AC Question. Think I'm gettin Raped

[LANTIRN]

AHS sounds like a scam, but you gotta remember all the EPA bullshit that is required for recovering Freon nowadays. It takes a while, and the cylinders that recover freon aren't usually reusable (that is they recover it and cannot reuse it), and then have to put all new freon in the machine. Plus time to vacuum down the system, check to maintain the vaccum, the replacement of the part, the recharging with new freon, the pressure testing for leaks and to verify the problem was fixed, and the disposal of the old freon, plus the hourly labor rate, plus other misc costs I am forgetting. I used to repair ice machines; there is a lot of shit that goes into repairing a refrigeration system and I did not realize it until I did the job for a year. Thanks to Uncle Sam it is a HUGE pain in the ass and fairly costly to the company so the costs get passed along to the consumer. The bill to repair a refrigeration system problem for an ice machine would routinely run $500 to $1000 or more.

[Cannon88]

we had AHS, biggest SHAM out there.

Agreed!!!!!

[BlackSnake]

So 250.00 is the going rate for refrigerant? Keep in mind that AHS pays the contractor for all other parts and labor.

[The King]

What is the annual premium cost for AHS?

[BlackSnake]

What is the annual premium cost for AHS?

I think its about 200 /300 a year. Its more than payed for itself in the past 10 years.

Edit: 450 a year

[BlackSnake]

I guess the AC guy and I are gonna have to have a little talk.

[juiceweezl]

I guess the AC guy and I are gonna have to have a little talk.

We bought a house last fall, and it came with a 1 year AHS warranty. They just came out and serviced our A/C unit twice. The first time was to diagnose. They said some stuff needed to be replaced and then they charged the system with refrigerant because it had basically all leaked out. I handed him $60. They came back a week later and replaced the evaporator and some other stuff, charged it again, and then left. I didn't pay another dime. Sounds like they're trying to scam you.

Oh, and FWIW, I'm not renewing my AHS warranty. The A/C unit is now 2 years old and still under warranty. The furnace is 2 years old and has 3 years left on warranty. The evaporator is brand new and has 5 year warranty. The AHS warranty is between $350 and $400. On top of that, I'd have to pay someone to do annual maintenance which will run $100-$150. Add in the $60 deductible for work, and all of a sudden I'm $1K in for a repair 2 years from now -- on parts that are still under warranty. No thank you, AHS. I'll take my chances and just pay labor while parts get warranty service.

[BlackSnake]

They are replacing the dryer. 250 bucks on my part to discharge the freon and add new

[Txstang1]

Freon recovery, haul off, bringing things up to code are all typically things that are NOT covered under a standard base contract. Those are all add on options that cost extra.

AHS sucks, but Choice home warranty sucks worse. We are currently with Old Republic.

[BlackSnake]

Freon recovery, haul off, bringing things up to code are all typically things that are NOT covered under a standard base contract. Those are all add on options that cost extra.

AHS sucks, but Choice home warranty sucks worse. We are currently with Old Republic.

Im ok with them not covering the cost. I just cant believe the tech wants 250 bucks for such a simple job.

[Hobie]

We have American Home Shield for general insurance for house maintenance. So the AC goes out and the repairman comes and finds a bad part thats leaking freon. He recharges the system since its a slow leak to help with the cooling while we wait on the part to come in.

A day passes and he calls us to inform us that to extract the freon and put it back in will cost us 250 bucks cause AHS doesn't cover the cost to do so. 250 fucking bucks??? To extract freon and put it back in? Is this not total bull shit? Am I missing something here? This cant be right...can it?

The deductible is 60 bucks for the repair.

You're lucky he's doing it. Most warranty companies aren't willing to pay what the business normally charges to do HVAC work. Most HVAC companies won't do home warranty stuff as most have found they are losing money when they do. Home warranty companies suck and often put those service businesses in bad positions.

Sending a $25k van out, with gas at $3.40/gal, with a trained guy making $16/hr, costs money. Not to mention the gov't gets a 3rd of the profits.

$250 jobs don't keep HVAC companies in business, $5k jobs do. That biz isn't making shit off you.

[BlackSnake]

You're lucky he's doing it. Most warranty companies aren't willing to pay what the business normally charges to do HVAC work. Most HVAC companies won't do home warranty stuff as most have found they are losing money when they do. Home warranty companies suck and often put those service businesses in bad positions.

Sending a $25k van out, with gas at $3.40/gal, with a trained guy making $16/hr, costs money. Not to mention the gov't gets a 3rd of the profits.

$250 jobs don't keep HVAC companies in business, $5k jobs do. That biz isn't making shit off you.

Actually he is making money replacing the part. If 250 is the going rate to have the freon sucked out and new put in, then I'm alright with that. Just seems awfully high for such a easy task, IMO.

[juiceweezl]

Actually he is making money replacing the part. If 250 is the going rate to have the freon sucked out and new put in, then I'm alright with that. Just seems awfully high for such a easy task, IMO.

Seems to me that it might just "leak out" overnight before he gets back. I mean, if it had a loose fitting and all...No freon in the lines, no $250 rate to suck it out...

[BlackSnake]

Seems to me that it might just "leak out" overnight before he gets back. I mean, if it had a loose fitting and all...No freon in the lines, no $250 rate to suck it out...

I was holding out a few days just for that reason...Didnt work...he says.

[dmh165638]

My girlfriend had AHS. She was without AC for 10 days recently because of parts issues and total bullshit delays in scheduling. In the end her AC repair cost her nearly $800. She dropped them the next day.