Originally Posted By: jbatey1

Originally Posted By: blumsden
The A/C industry is a rigged crooked mess. Caps, typically are either good, or not. They are about $10 and can be changed out in about 2 minutes, so yea $139 is ridiculous. Everything about the heating and air business is crooked. If you go to a distributor, they won't sell you anything, unless you have a card. I could see not selling you a unit, or freon, but how about a register? Nope. Lowes sells registers, thermostats, and other ac stuff.


As with any industry, There are bad apples that give the good guys a bad rap. There are some great companies out there that give you your moneys worth. Just remember, you are not only paying for what they do, but for what they know.

I've worked for 2 different companies that alot of guys here would consider "high priced" companies, yet I never have a customer complain about my pricing. A good company will make sure that the customer feels took care of.

Air conditioning companies aren't cheap to operate, therefore they aren't cheap to call either, in most cases.

Side job Joe may be able to support himself and his truck by charging 30 bucks for replacing capacitiors, but legitimate companies simply can't operate like that. Most companies offer up front pricing, if you don't like the price then call side job Joe.



We run into the same thing in my business. Its hard to compete with a guy who operates out of the back of his truck, doesn't have insurance or an office. I run into people all the time who just don't understand overhead.