AC update

Well, it's Tuesday and I still don't have AC. The repair guy came out (which he reminded me of a 1980 car sales man) and took about 5 minutes to determine that my AC had a leak (well duh!) and he couldn't fix it. WHAT???

His suggestion was that I have a "consultant" (aka sales man) come out to my house and give me all my options. Which he recommended I get a new AC and coil. The whole thing felt like he just wanted to make a sale and not fix my AC.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: So can you fix it?
AC Guy: No, it has a large leak and it's probably in your coil. I decided to save you money and not run a leak test. You will need a new AC unit. You might as well get a new furnace too.
Me: How much is that going to cost?
AC Guy: Well, I'm not the consultant so we will need to schedule someone to come out and talk to you.
Me: You mean a sales person?
AC Guy: No a consultant
**rolled my eye**
Me: OK, I don't want a consultant to come out to my house. I just want to know a ball park of what it will cost.
AC Guy: It will probably be about 5000 for the AC and if you include the furnace it will be about 8000.
**sitting in shock and pretty irritated right now**
Me: How much will it cost to find the leak
AC Guy: $120 ***pause*** but I will need to check the pricing

OK, let me pause here. The guy already knows I have a coupon for a free service call with any repair. If he runs this check then that will be considered a repair and I wouldn't have to pay for the service call. The service call is $89 I figure for $30 more I could at least know where the leak is.

AC Guy: **runs out to van, comes back** Oh, I'm sorry it's really $220. I guessed wrong.
**this is were I lose the nice side of me and turn cold**
Me: No, thank you
AC Guy: do you want me to set up an appointment for a consultant?
Me: I already told you NO! I don't want a consultant to come out to my house. Because I don't want to sit here and wait between 3-7 only to have the guy come here at 7:30 and try to sell me stuff.
AC Guy: you can always say no
Me: yes, just like I'm tell you NO and you keep pushing for a consultant. So, I'm telling you "No, I don't want a consultant to come to my house"
AC Guy: **hands me the paper work** Are you sure you don't want to talk to a consultant.
Me:**deep breath, with a stare of irritation** NO!!!
AC Guy: **says something**
Me: **cut him off** Thank you by!!!

So Saturday morning comes bright and early. At 7:00am I grab my phone book (yes, I still operated the old fashioned way) and started to make calls. By 8:00 I have scheduled 6 companies to either call me back or come out to my house and give me a quote on an AC and for the kicks of it a furnace. So far, two companies have quoted about 4300 for both.

Then I ran into a small company..probably a single owner and started to talk to him. I told him the problem and he said he thinks it's just a leak and the leak can be fixed if its on the outside unit. So he is coming out today to see if he can fix the AC unit. It would be great if he could.

My next door neighbor knows a guy who could give me a good deal on an AC/furnace unit and install. The guy works for a heating and cooling company.  Mitch's knows of a place where they sell AC and furnaces at price. So, here is my thought.

If this guy comes out and can not fix my unit then I will have Mitch pick up an AC and furnace for me at this place. Mitch has read some of the cost and it looks like I might be able to get both units for about $1000. We will have to go back and actually look at the right sizes though. Then I will talk to my next door neighbor's friend and see how much he will charge just to install the two units.

I figure if I can get both units installed for less than $2000 then I will be ahead. So that is my plan...lets see how it all plays out.

Luckily, the weather hasn't been to bad. It rained last night so this morning it was nice and cool. I will probably go to the pool today and try to enjoy the sun a little bit once the AC guy shows up and fixes my unit ( I still have hope!)

to be continued........

It's 11:42 and the AC guy didn't show!!! (he was suppose to be at my house at 11:00am) WTF! I swear, maybe it's just in the cards for me to get a new AC and furnace. OK, so much for plan #1! Moving on to plan #2, Talking to Mitch about the AC and furnace and then talk to my next door neighbor's friend. I'll grab them when they get home tonight.

So now I'm going to put on my bathing suit and head off the the pool...after I grill me a hot dog or two:) Time to make the best of my vacation!