Horbett Heating & Cooling, Inc.

I am unhappy anytime a customer is unhappy. The following are the facts. The customer called in to our office wanting to talk to a technician and have his furnace problem diagnosed over the telephone. We told him we could send a technician over to his house to troubleshoot and diagnose the furnace...

problem and the cost for this trip charge and diagnosis would be $89.00 plus lax. The customer didn't want to pay that so he declined and hung up. The customer called back later and set up an appointment and agreed to the charge of $96.79. The customer states the call was 15 minutes, that's simply not true. According to the GPS tracking on the vehicle the technician traveled from East Aurora at 2:50 pm drove 27.8 miles and arrived at the customer's home at 3:33 pm The technician diagnosed the problem and found a part was needed that is not a common part. The technician then made several calls to different suppliers in attempt to acquire the Manufacturer Certified part locally but they didn't have it either, so it had to be ordered. We ordered the part and it was to arrive the next day. The GPS shows he departed the home at 4:24 pm. (43 minutes travel, 51 minutes at his house a total of 1 hour 34 minutes). To ensure our pricing is fair and consistent we subscribe to a service that provides us with an industry specific flat-rate pricing guide which is based on the National Average labor repair times and part prices. This method is very common and used by many companies so that the customer knows how much its going to cost before agreeing to the repair. We took extra measures to go above and beyond to make this customer happy. I talked to the customer personally and told him that the flat-rate book has the repair listed at over $400.00 for parts and labor; however we would help him out and do it for $119.00 plus tax. This price covers the technician's trip to pick up the part at the supplier, drive to the customer's house, dismantle and remove defective part and install the new part, repair 2 wires, start and test the furnace, and the customer responded "NO-WAY" I can gel the part online for $19.00.  Regarding the customer's comment that he was without heat for over a week, that had nothing to do with us. We responded immediately to his call for help. I had nothing to do with what was happening the week or weeks before he reached out to us, it seems as if he was trying to solve this himself and couldn't. In order to stay in business I have to charge something, $89.00 is more than fair for all the time and travel expense. Sincerely, Kenneth H. President

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
At no point in time did the company offer to do the repair for 119$.  This has become a he said she said situation and I will just let the online reviews of this company Speak for themselves.  They are thieves and liars.  The only reason we called them was because their company name was on the furnace.  Thanks for nothing.  And just for your information the repair cost a total of $18 and took a total of 5 minutes, done by me the home owner.  Don’t make me laugh with the ridiculous quote of dismantling the furnace.  It was two wires.  Ridiculous! 
Regards,
[redacted]