minimum one hour of service.
The customer should not have to pay anything if the guy can't figure out the problem. I might as well call my grandma to come look at it. An Hvac company is a business to provide a service, the service is not to just show up to your door with their hand open, it is to correctly diagnose and or fix an issue. I know it is common practice now to charge a fee just to come, but that practice is bullshit. If a customer is just wasting their time that is one thing, but it is not the customers fault if the repairman is inept. If you go to get a hamburger and the cook tries to cook you one but can't figure out how to, how much money do you owe him? That cook has expenses too right?
What's really sad is that the Installation manual has a trouble shooting ladder diagram that identifies every connection and control on the unit. "Step One, turn on the power. Does the red light come on. Yes/No. if yes, does the fan start. Yes/No etc.
I just had a furnace repairman come look at my furnace because it’s not coming on. Told me nothing was wrong twice didn’t even look at my thermostat, which was the problem that I fixed . Still charged me $79
The pressure switch must prove before the igniter light up. Then you disconnect the HSI plug and check for 115 vac. If you have power and no glow bad hsi.
I've been in the HVAC field for over 26 years!!!! I've worked for a few different companies and the truth of the matter is how big was your bills at the end of the day! I've lost jobs for not liyin to customers! I'm now doing it for myself and do not sell something that's not needed! Anyone caught doing so should be beatn with a club and thrown in jail! And as far as not noticing the wire unplugged the tech needs more training and to slow down and start at the source of power and go till they find the problem
I think the circuit board might be bad, but I'm gonna start with a pressure switch. That way I can sell you 4 or 5 parts. Kudos to the honest technicians.
I'm not hvac at all but at the same time i have done plenty of pressure switchs and igniters in mine and come on Damn i understand honest mistakes but Damn
Was told my furnace had hairline cracks in some type of shields and the furnace needed to be replaced because it was emitting a high level than allowed of carbon monoxide, and of course they'd be willing to sell me a new furnace. Went out and bought a couple of carbon monoxide detectors and 10 years later I'm still using that so called bad furnace.
They probably told you you had a cracked heat exchanger. Always get a 2nd opinion on those. With the big companies they have guys on commission called “Senior Techs” whose job is to sell you a new system. They make more on that then the quick repair, be careful they use that same used car salesman tactic
I went to a house with people who were clearly struggling - a cat was stuck in the evaporator coil. Caused breaker to trip. Couldn't be bothered to untangle cat so forced them to replace entire unit + extra for the cat removal... felt so good knowing I left nothing on the table. I really should have been a politician.
I'm a 20 year HVAC tech, and when I'm rushing from call to call it's likely I might initially miss a deliberately unplugged igniter. That sort of problem doesn't ever just happen to a furnace, so why look for it? Of course once you've replaced the igniter and the new one doesn't work either, you'd of course find the real problem. A more fair test would be to set up the furnace with a faulty part in it and see if the tech could properly identify it.
seems reasonable to me
But you would have to test to see if igniter is getting power and then you would find problem. Simply troubleshooting no pro should have missed that.
so you would replace the ignitor without ohming it out? or even better yet dont you want to make sure voltage is coming out of the board to the ignitor? dont guess, be certain
Performance Based Heating & Air , most of the time a burned igniter will show a burned or cracked spot. If I don't see that, then yes I'm checking voltages. But my point is that this is a bogus test. When is the last time you responded to a call and found an unplugged igniter?
The first time i find an unplugged ignitor ill be prepared to meet Chris Hanson!....lol
been doing this for 10 years. its easy to trick a technician with a disconnected plug.. when you do actual repairs you dont come across unplugged boards. a good tech will trace out the power failure and figure it out eventually but that is a dirty trick. what they should have done was put an actual broken part on the furnace and see if they find it and see how they take it from there.
Richard Recupero Exactly! I look for things that go out normally or vibrate loose.. what would happen every time a weather person misses a call.. those guys probably only know how to fix the basics.. if they fix your furnace for a hundred bucks you didn't get ripped, even if they try to save face by doctoring their diagnosis.
Richard Recupero While I agree that they should have put a broken part on the furnace, the one guy had it firing and still lied about the part needing to be replaced.
well I found it fast
I call BS. Ive been in the industry for over 20 years and have come across COUNTLESS loose connections, broken wires, broken retainers on connectors, terminals pushed out. If you do “actual repairs” you don’t just throw out a part that isn’t working. You check to see why it isn’t working. Igniters need power to function. That’s the first thing you check if the igniter isn’t working. Just because the igniter doesn’t glow doesn’t mean it’s bad. Several things need to happen before the igniter will even energize. If you don’t prove draft it will never try to fire. That’s what the pressure switches are for. How do you know the igniter is supposed to be hot if you don’t check for output from the control? I can’t stand parts changers. They give us all a bad name.
