Our furnace just died overnight, and died in such a way that replacing it outright is our only real option. And it won't be done immediately. So Peg and I will be bunking with her mom for at least a couple nights while we determine who's doing the work for us and for how much. Consequently, my presence in the forums might be somewhat curtailed. Just in case I vanish for a while and you all wonder, that's why.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Dood. I feel for you.
That happened to me about a month ago.
I was lucky enough to get it replaced within two days.
ouch, and I imagine getting a replacement around this time of year isn't that easy.
Good luck.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
Didn't you just have the furnace repaired/replaced recently?
(We had to have ours replaced in November - just before the cold sank it's teeth into us.)
Bob Schroeck Wrote:Our furnace just died overnight, and died in such a way that replacing it outright is our only real option. And it won't be done immediately. So Peg and I will be bunking with her mom for at least a couple nights while we determine who's doing the work for us and for how much. Consequently, my presence in the forums might be somewhat curtailed. Just in case I vanish for a while and you all wonder, that's why.
I trust you already know this, but:
Go home a couple of times a day, to make sure your pipes haven't frozen and burst.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow...
Reasons like this my mom and I picked up a kerosene heater while we were living in PA. Even after we got our furnace fixed we still used it quite a bit because we had one heck of a cold-spot in our house for some reason, and it was a rather economical little thing. (Keep the insufferably cold part of the house warm with about 1 gallon of kerosene per day? WOOT!)
I'm sorry to hear about the problems with your furnace, Bob.
I hope that despite this that you have a very Merry Christmas.
Quote:robkelk wrote:
I trust you already know this, but:
Go home a couple of times a day, to make sure your pipes haven't frozen and burst.
Before we left last night, I turned off the water to the house, flushed all the toilets, and opened the faucets. Any water remaining in the pipes should have expansion room. Plus, the current sub-freezing cold snap seems to be about to end, and even after most of a night and a whole day without heat, the house had only lost a few degrees F (it was 63 when I was last in it at about 8:30 last night).
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Quote:GethN7 wrote:
I'm sorry to hear about the problems with your furnace, Bob.
I hope that despite this that you have a very Merry Christmas.
I'm hoping so, too, Geth. We were going to go to West Virginia this weekend to be with friends for the holiday, and Peggy still wants to go. I'm not so sure about the cost, but the emotional reinforcement might just be worth it, for both of us.
(It broke my heart last night when we pulled out of the driveway to head to her mom's place, and Peggy murmured wistfully, "It was such a nice house...")
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
For whatever it's worth, I'll add my sympathy and best wishes....
-----
Big Brother is watching you. And damn, you are so bloody BORING.
Potentially good news: I contacted my insurance company and submitted a claim for the furnace. I haven't spoken to an adjuster yet, but I got the impression from the agent who handled my claim that it was't beyond the pale to hope for at least something from them to defray the cost.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Peggy just called me. She's at the house with a tech from an HVAC firm her mom recommended, who was there basically to give us another estimate on the replacement. Instead, he examined the furnace and said, "your heat exchanger isn't cracked -- your gas valve is broken and stuck way too high!" The "symptom" that the original tech demonstrated as proof we had a major problem -- reduced air flow through the ducts, indicating a collapsed duct in our slab, which was why we had to get a new furnace (for attic mounting and ducting) -- just wasn't there when this tech checked things. (Which makes me very suspicious of the original tech, who was from a company known for its high prices and attempts to sell maintenance contracts with every visit. Why do we use them? Force of habit, since the first time I needed an emergency service and I picked the one with the biggest ad in the yellow pages.)
He's ordered a new valve, which will be expressed overnight; in the mean time he's turned the broken valve down to much safer levels and set the furnace to run overnight. We'll stay with my mother-in-law again tonight, and if the house is comfortable tomorrow afternoon, it means the "collapsed duct" issue was so much bullshit. (If it's real, well, the same thing that happened two nights ago should happen tonight -- overheating tripping a safety cut-off to the gas. And that will be that.)
Right now, though, I'm flying like a kite.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
I ducked into the house this morning on my way to work. The thermostat had been set to 70 all night, it was nice and toasty in there, no cold air blowing, no shutdown, no blocked ducts. We are not going to be out $20K or more.
I am so happy!
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Merry Christmas! No unexpected expenses!
