Providing Home Comfort Services to Our Friends and Neighbors

“A tale of two service calls. 15 years ago JK Mechanical installed two geothermal units in our house, replacing our old oil burner. Back then, they were pioneers in the area in geothermal, and great to deal with! A couple of hiccups in startup, but they stood behind the work admirably. Fast forward to last week, the cooling stopped, and we had family coming in to visit. Had to get it fixed so I called JK and was scheduled for the next day, 8/29. The technician got to our home, and I showed him the unit and explained the situation. First was the thinly veiled chastisement and guilt fest for not having a maintenance plan in place, and after that was over, I asked “yes but can you fix it?” He asked for a moment to look around, so I left him with the unit. After a few minutes he called me down and said the refrigerant was low and he would need to do a leak test and replace some expensive parts and presented me with an estimate to sign for around 4K. I said for that money I’d better look at a new unit. I then asked him as a stop gap measure (it was hot) what would happen if we replaced the refrigerant and added a stop leak as they had done a couple years ago to the second unit in the attic. He said it was a “gamble”, but he would write up another estimate. A few minutes later, he produced another estimate for 1900 bucks to add 6lbs of refrigerant and stop-leak. At this point I realized this tech wasn’t going to repair anything and feeling a little scammed I said why don’t we part company, and I’ll pay you for your time. He put the panel back on the unit and said he needed to go to his truck. After about 20 min. I went out to the truck and said can I pay you; I need to leave. He presented me with the final bill for $309, which included his extended diagnostic charge. I signed it and drove away. That evening, I called my plumber and asked, “who do you know?” He said he would use Constant Comfort Solutions as he really trusts them. Long story short, they were at my house the next afternoon. I left Hunter, the technician from Constant Comfort Solutions with the unit and within 15 minutes he showed me a pic of where the leak was, said he could solder it up and add refrigerant for $749. About an hour later it was done, Hunter was paid, and the house is cool again. I know my geothermal units are near the end of their expected service life. And I’m sure JK has many satisfied customers. But based on the difference experiences of the back-to-back service calls last week, we’ll be moving on…”