I agree, Scott. As an example, recently I checked our pool heater because of failed ignition. Upon doing a resistance test on the HSI, it tested good, so it was something else. Turns out, it was a blown fuse. Replaced it, and 3 years later, still working great!
"Hey you're a scammer because you didn't find the plug that was manually disconnected that would never be disconnected in a real life situation." Says the journalist who works for comcast
Normal troubleshooting process you should catch this right away like the first 3 techs did.
I'm an HVAC technician and I'm amazed that most of these guys caught the problem. I find that so many guys just start trying to change out parts.
If I saw a wire that wasn't pushed in together, my alarm bells would immediately be ringing. Those things don't come apart by themselves.
why don't you have a seat over there?
2:54 "how could you miss something so simple" Maybe because he isn't used to opening up a furnace and checking to see if someone sneakily disconnected a random wire and instead naturally is going to be on the hunt for a part that went faulty.
I mean, come on! What trouble call are you going to get from some old lady who has no idea how a furnace work, and immedately start checking every single plug in the unit to see if someone messed with them. What sense does that even make?
Michael G I %100 agree with you, their obviously going to overlook the things that are so simple they just would not go wrong.
+Michael G %100 agree with you. I have over looked a condensate drain shutoff switch spent a few hrs trying to get the unit powered up. OHHH was I pissed when I found out it was just the float was stuck.
+Michael G I have to agree. The connectors are designed not to disconnect themselves so it would not occur to most guys to check them. On the other hand, there's no excuse for just throwing parts at it.
I'm not trained in the air or heating business but what don't these repairmen do simple trouble shooting like I will do with a problem with a car? If I'm not getting any power or lights in my car, should I check the battery connections, then the voltage or just replace the starter and battery as my first choice? These guys were con artists!
Will M. The basics 12v DC starting system in a car isn't the same at this.
A lose battery connection is very common in a car. A random plug becoming disconnected isn't common at all inside a furnace. Those are locking connectors, they click into place. The only way they come undone is if you disconnect them, and why in the world should a repair person suspect someone disconnected random wires, especially and old lady.
Let's say that car won't start.....because I went under the car and sneakily disconnected the fuel pump connection part way. You start to take a look at the car. You find that you have no fuel pressure. You go into the fuse box, fuse is good, you take readings at the relay you have all the power at the relay. You don't hear the fuel pump running. Now tell me, are you honestly going to be like "Well let me see if someone pulled that fuel pump connector apart before I order a new pump"?????
I highly doubt it.... 101 things can go wrong with the fuel pump circuit, but why in the world would you suspect sabotage if you had no reason too? Just like that repair man.
I do work like this all the time. I get a smile on my face when it's something simple. Because my customer smiles when they don't get charged $500. Making people happy is worth more than money!
hell yea man that's awesome
+Sean Casey you are hired!
I get paid the same either way.
+Sean Casey good man
+Sean Casey
Repeat business is also better than a one time $500 profit.
BBB is an absolute joke. I was scammed and sued by a guy who had an A+ on the BBB. Your best defense is having knowledge about whatever is being worked on. Sad but true.
I normally like this specials but you guys need to apologize for Matt. He tried his best. He even called for help. You are nasty for trying to put him on blast
DocPegLegRed i agree he looked a bit suspicious. seemed like an honest guy who didn’t know. or didn’t know the layout of the furnace
matt lied straight up to the lady and the reporter why feel sorry for him because he didn't take the $50 cause he was scared he would catch a criminal charge for taking money?
Feel bad for that guy. If ya dont know ya dont know. He tried
@@benson2873 it has nothing to do with the layout. That wire they disconnected would never be disconnected on a real call. Not only did they disconnect it but they tried to make it look like it was still plugged in. Those other guys tho... Yea fuck them
That’s what my local installer did. He called Trane technology. And they lied to my installer. A 2,5 day install took now 4 weeks, till my new xv20i was finally running as designed. I paid $19000, and Trane is lying to me and the installer
Got called out to a cold house with a single mother with 3 young children.....I could tell she was struggling. It was as simple as a tripped breaker! I couldn't bring myself to even charge a service call. Sometimes it's not all about Money!
