A Deltona man unhappy with the AC repairman decides to hold him at gunpoint until the job is 'done'.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/br...fice-says.html

This guy reminds me of Hank Hills neighbor!

not good...

I pity those in the Mid-Atlantic states with no powa.

We were down for 24 hours, that was enough, I can't imagine any longer. The recent storms on the east coast were really bad.

I'll tell you what, this has been the hottest ever since we moved here 20+ years ago. Nothing close. No rain either. I pumped the well down to mud. So thats the end of watering.

I got up this morning at 6AM to spray paint a project. I'm a late sleeper and getting up early is my idea of Hell. How hot is it you ask? The paint drys before it hits the wood and bounces off.

Usually we have hot dry weather for 6 weeks , frome mid July to end of Aug. Times change. Global Warming? Have no idea but it seems that way. 104 right now. Buy corn futures if it's not to late.

AC makes living easy but I feel like I'm on a boat or island and trapped. Grrr.

I am an HVAC Tech and while I haven't had a gun pulled I have had to call the police on a customer that wouldn't let me leave. I told the customer he needed a new evaporator coil before I could recharge his system. He kept demanding I just charge it up but I couldn't because it was leaking way too much making it illegal for me to. Thankfully I don't run across this type person very often

Originally Posted by ambientech

I am an HVAC Tech and while I haven't had a gun pulled I have had to call the police on a customer that wouldn't let me leave. I told the customer he needed a new evaporator coil before I could recharge his system. He kept demanding I just charge it up but I couldn't because it was leaking way too much making it illegal for me to. Thankfully I don't run across this type person very often

That's why I do commercial and only do residential as a side business and not for the general public, my customers have to be referred to me. The heat makes folks do some wacky things. Be safe out there, bro.

Found a great A/C tech, he gives out communion at my daughter's church. Wanted to put in a complete new system heat pump and air handler. It was too big of a job to get done in one day. The air handler which still worked is in the attic. We were having another daughter and her kids coming in the next day to spent a week with us. Instead he suggested putting in a used unit that he had. He put in a 2.5 ton compressor. Sweated in the copper. Checked for leaks, filled it with R-22. Charged me $250. A/C works fine, He will be back in the fall to install the new unit.

Originally Posted by n00b-E

That's why I do commercial and only do residential as a side business and not for the general public, my customers have to be referred to me. The heat makes folks do some wacky things. Be safe out there, bro.

The last company I worked for was 100% residential and I got out of there as quick as I could because of these issues. It is shocking how many people have anger management issues these day's!

The company I work for now is 70% commercial and 30% residential with most friends or referrals from friends. We focus our advertising on the top of the line equipment so it weeds out most before they even call. Once in awhile one finds us and we fire them quickly

Originally Posted by little nail

Found a great A/C tech, he gives out communion at my daughter's church. Wanted to put in a complete new system heat pump and air handler. It was too big of a job to get done in one day. The air handler which still worked is in the attic. We were having another daughter and her kids coming in the next day to spent a week with us. Instead he suggested putting in a used unit that he had. He put in a 2.5 ton compressor. Sweated in the copper. Checked for leaks, filled it with R-22. Charged me $250. A/C works fine, He will be back in the fall to install the new unit.

Sounds like you have yourself a good one. Make sure you take care of him

ambientech, at first he didn't want to charge me anything because it was a temporary fix. He had two guys with him that he had to pay, so he charged me the $250. That was a week ago, he still hasn't cashed the check. When I need something done, I always ask my daughters to refer me to someone they trust. Works for me.

We are having exceptionally cold summer here now. Last three summers were very hot, but this one is cold. Around 60F all the time, people are travelling to south Europe to get some heat. Statistically we are way below the average this time. Last three summers we made new records every year. 60F and heavy overcast almost every day...We should have around 80F now constantly. It"s easier to sleep though, because nobody here owns any kind of AC equipment, not even the most rich. Few people have some kind of fans.

Here in Austin, we have hit 112F twice, once last year and once, I think, in 2001. The first time, I had been to the Labor Day contest in Dallas where it registered 108F. When I got home the AC was out and I wasn't able to get it fixed for two days, one of which was the 112F day. Fortunately, my shop has a separate AC, and my wife was at a meeting in Canada.

Originally Posted by ambientech

Sounds like you have yourself a good one. Make sure you take care of him

yea, no kidding... being HVAC certified I can tell you that a good lot of ac guys have a very thin grasp on how to troubleshoot a unit... a lot of them are IMHO out to swindle people and talk them into a new unit when they don't need one. in fact my friend here in Houston just got to experience this. he has a rent home in fort worth. the ac stopped working because the dual capacitor went bad. the tenant called out an ac guy who told us the whole unit was burned up and we needed a whole new condenser. said he tested the cap (yea right). also cried foul that at 220.00 to change the cap he wasn't making any money. then he promised a new cap wouldn't work. we had him do it anyway and low and behold it worked just fine.

Remember the episode of Hill Street Blues? the disheveled crazy looking cop tells his partner to tell his mom to put water in the tub and soak her feet in it. Works for me, and my dogs.

Originally Posted by AustinTatious

yea, no kidding... being HVAC certified I can tell you that a good lot of ac guys have a very thin grasp on how to troubleshoot a unit... a lot of them are IMHO out to swindle people and talk them into a new unit when they don't need one. in fact my friend here in Houston just got to experience this. he has a rent home in fort worth. the ac stopped working because the dual capacitor went bad. the tenant called out an ac guy who told us the whole unit was burned up and we needed a whole new condenser. said he tested the cap (yea right). also cried foul that at 220.00 to change the cap he wasn't making any money. then he promised a new cap wouldn't work. we had him do it anyway and low and behold it worked just fine.

This is a huge problem in this industry. The suppliers have done a great job of brain washing the business owners that the only way to make money is to sell new equipment. Then the business owners want salesman instead of service techs so they spend all training dollars on sales classes instead of tech classes.
I can tell you most would pass on a seasoned service tech that can fix anything for a salesman that can talk the talk but not fix a damn thing.

The suppliers also raise parts prices to make it easier to sale a new unit. Most parts today cost us as much as we charged the customer for the entire repair 6 years ago.

You can also thank the EPA for their hand in it. http://www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/phas...2phaseout.html

R-22 doubled in cost this season and it will only get more expensive.