Miller's Heating & Air

Our customer contacted us outside of our normal business hours to receive service for his furnace.  Our normal business hours are between8 am and 4 pmMondaythroughFridayand during this time we charge our standard service call fee of $159.  Outside of these hours our customers may receive...

service via our after-hours service. This is an optional service in which the customer can opt to pay $199 to have a technician come outside of our normal business hours. The service call fee is a diagnostic charge, which means that it covers the time it takes for the technician to find what the problem is.  It also covers the cost of our vehicle to come out to the home, which we charge to every customer for every call.  The reason we charge extra for our technician to come out for after-hours is because we pay significantly more for the help of our employees on evenings and weekends. The additional charge covers this expense.   As far as the other charges, this customer had two parts installed in his system. Our charges for the repairs cover the cost of the part, any supplies needed, the cost of the labor to do the installation, and it also covers any return trips that are needed to the home as well as office support to ensure that customers receive the best quality service. In addition, the cost covers the parts and labor warranty that comes with all of our repairs. 
The customer could have opted to have his repair completed during our normal business hours which would have reduced his cost by $40.  The customer is likely to have found the $87 part he needed installed on an online retail site or another cut-rate retailer that does not provide warranties and would not have technically trained staff to do the installation for him. As far as the refund that was discussed with the customer, our technicians do provide the option for our customers with older equipment to have the cost of the repair refunded if they opted to upgrade their equipment. If this option was provided to the customer it is likely that the equipment is at or close to its lifespan and it is not intended as anything other than to make sure that the customer doesn't pay more for a system that will not be used in the future when it will soon be replaced (if the customer choses to install a new system). 
We understand this customer concerns and we regret that he is unhappy with the cost of the services. Our company has been in business for 70 years and we have been in service this long because we believe in providing world class service with integrity to our customers. However, we are a retail business that provides a service to our customers and with these services there are costs to our company and we charge accordingly to provide these services.  Our pricing is competitive with companies that provide the same services. Unfortunately, we cannot compete with the cost of a part purchased by a non-authorized retailer online if we ourselves want to remain in business. However, we offer indispensable value that cannot be purchased online. With our services, our customers receive installation from highly trained technicians, warranties for parts and labor, and support from office staff. They also receive peace of mind that their equipment has been installed properly and that it will be well taken care of by professionals for the years to come when they sign up for our maintenance program.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because the technician did not ask for my authorization or provide a quote before completing the repair. The company is welcome to come and take the parts back and cancel the X298 parts charge. Sincerely,[redacted]

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me, because the company issued a refund check for the proposed $211 amount. Sincerely, [redacted]

We apologize for any confusion in this situation. We are sincerely concerned about this issue and would like to take the opportunity to make things right. We have contacted the owner of our company and he will contact you directly to discuss and resolve all remaining issues. He is out of town for the next several days but we assure you he will be in contact with you early next week.