Me and my AC.... 🙄🙄🙄 it was on the same line as the plug where I blow dry my hair and it had tripped. I checked the box outside but didn’t think to look in the BATHROOM. thankfully an honest man came & checked
A lot of times kids will turn the switch off on the furnace. I've never charged for that.
@Ryan Carlen Exactly, I made a similar point above. There's an implied warranty when you come out to fix things. If something goes wrong or you mistook a simple fix for something more complex, the customer will expect you to return for free and quite often, will bitch and moan about paying for the real issue when you eventually diagnose it. Throw them a freebie for a simple call or charge them a low price and they'll expect you to keep your $50 from the first call but replace a breaker for example. I'm also in the service business, different business but same principle. You've got to get it right the first time, or give the customer a thorough explanation as to what you did and what your service call covers and that there might be another issue and you can check for them but have to charge full price. In my case most customers are happy with the quick fix and most of the time it's the right fix. The once a month or so it turns out to be something different a gentle reminder of our conversation keeps them on track.
Good man
I’m glad your an honest guy we need more people like you
As a repairmen in a different field, our experience plays a role in troubleshooting. We may work years in a trade without ever seeing any wire connection unplugged because they snap fit together and are never a problem. So we can sometimes be our own worst enemy. But that doesn’t imply dishonesty.
And no dishonesty was even implied on the one guy who couldn’t identify the issue, even if the newsman was maybe a little harsh in asking “How could you miss it?!?”
Note that everyone else (both honest and dishonest) DID quickly identify the issue, negating the point about it being an unfair, easily missed ‘dirty trick’.
The story isn’t about tricking techs to show incompetency. The story was about bailing scammers who DID correctly diagnose and resolve the issue, but then CHOSE to lie to the homeowner and suggest unnecessary repairs that would net them more revenue. I mean, Christ, the last guy gets caught, ADMITS he lied and did it because he needs the influx of cash. How much more evidence does one need to show that he was scamming?
thats deceiving, just barely disconnect a plug? they tricked them
This is not deception. All of the honest guys, except one, caught it. A decent tech should be able to catch this; and for the one guy who made the honest mistake, they made sure to convey to the audience that he wasn't being a crook. Good for them!
Yes it is no one expects a connecter the come unplugged by itself. The guy that plugged it in then lied is guilty but not sure about other. Why make trouble on purpose screams jewery.
@@techemically no they didnt, they blasted him first, then reneged their comment to say he wasnt "trying" to cheat her. HUGE DIFFERENCE.
@@techemically I guess you missed the part where he insulted him by asking "how long have you done this work and how could you miss something this easy'.
Good tech vs inexperienced are not opposite @@techemically
God bless these honest technicians and news crew who stepped up to the plate to help a vulnerable senior citizen against these scam artists.
2:45 that happens more often then you think... I'm a lic tech and I misdiagnosed my own furnace. That happens that's why it's a learning process. As he said, if it didn't work he wouldn't charger her for the part. I would use him again,
I'm a licensed HVAC contractor with my own business.. Thermal Design.. I love when these crooks get busted!! They give us a bad rep. There is much more to being licensed than just being a tech. Anybody can call themselves a "tech". Here's a heads up.. those fittings are snapped/locked together. They don't just come apart. Any idiot could spot that setup!
" Do every job like there are cameras around." That is so true!
Yea I'll admit I lied since you got me on camera but this is the first time I've ever done that.... unless you have video of my other jobs.
We've had plenty of these "stings" in our area in the past 5 years. There's always 1-2 techs that are dishonest but it's always out of at least 10 techs. It's like that in EVERY profession. 10-15% of companies and/or it's people will try to screw you. I always tell people to steer clear of the HVAC companies who pay their techs commission. I worked at a company that would pay commission on new equipment, certain thermostats, upgrade parts, etc. So many techs were salesman and barely knew how to diagnose systems. If they didn't know what was wrong, you needed a new furnace or ac.
Dude same here I worked at a very professional company and most of the techs didn't check pressures or look at the evap coil and say "holy shit that's dirty" then charge them 2 grand for uv lights, bulbs evap cleaning and so on. Even when I was there and it was clean as possible
The bust at 3:00 is an innocent mistake.The client was complaining about no heat, so he immediately opened the heating panel.The blower motor started up, so he didn't bother to open up that panel even though he should have.
At least there were some that had
Some Integrity. Glad I Didn't see any companies that I know.
wow
“How do you know that?”
“Because I do.”
It takes a certain kind of person to do this to someone. As a professional motorcycle technical it feels good to tell the customer that they dont need to spend as much money as they thought.. To make up a problem is despicable. Half the time we don't charge for the whole job let alone easy fixes! Those are free as a goodwill service and serves as the best word of mouth advertising you can get
MedibleMan840
When my mechanic told me
"You dont need that" he became my mechanic for life.
