Furnace repair man ripping me off?

Question

I woke up 6 days ago to no heat. Called furnace repairman who came out that afternoon & started switching out parts on the furnace. He said he ordered a module from another city & it would be in on Monday, this was friday. In the mean time he installed a module and something else to "keep you warm through the weekend" "will fix it properly on Monday" Less than 12 hours after his "quick fix" it quit. So Monday afternoon he is there working on the furnace " think i got it fixed, but i wired your blower to stay on all the time" WTF??? Then he tells me, "it wasnt the module, it was the gas valve/switch" I replaced it. I am thinking where is the module we ordered? His explanation for fan always on was 'its going to go bad and might quit working" well...to me, wouldnt it quit working quicker if you keep it running all the time? it cools the house faster & makes the furnace come on more. He takes my old module, leaves the one that he put on on friday, no charge for new one

So now furnace is ON all the time, house is cold then hot then cold then hot, killing light bill and gas consumption and man gives me a bill for 260.00. I cancelled payment on the check and am sending him a certified letter filing a complaint and wanting it fixed properly....did i do right?

Yes, the gas does come on and the ignitor does do its job and light the flame.

Answer 1

Yes you did. If they did not fix it properly you do not have to pay for it. Depending on the companies policy's they might not have to come back to fix it so if they do not, find a different company.

Good for you to cancel the check

Answer 2

I think you need to have a talk with the furnace man - but have someone else there to be listening in. Have a friend next to you.

At least he didn't charge you for the new module.

Letting the blower run all the time isn't necessarily a bad thing but he needs to explain the reasoning why.

Basic rule: ask questions, get answers, have a friend or family member there with you.

you deserve not only a working furnace but an explanation about what he is doing.

god bless

Answer 3

One possibility, but hopefully one of you already checked this.

If the fan is on, lean in real close and listen for the burner to kick on. If it does fire up, and then shut down after a few minutes, this means the plenum has overheated, probably due to lack of air flow. Check the filter. I had a furnace that did this, and I checked the electrostatic filter, and it was spotless. I did not realize there was a primary mesh filter before it that could have grown potatos. Double check that all filters are clean if it does display this fire on / fire off behavior.

A module could be bad though. It controls the fan, gas valve, intake damper, and ignitor. This guy is a dope. I have actually replaced bad relays on modules with Radio Shack relays, and had them survive for years, and still going.

Answer 4

In regards to the "repair" involving your blower motor, we sometimes wire a blower to run all the time when it has a dead spot or trouble starting on it's own... HOWEVER, this is only a temporary fix (a day or so)!! If that's the reason he left it on, it won't make it go bad any faster, but it needs replaced very soon. But before you spend any money on the blower, I'd get a 2nd opinion, because it sounds like this guy is just guessing and changing parts until something works...

Answer 5

You did right. The man absolutely did not know what he was doing. Call in someone to correct it right and then bill the company that sent the phony repairman out. He screwed your furnace up.

Answer 6

get another mechanic thats certified to do that work. call your local bbb and atty generals office and report that guy and make it stick. he is definately unqualified to be in that trade. he doesn1t know furnace repair from egg hatching, been inthe repair biz for 40 yrs

Answer 7

When they call and ask about the check just tell him "you had to order a new one".