From Thumbtack Customer
The Right Choice Heating and Air
I’m sharing this review in the hopes of helping others avoid the excessive expense and frustration I encountered with a simple air conditioning maintenance call. In the end of September, one of two Water Source Heat Pump Units in my condominium went out. I put in a simple maintenance request in Thumbtack and got three quick responses. The first bid was from Right Choice Heating and Air , and it ended up being the lowest bid of the three at $75. The low bid coupled with their positive reviews on Thumbtack led me to select Right Choice Heating and Air to help me get my air conditioner up and running.
Scheduling was relatively easy. I spoke with Jasmine who helped me schedule for a time when I could take off from work for an extended lunch in order to meet the technician at my condo. Jasmine explained the technician would need two hours just in case repairs were necessary. We scheduled 1200-1400 on Thursday, 29 Sep 16, and I requested that the technician arrive as close to 1200 as possible so I could get back to work if it ended up being a quick fix. At 1130 Thursday morning I had a voice message from Andrew saying their technician Adam would be at my condo at approximately 1200. Adam ended up arriving at 1240, and immediately asked me if security would be available to give him access to the roof. I had checked with the Smart Corner condominiums HOA, and they assured me the technician wouldn’t need access because the water source heat pumps are located within the condominiums. Adam was frustrated with that answer, arguing that he had been to Smart Corner previously and couldn’t fix the problem because the owner didn’t get “security” to give him access to the roof. Frustrated with my HOA, I called my representative back and said they were wrong and Adam would need access to the roof. They politely explained Adam was wrong, and asked to speak with him. I handed him the phone and he verified the same. In the end the HOA was correct and Adam didn’t need access to the roof, but I never got an explanation as to why he was confused and why we needed to cause drama with my HOA.
By approximately 1250, Adam was on his ladder looking above the ceiling tiles at the air conditioning unit. By approximately 1310 he determined he needed a part from his truck. I asked if he had figured out what was wrong, and he said it was a failed capacitor. Even with the unnecessary argument he prompted between me and my HOA when I thought he was correct, I was happy Adam had a quick fix. He came back upstairs with the new capacitor, swapped it out, and was finished and checking the temperature of the cool air coming out of the vents by 1330.
This is where things went downhill quickly. He said the charge for the repair would be $249. After passing out and coming back to, I asked him how much the capacitor cost. He said it was $179. He didn’t know it at the time, but he left the new capacitor’s package on my counter when he went to get his ladder and I had quickly done a price check on it. I Googled the new part (Mars Motor Run Capacitor #14281) and found many companies selling it. The two cheapest were $27.67 at PlumbersStock.com and $32.65 at Ferguson.com. I politely said that was quite the markup, and that the Thumbtack quote said, “Our service charge is $75 per unit, for a full diagnostic inspection on the centralized system. If you choose to have us do the repair, however, we will credit the $75 service charge back to you in full toward the cost of the repair.” I was confused as to how I ended up with a $30 capacitor and one hour of a technician’s time for $249. He was very polite, and said he could ask his manager, “if there is anything he can do.”
At 1340, exactly one hour after Adam arrived, I followed him down to his van where he began to fill out the invoice. As promised, he called his manager Steve, who said told him the best he could do was a $20 discount for a final price of $229. After hanging up, Adam made me feel better by saying at least it isn’t a heat wave. During a heat wave we charge $350 for this type of call.
Bottom line, the entire experience was shady. It’s a pretty simple ploy when you think about it: Give the consumer the lowest bid possible to hook them in, and then charge them 332% more than your initial estimate. And if they think it’s too expensive, have the technician call the manager to give them an 8% discount. I’m uploading a pdf copy of my invoice showing a $229 charge for “Parts: Capacitor”, as well as a picture of the packaging of the new Mars motor run capacitor.
Hire this company at your own risk, and get ready to pay way more than you think you will for the service call.