What makes someone even happier than making someone else happy, is moneeeeey. Green baby, but I suppose if your an individual then honesty would be better, for regular business.
I like how the news guy asked how he could miss something so simple. I would've given him my meter and told him to check voltages in the sequence of operations while talking it out that told him it was the plug. (Volt coming in, door switch, transformer, etc) It is easy but still bet he couldn't do it lmao
WTF is your point. The whole point of hiring an HVAC tech and not a newsman to diagnose and fix a furnace issue is that the HVAC tech is trained and qualified to handle the issue.
That’s kind of the way the whole thing works, paying someone a premium to fix something competently and quickly, that you yourself either a) wouldn’t be able to do as quickly or competently, or b) wouldn’t be able to do at all and/or potentially make the problem worse and end up needing to pay even more to replace the now more serious issue.
What you’re saying is like yelling at a heart surgeon doing a triple bypass for removing the patient’s heart instead of fixing it, and the surgeon responding “Oglh yeah, let’s see how good YOU are at doing triple bypass surgery!”
This is why I fix my own stuff.
A meter can diagnose most problems. These techs should know the sequence of operation.
Also larger companies pay on commissions, which creates dishonesty and if you're not making sales and meeting profit margins, the company gets rid of you.
Revenue per hour....
I just wanna know why the “master tech” allowed all the mastic tape on the venting.
Codye Sullivan The Master Tech is a scumbag. Thats why. He sucks
Haaa
It’s Silver tape not Mastic it’s heat resistant tape dummy.
Thank you so much for doing this. These guys give a bad name to legitimate technicians and make it harder for the real guys to get work.
Thank you so...much, we need you in our area to make these people to be more honesty.
Mad love for Matt the plumber; he was a nice dude who spent a long time trying to fix this old ladies heating and he probably started where things often go wrong instead of something which cant just plug its-self. Id hire you any day!
If anyone needs anything please contact Craigslist! They have all professionals for every situation!
Colleges not only should teach the trade but also teach Ethics & Honesty!
$30,000 to get taught ethics and honesty?
Colleges suck at teaching the trade. Their only concern is pumping out “grads”. They don’t care about producing skilled trained techs. In my class of twenty, we had two that took it seriously. The rest of the class was there to get paid by the state. A literal hourly paycheck to attend trade school and learn basically nothing. Meanwhile as a veteran with an expired GI BILL I had to pay for my school and tools myself while a bunch of 18 year old idiots had sword fights with pieces of sheet metal. Good times. Spoiler, I’m one of three from my class that is actually in the trade at this point. And the other two were already working for the state in the trade.
I've been doing HVAC for 18 years and you following the sequence of operation. first if the furnace has been off for awhile first inducer, pressure switch. hot surface ignitor after. flame., flame sensor. blower motor. make sure furnace not short cycling, before all that check filter. make sure all supply and returns open, then if something is not happening that's when you go into troubleshooting. zIf furnace runs ok you ohm out hot surface ignitor and if its reading close to 100 ohms you recommend replacing it and if the flame sensor if its the original, 10+ you recommend that too,take amp draws of inducer and blower motor and see what is the max amp draw. if its higher recommend that too, check motor capacitors if reading 20% lower or too high recommend changing that too. have all this documented on invoice. give them option to replace let them make choice, if they ask how long does the unit have , you simply dont know could last one week or over a year you just dont know but you have this on invoice that way after you leave if one of the things you recommended happens it's not a call back. if the hot surface ignitor isn't coming on you check if it's open and if your getting voltage from the board. of course all safeties must be closed, if one is open then that's going to take you to another direction as to why it is open, if you get unit to run check flame and draft if you have a combustion analyzer do that to see if furnace is operating safely. In back of your mind you must think liability because you could be the last person there anything happens it's on you. You let furnace run but if it doesnt operate safely then you must shut furnace down and give reason on invoice have customer initial and sign all this for a service fee and if someone disconnected hot surface ignitor that would piss me off. I dont have time for games
This is why I do ALL my own work! If I don't know how to the internet will almost 100% of the time tell you how
Had ASI out several yes ago just before Christmas. Tried to get me to buy a new furnace for 3k. Yes THOUSAND. My friend came over and he replaced the filter and it's still working. Thanks William Chain!
When I see a disconnected wire or connector, I start looking around for a camera be cause I think I'm being set up lol. I probably would not have charge this lady a dime to reconnect it.