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Well, there are -- the whole debacle is going to cost us over US$1K before it's all done, and we were already running low on savings this season due to the bathroom remodel we just finished and helping out a friend in financial trouble. But 1K is far better than 20K.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
20 thousand for a furnance? Jesus Christ, what does it burn, Unicorns?
That's an utterly insane figure for a central heating system. I worked with solar gear that'd normally be installed alongside existing heating systems and sometimes a customer'd be replacing their boiler at the same time and we'd see what people are paying for a new boiler and it'd be on the order of 5-6k at most, after all the myriad of taxes and the like. Of course, that's for an all hot-water system, and not the hot air that's popular in the States. But it's still a massive jump.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Quote:Dartz wrote:
20 thousand for a furnance? Jesus Christ, what does it burn, Unicorns?
That's an utterly insane figure for a central heating system. I worked with solar gear that'd normally be installed alongside existing heating systems and sometimes a customer'd be replacing their boiler at the same time and we'd see what people are paying for a new boiler and it'd be on the order of 5-6k at most, after all the myriad of taxes and the like. Of course, that's for an all hot-water system, and not the hot air that's popular in the States. But it's still a massive jump.
That cost probably includes the labor for removing the old "busted" furnace and replacing the collapsed ductwork. I smell shenanigans, given Bob's statement about the company and the tech in the earlier post. It sounds like the new HVAC guy may have a new regular customer after this.
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com
"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
Indeed he will. Peg's talking about putting a stop-payment on the check to the first HVAC place; she's not happy with how much they charged us to tell us we had to buy a new furnace.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
I'm so glad this turned out for the best, Bob!
Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
Wait? They charged you for the quotation?
Most contractors we worked alongside would do the initial callout for free, quote a homeowner what they thought needed to be done, and only charge the homeowner if they actually went ahead with works beyond the initial inspection. Especially on jobs that might cost more than a grand - cheaper jobs we tended to know enough about them going out to be able to estimate over the phone.. We worked on the same model and the systems we sold would typically cost 3.5-6k depending. Expecting a fee just to give a quotation on a 20 Grand job is very hokey - especially since the 20 Grand job wasn't even necessary.
You're quite entitled to not pay them since they clearly didn't do the job correctly. Not only did they not correctly identify the issue, then they tried to sell you repairs you didn't need. It's one way to discourage homeowners from getting a second opinion....
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Quote:Dartz wrote:
Wait? They charged you for the quotation?
Most contractors we worked alongside would do the initial callout for free, quote a homeowner what they thought needed to be done, and only charge the homeowner if they actually went ahead with works beyond the initial inspection. Especially on jobs that might cost more than a grand - cheaper jobs we tended to know enough about them going out to be able to estimate over the phone.. We worked on the same model and the systems we sold would typically cost 3.5-6k depending. Expecting a fee just to give a quotation on a 20 Grand job is very hokey - especially since the 20 Grand job wasn't even necessary.
You're quite entitled to not pay them since they clearly didn't do the job correctly. Not only did they not correctly identify the issue, then they tried to sell you repairs you didn't need. It's one way to discourage homeowners from getting a second opinion....
Very much this. Especially if you have anything in writing. If you've already paid, I'd do a charge-back through your bank. They gave an _erroneous_ quote, no way does that fly.
.... Why hasn't the BBB shut these people down?
Quote:blackaeronaut wrote:
.... Why hasn't the BBB shut these people down?
Because the BBB is not a regulatory agency. It's a nonprofit advisory entity that can only disseminate information about businesses to those people who ask about them. It has no more power to shut down a scammer than Angie's List or complaints.com.
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com
"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
Calling a local news affiliate would be more productive.
For certain values of "productive". It takes a lot of time to lodge complaints about tiny local companies, and it's hard to get anyone else to care. If you don't have the time, you just have to count your blessings that you didn't buy into the scam.
Around my place, heating contractors always try to convince you to replace that old furnace or wall heater with something new and modern -- which means you're replacing good American-made heating with a much cheaper, more fragile imported-from-Asia model. This ensures that you'll be a return customer. Seeing as we're in coastal California, we only actually need the heater 0-20 days a year, which makes it extra ridiculous.
Anyway, glad to hear you won't be homeless for Christmas, Bob.
-- ∇×V