Several years ago I had an old hunk of junk car that I loved. I loved it because it allowed me to have my freedom to come and go as I wished. One day that wonderful, liberating car conked out on me, as you can imagine this did not make for a happy me. I spent the next day pouring through the phone book looking for local shops getting quotes to replace the engine that had finally given up on me. Like many people, price was my main concern and when I had finally found a shop that beat everyone else’s price I quickly jumped on it.
The repair that should have taken just a couple of days ended up taking two weeks and when I finally got my precious car back it never was quite the same again. Over the following weeks I was in and out of the repair shop with numerous issues, items that would have normally been done in the replacement of the engine had not been included in the price of the work and even items that had been included just were not up to par. I drove the car until it finally went to car heaven to rest in pieces.
I learned a valuable lesson with my red beauty; cheap work ain’t good and good work ain’t cheap.
Had I taken my car to a reputable repairman I would have been told that these other items need to be addressed in order to ensure not only the longevity of my car but also my personal safety. They would have pointed out that by spending a little more up front would save me hundreds, if not thousands, over the remainder of my car’s life. They would not have let me drive my car off their lot knowing that they had not done the best work they could have, not just for me but for themselves as well. Reputable repairmen take pride in a job done right and will stand behind their work if it fails.
The same is true in all areas of your life, even in your home’s comfort systems. A conscientious and trustworthy company will advise you in the best repair not only for your money and comfort but for your safety also. When looking for dependable Heating and A/C service and installation contractor keep the following in mind:
- Will they pull a permit with your city? The vast majority of cities require a permit to do almost any major repair to your home. From replacing a water heater to a roof to a condenser, if the contractor is not pulling a permit this should be a giant red flag warning you of the standard of work the company will do.
- Will the work be done to code? A little known fact but all cities follow some version of the International Code Council guidelines for safe and responsible building and alteration standards and even if your city tells you that they don’t require that certain items be done, a good contractor will follow the stricter of the guidelines, whether that be the city or the code book. One way of ensuring that your contactor is completing the work up to par is to make sure they are pulling a permit in your city. This will allow a city inspector to come out and double check the work and the contactor to fix anything that may have been over looked.
- Look online, do they have good customer reviews? Don’t just check their website, check outside sources like Kudzu or Angie’s List. Keep in mind that every company is going to have one or two negative reviews, there is just no way around it, but if the vast majority of the reviews suggest that they do good work, chances are you will be happy with the outcome.
- Ask for customer referrals. A reputable company will be ready and willing to give you some names for previous customers that you can talk to about their experience.
- What kind of warranties and guarantees does the work come with? Is the warranty through the manufacturer or the company themselves? Will they put it in writing?
By following these simple guidelines you can rest assured that you will have season after season of comfort in your home. We believe that an educated customer is the best customer and that is our goal, to educate our customers so that they can get the best possible service and product. No one should ever feel like that are being taken advantage of and at AC Wizard we strive to make sure that every customer is an informed consumer and has all the information needed to make an educated decision and never feel like they are being taken advantage of. When quality matters, call AC Wizard at 214-342-2665, we are here to help.