That's exactly what I was thinking. Lol
4:50
I just want to point out that, at 4:50 although he sounds cocky:
1. He was caught off guard by the question of "How do you know that" - most people don't ask about things like this.
2. Sometimes, you get a gut instinct that something is bad. You've seen similar patterns in the previous repairs you've done, and you literally fool yourself into thinking that it's just a routine problem.
This really is just a kind of human thing to have happen. This is evident by the one guy at 2:33 who completely missed spotting the disconnected wire. (Keep in mind that disconnected wires can sometimes be normal - it depends on how the unit was designed, and likely is for some additional feature that isn't present.)
Granted, there really are lazy/incompetent techs out there. I'm just trying to make sure we separate the good ones from the bad ones, as even the good ones have made a mistake or two now and then!
You should do one with a caller saying "uh yes my furnace is making fire inside."
I got a call from an A/C unit I had, at the time, recently installed, with a complaint of "The new system is working too well."
" I'm just needed the money"? So does that elder you just abused! Shame on you!
Hey saw this thing from recommended?
Im a licensed General Contractor and pride myself on being honest. I tell all my guys that we do it right or we dont do it at all. I ve had many calls that I only billed the service call fee of $58 for because of a simple fix like with the HVAC unit.
Its sad that these people feel they need to rip off people and give our trades a bad name. I m thank full for each and everyone of my customers and always try to provide the best service possible.
I would have figured out once the ignitor didn't come on and checked voltage from the board noticing the plug then. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that you wouldn't expect a furnace to be sabotaged because what would a ghost come in and disconnect it.
THANK YOU. So many people trying to defend the tech. The guy guessed, didn't even take out his volt-meter. I've been in the field two years and i've learned the hard way that guessing is a costly mistake.
Then explain how everyone else noticed?
That one guy was just a parts changer. Um if that doesn't work we'll try something else? WOW...
+josh herman
Why would some company tell you, you can't fix your own washer?
Someone needs to follow journalists around and find out when they're full of shit or reporting the facts. CNN should be first on the list.
Imagine all the shows they could do on crooked politicians.
Wow, first time dude tried to cheat someone and gets put on national television.... Guy must be unluckiest man on the planet, or a bold-faced liar. I'm guessing liar.
I was a contactor in Lower Bucks Co.,Pa. and these contractors are ANGELS compared to a company named ACTION A/C and Heating,off Route 13,Levittown,Pa.Ben Lomus the owner basically hires people off the street,pays them a low salary but tells them they can make ALOT more by selling parts,and condemning heaters,A/C units,and Heatpumps.This is NOT hearsay,but FACT.His nick name through the Tri-County area is "Ice Pick Benny" because he is known for poking holes in homeowners(and Businesses) refrigerant coils.That $125. Ignitor the service guy was gonna charge would of been $300-$400.+Labor.
I'm HVAC Tech from the area and Action A/C is notorious for being scam artists. I have no idea how they remain in business.
I went to school with Ice Pick Benny at Pennsbury.They are simply the worst of the worst.Who do you work for.I use to own Kenway A/C & Heating
Gillece is the big scammers in my area... I followed up to a few of their f#ck ups...
Great job guys !!!
Trane is doing the same thing. Not the dealers/ installers. No Iam talking about the big company TRANE. I bought a xv20i , 04/2020. With a xl850 thermostat. 850 never worked but tRANE technology assisted it is my airflow. I never Beloit. Iam ase Master certified automotive technician. 4 weeks after starting new install, several calls , and requested help from attorney general, and install of 2 xl850. The dealer finally replaced the xl850 with a xl1050, and all is working!
No airflow problem as stated by Trane. Trane is selling faulty xl850 thermostats to dealers, and tells installers to add a wireless temperature sensor. Trane is hiding the faulty thermostats, and charging customers for the faulty parts.
St. Louis
There is an HVAC company owner in my subdivision. I called them to check my heat pump after it was installed three years prior by someone else. It was running perfectly, but I wanted it checked. His “best technician “ came and told me I needed all new ductwork and the start capacitor was bad. New ductwork was $12,000 and the $15 capacitor was $325. I said, ok replace the capacitor. He said thats a different service call and couldn’t do it now. I scratched his name off my list and told every homeowner around about his company.
So many contractors, service/repair people, etc are crooked, what about episodes on honest ones, it will be a more remarkable feat to show.
I like how engineers get no flack for what they do. Only China and GE gets blamed for cheap or ineffective parts.
“Why do you try and sell her something she doesn’t need?”
