Caught On Camera: Air-Conditioning Repairmen Inflate Fees To Fix Simple Problem

And the sun beats down on Southern California, Investigative Reporter David Goldstein turned up the heat on air-conditioning repair companies.

[al]

I worked for a company that said I had to increase my sells and they told me basically to lie to them.
I quit them.

[elias]

lol my boss for sure would have just reconnected the wires and probably only charge them like 50 dollars. it feels great to know you work for an honest company

[jgg]

Vandalizing someone's HVAC unit should be a criminal offense

[billybbob]

I'm an HVAC tech, and the owner of the company made it clear right off the bat that we are a purely honest business. Being honest feels better and is far easier than to lie. All it takes is one well articulated terrible review to crush a contractor. Especially in a small town. The bad ones get reviewed out of work.

[itsukitakahashi]

It's always very stressful for me to find an honest plummer, electrician, air conditioning repairman, mechanic, and honest WIFE.

[mbranbb]

As an HVAC tech of 14 years I find it hard to believe the first company quoting $500 to fix the unit without even looking at it. What if there was a bad compressor? That would run the company $1, 500 or more to get a new compressor.

[CasperH]

Omg Mr. Chioffi! That's my HVAC teacher from trade tech!

[JohnDoe-pnsf]

Cioffi is the man. Taught me HVAC and spread the passion he has to everyone he teaches. GOOD MORNING!

[natureboy]

"My Friend" as soon as he said that, this so called "tech" I knew he was no good.

[DustinDawind]

A container ship's engine fails. The ship's owner brings in expert after expert. No one can figure out what is wrong with the engine. Finally they bring in afrail old man who has been repairing ships his entire life. The man inspects the engine from top to bottom. Then he takes a small hammer from his tool bag and taps something. The engine roars to life. A week later the ship's owner receives an invoice for $10, 000. "WHAT?" he exclaims. How can this be. He barely did anything. The owner demand the man send him an itemized bill. The man sends a new bill. It reads:
Tapping with a
Knowing where to

[WTFxCROWEx]

And who pays for that workers school. We pay doctors thousands of dollars to prescribe us allergy meds. Guess people think air conditioning is a right. I payed a guy 200.00 just to replace a capacitor that costs $20.00 but I didn’t know what that was the problem and my guy came out on a Sunday to make sure the I had ac for my wife and infant son. Thats worth it to me.

[m.l.]

this video hit very close to home b/c we just had the same problem a month ago. AC went out after a power outage and had 2 people come, the first one said need replace will be like 7k, 2nd person said 15K for replacement. wow. i was devastated but thank god, I found paperwork on the original installation 10 yrs ago (only lived here 2 yrs) and called them. He even remembered this address and was super helpful, proffesional and only charged $168...to repair, i know most likely will need replace soon and will call HOT n Cold air conditioning here in Riverside. It should not be a shock when we receive good customer service, but it seems nowadays it is a shock b/c honest people are so rare and is so sad.

[NoName-kxms]

I am an honest hvac tech, I would never do this to a customer, when you are honest you will have a customer for life and his friends and family as well. I would of connected the wire and charged him/her 85.00 and that’s my service call fee inspection.

[jeffmiles]

First off whoever installed that unit put the condenser and a spot

[GNXClone]

THIS is why it’s good to know how to DIY as much as possible. I just had to replace the contactor in my AC. The part was less than $30 from Amazon and the job took about 1/2 hour of my time.

[noneyours]

I learned to fix most things in my house, including cars by watching YouTube videos. I learned how to coat my roof. I haven't had a service/repair man come to my house in 16 years. Thanks YouTube.

[Jdamnitok]

You know what? I do all my own repairs and you know who my teacher is.... you guess it, YouTube!!!

[shotforshot]

I was a master automotive tech for years. Sometimes a whole service dept is corrupt, sometimes it's just one person who hasn't been weeded out. Oh the eye openers I could give you! An incompetent tech takes just as much money out of your pocket, as more labor and parts are charged, things misdiagnosed. The arm patch or certification means nothing.

[pullingthestrings]

My old company we were told to release some freon during the winter so when summer came along the unit would not cool properly and we would get called out and charge them to fill it back up. I quit that place so quick.

[DJxDannee]

What’s up Mr. Cioffi!!! I never took courses with you but I heard great things about you! I’m now studying at JJATC