The technician was very efficient and spent a little over an hour doing a cleaning and tune up of our new furnace and air conditioning unit. No problems there.
He said we needed a new air filter for the air purifier system and I agreed when he pulled out the old dirty one. I had been planning to replace it myself but he was here and he had one. I knew they were expensive and I had seen that they were close to a hundred dollars. He put a new one in and it would cost us $96. He said I could get them online a little cheaper if I searched. Later I would find that I could order one for $54. OK, well, I'll pay their price and get a new one myself online in the coming year.
The tech guy finished the job and then gave me a bill for almost $300. How did that happen I asked. Well, there was the cost of the air filter and then there was a maintenance agreement for the coming year that was $179 that would cover the same work that was done today but for next year paid in advance. What?? We really did not expect a bill along with this maintenance visit.
Why would the payment be made in advance? Why would that maintenance cost not be paid at the time of services rendered? I need to make a phone call to the company.
I made the phone call to Central Heating & Cooling and spoke with the office rep. Apparently the tech who came to our house should have first told us about the annual maintenance agreement that was available after the first year free service for $179 paid in advance for the year. Maybe he did say something but I didn't understand his heavy Hispanic accent but I don't think so. Afterward it felt like he assumed I knew their services and policy. I asked the office rep to explain the maintenance agreement to me which she did very effectively. I was able to get all the information I needed and the clarification of the program.
Having the MX, as they call it, gives significant discounts for labor costs, parts costs and service charges if we need service anytime during the coming year. It also covers the cost of the annual maintenance tune up and cleaning of the heating and cooling systems. She offered us a refund for the MX cost if we didn't want it since we did not understand what the agreement covered. I strongly recommended to her that at the time an appointment is made for the annual maintenance service, and especially for a new customer, that all the options are described including the costs of continuing the maintenance plan.
Becky and I discussed it and decided to keep the MX in place for the year and now we know how their maintenance system works.
We had been very happy with the service from this company leading up to our purchase and then the installation of the new furnace and air conditioning unit last year and we saved a lot of money with their help.
I wrote an earlier post about our heating and cooling problems.
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