Well it’s called making a living. Why do you try and sell us stuff we don’t need. You work for the news right? We don’t need your bs either but you make your living just fine don’t you”
Wouldnt you check the OHMs on the ssi before selling a new one?
I love the yellow gas line beside the furnace secured with plastic talon clips.
Cops (the law) rob you with traffic tickets. Contractors (the lawless) rob you with crammed billing.
I don't work on hvac but I do service stihl chainsaws. Today I had two perfect examples.
One guy handed me his livelyhood and said it's tearing up chains and overheating. I tore it down and turns out it just needed cleaned in an awkward spot. Charged him for the diag and the other parts he wanted replaced while it was there. Walked out with a smile.
Not an hour later another walks in complaining that the chain isn't moving. I already know what it is but I go through my routine. He didn't know how to operate the chain brake. Guy walked out feeling pretty dumb but smiling and I didn't charge a dime.
Any time someone is lying to you they will cross their arms or scratch themselves and will have difficulty maintaining eye contact. Believe it or not, it is very hard for the average person to knowingly tell a lie. Most ppl are good deep down and doing wrong makes them uncomfortable.
The man said it himself, work as if someone is always watching.
I'm glad they mentioned the honest company names.
That's because you're a pussy
An educated consumer is your best salvation, if people understood stuff, you save money
for all the years ive worked in repairing troubleshooting furnaces, and boilers ive never replaced a pressure switch. and never walked out of a job without completing, even if it took sometimes up to 3 or 4 trips
I replace pressure switch's all the time, I live at a high elevation and allot of my competition is all about the quick sale knowing nothing about current specific gravity and static pressure not to mention leaving the furnace over-fired. YES pressure switch's do fail as well, I have a stack of Goodman York and Intertherm (nordine) pressure switch's to prove it!
Actually I have replaced a carrier. Switch. Pressure switches fail all the time. But usually something else isn't working properly. Out of the past 1000 service calls I've been to only replaced 1 pressure switch. And probably only left maximum of 3 jobs without fixing problem.
Well ether you have not been in the business long or you're just lucky. Elevation is a major factor when selecting a furnace brand. most brands use pressure switch's for elevations up to 4500 feet above sea level, any higher elevation requires a high elevation pressure switch which the supplier should provide. Our company ran into a slew of York furnaces that all had the wrong pressure switch in them over 500 of them most of which we installed. York of blamed the problem on us until we had a rep from the factory come out and figure out the pressure switch's were all wrong, we told them that from the beginning it costed our company $1000s in callbacks York only provided the new switch's and never admitted they were wrong (of course) but every one of those switch's were bad at least at 5200 feet. good at 4500 and below.
high limit switches go out all the time on furnaces that are poorly maintained. clogged filter will knock it out and not all are resettable.
We only sale forced draft..
Sometimes you overlook stuff as a contractor. Customer says toilet or sink is leaking in the basement because of wet spot. You don't see any evidence because they failed to tell you the caulking in the shower is gone and 3 people took back to back showers when it leaked.
I don’t need to see a video to know that anyone found on Craigslist’s is a joke
Any computer tech this is cemented in my head always check the switches and power cables , connectors. This is part of basic repair procedures regardless of it's a desktop computer or a furnace!!!
Anytime you call a service provider you're taking a risk on their performance and your cost.
My sister was quoted $1,500 for a new furnace 20 years ago because the heat exchanger was cracked. I took it apart and the top was rusted and had holes in it. I called a welding company and had them bring a 1/4" round steel plate and weld it to the top of the heat exchanger. They charged $50.00 for everything.
As a commercial and residential window washer, I work every job like theres a nanny cam somewhere. I go into mansions with LV bags, belts, xboxs, playstations, computers worth more than my truck, jewelry. I dont even acknowledge them. I was once blamed for stealing a 5k$ ring, the customers called once I left and I said then I'll see u in court...they called back and their maid of 13 years saw her chance to steal while framing me, the pawn shop recovered the ring and she was caught. She called back but I more or less didn't accept her apology cuz her husband said he saw me take it and she said he'd never lie about something like that.
thanks to social media...great stuff to educate us of these scams......thank you..
look where the furnace flue and water heater flue go through the ceiling. 1 inch to combustibles and nobody said anything about that! im a licensed real estate inspector.
I feel like he just missed, and him offering saying if he couldn't figure it out he wouldn't charge her.
WOW 😮 Good Catch 🤩👍😎
I understand missing the disconnected wire. Why would you even look for that? If the furnace is several years old, your first instinct isn't to look for installation issues. It's to look for a failure. If I had been diagnosing the issue, I would have let it run through the steps, and seen: 1) Powers on. 2) Inducer turns on. 3) gas valve turns on (you hear the click, so you know the pressure switches are good). No flame, and I never saw the igniter get hot (or spark, if it's that old), so it must be a problem with the igniter. Put a meter on the terminals for the igniter, and I have power. There you go. Igniter failure.
Now, when I went to pull it out to see what model it was, I probably would have noticed the connector and plugged it back in. Then I would have asked who else has been messing around with your furnace.
15 years as a tech. I see loose connections quite often, usually a wire nut though, I also follow up on other techs and companies and scratch my head wondering what the heck? Most techs are not techs. They are parts changers. Latest example that got me a account with 11 commercial building, commercial 3 phase pkg unit, not cooling or heating, customer said the original company said the unit needs replace for over $10k he called another and they said it needs a compressor $6k. Third opinion was mine. Compressor was loud and not pumping. Opened blower section blower was running backwards. Swapped 2 power legs and it all worked, my first thought was where the heck are the cameras. Told the customer what it was and he didnt believe me that it was working, that was almost 3 years ago now. They are still working and a lifetime customer.
Honesty, even if it hurts your pride and current pocket book, is still the best policy.
The dude who missed the wire is right, that shit happens sometimes. Doesnt mean hes bad just means he missed something simple, happens all the time doesnt make him bad at his job.
I would hope no one treats their grandmother like that. Scumbags!
11 years appliance repair experience, you know i can recall less than 10 occasions where a loose plug or connection of any sort was the problem. broken wire, sure, burned out connection, sure. but just a loose plug? thats an honest mistake. if you work on the same systems over and over, you see the same problems over and over, so trends and probability and deductive reasoning is part of the diagnosis depending on the complaint. for most techs including myself, "chasing wires" is typically a last resort, when all other explanations have been eliminated.
best thing is " when you find someone honest that treats you good at reasonable price keep them !! i see this all the time..
if the guy needed a little money, you can always clean the coils, and basic service. Ask them first, 9-10 times they will like to know the system is running most efficient. No deceit needed theres your 100-125 bucks he so desperately needed. Everyone walks away happy..
Every news team in every city needs to do this at least once a year. It seems they are fair and report equally.
These companies need to operate as if there is a camera watching them all the time, but most of all, operate honestly because you want to.
You need to come to upstate NY and do this. You will be amazed
I worked for a guy that use to cut wires 2 sell change outs....i found wires cut and informed the home owner about it and quit that company....not sure if he was sued or not but at least i can sleep at night...buyer be ware get a 2nd or 3rd quote on major upgrades
As soon as I saw it unplugged I would think someone is screwing with me or an previous company came prior. That's why I always ask if a company was there before.
the random dudes off of craigslist tried to rip someone off, shocking.
Not every one is out to make a buck
@@brianwilliams9813 shaddy Criglist techs do never use criglist to higher to any job
I guess it gets easier to scam your customers when they don't ask you if you're sure that is the problem. You have to be direct and show interest in resolving the problem. Don't leave your service man alone and ask questions. If he doesn't like it, ask him to leave. I don't mind having a customer looking over my shoulder at all. In fact I enjoy talking to people and when I find an easy fix, I love watching the how happy they are. I just couldn't operate any other way. I don't know how these guys can justify being dishonest or even just making a mistake. I make mistakes too, but I'm not going to lie about it. This episode is pretty small stuff. Most of the scammers in my area usually go big. I'm talking a complete new HVAC system selling the Hero program with 100% financing for systems that only need a minor repair. If they offer free duct cleaning or inspections, don't call them. Companies that advertise free service or free duct cleaning are just trying to get in your door to nail you with a phony diagnosis. I hear the stories every day from customers who fell for that phony free offer. These scammers get people to sign up for $25,000 or more of Home Improvement Credit card at 25% interest to pay for unneeded repairs and replacements. It's sad, but true that some of these crooks actually encourage their customers to take out 2nd mortgages with crooked companies that are impossible to pay back and end up foreclosing on these vulnerable people.
That's a Smart Valve furnace and they're a little tricky to troubleshoot if you don't know what you're doing.
A buddy of mine had a policy.
If he *couldn't* fix it, then no charge,
If he could and customer didn't want it fixed (or replaced), then a service call.
If customer paid for the repair (or replacement) then only parts and labor no service call.
He had more customers than he had time for!
Most times he charged what he paid for the part and some labor.
No markups.
Back in '99 I went to a no heat call. Went up into the attic and they had 3 big lights there, shining on the furnace. I also noticed 2 cameras up there. I knew immediately that I was going to be part of some sting operation. I took the furnace panels off and saw the air proving switch hose disconnected. Reconnected it and voila, furnace working again. Went ahead and checked everything else out before I buttoned it up. 3 days later, saw myself on the news along with 6 other techs, our faces blurred out. I was 1 of 2 techs that didn't try to sell them parts. 2 guys tried to sell them complete systems. The systems were less than 10 years old and in good shape. Probably still had some manufacturer warranty left too. SMH.
To charge someone for the work you've done is one thing. Even if its a unplugged wire, Its when you see the wire being the problem..and try to sell them a brand new unit instead of an easy fix.that is when you turn into a shitty person. Probably take the old unit, plug the wire back in and sell it used to some other chump. doube the money. Right?
My best advice for when you have people do work in your home is watch them. I have some maintenance backround which helps, but even if I din't I would still watch them. Good,honest techs won't mind,but those hoping to pull a fast one will. It may be just enuff to make them think twice. Also ask questions about why they are doing what they are doing.
Keep it up... About 6years ago, a crooked HVAC outfit here in Seattle bilked my mother out of
almost $7,000.00 for a furnace she didn't even need! These phony outfits need to be shut down.
The case is that there is a service call, the furnace is not working properly and no matter if they switched off on purpose, the customer must pay for the service a charge of $ 75 for a minimum one hour of service.
The customer should not have to pay anything if the guy can't figure out the problem. I might as well call my grandma to come look at it. An Hvac company is a business to provide a service, the service is not to just show up to your door with their hand open, it is to correctly diagnose and or fix an issue. I know it is common practice now to charge a fee just to come, but that practice is bullshit. If a customer is just wasting their time that is one thing, but it is not the customers fault if the repairman is inept. If you go to get a hamburger and the cook tries to cook you one but can't figure out how to, how much money do you owe him? That cook has expenses too right?
just happened to me for 6 racks. can these dishonest thieves be charged w/ a crime?
What's really sad is that the Installation manual has a trouble shooting ladder diagram that identifies every connection and control on the unit. "Step One, turn on the power. Does the red light come on. Yes/No. if yes, does the fan start. Yes/No etc.
5:20 Crook: Not a lot of work right now. Reporter: There's gonna be less when people see this.
Mic drop.
I just had a furnace repairman come look at my furnace because it’s not coming on. Told me nothing was wrong twice didn’t even look at my thermostat, which was the problem that I fixed . Still charged me $79
Wish they would treat politicians & ceos this way
The pressure switch must prove before the igniter light up. Then you disconnect the HSI plug and check for 115 vac. If you have power and no glow bad hsi.
I've been in the HVAC field for over 26 years!!!! I've worked for a few different companies and the truth of the matter is how big was your bills at the end of the day! I've lost jobs for not liyin to customers! I'm now doing it for myself and do not sell something that's not needed! Anyone caught doing so should be beatn with a club and thrown in jail! And as far as not noticing the wire unplugged the tech needs more training and to slow down and start at the source of power and go till they find the problem
I think the circuit board might be bad, but I'm gonna start with a pressure switch. That way I can sell you 4 or 5 parts. Kudos to the honest technicians.
He said he wouldn't charge if it didnt fix. Hes just not very skilled in the trade.
If you find something unplugged the next thing to do is ask the customer who unplugged it ?when was it unplugged ?and why was it unplugged ?
I'm not hvac at all but at the same time i have done plenty of pressure switchs and igniters in mine and come on Damn i understand honest mistakes but Damn
hi HVACers, how much you charge in your area? In Toronto, $120 normally
How did the pvc drain pass by code in nj must be six inch clearance from single wall vent
Was told my furnace had hairline cracks in some type of shields and the furnace needed to be replaced because it was emitting a high level than allowed of carbon monoxide, and of course they'd be willing to sell me a new furnace. Went out and bought a couple of carbon monoxide detectors and 10 years later I'm still using that so called bad furnace.
They probably told you you had a cracked heat exchanger. Always get a 2nd opinion on those. With the big companies they have guys on commission called “Senior Techs” whose job is to sell you a new system. They make more on that then the quick repair, be careful they use that same used car salesman tactic
I went to a house with people who were clearly struggling - a cat was stuck in the evaporator coil. Caused breaker to trip. Couldn't be bothered to untangle cat so forced them to replace entire unit + extra for the cat removal... felt so good knowing I left nothing on the table. I really should have been a politician.