hey, cut me some slack. I can't hit home runs every time up to bat, lol.

OK then, how about your first?

 

 

SNAP! *oh no, he didn't!*

The aftermath....

Holy s***....who cleaned up the s***stains?

OK then, how about your first? 

SNAP! *oh no, he didn't!*

 

 

all I'm picturing is daisy duke jean shorts and a mid-driff plaid t-shirt

Actually its a tubetop with SLAP MODERATOR written in gothic letters. But otherwise, youre dead on.

Define "taken"

If you paid $229 for an ignitor you got taken.

If you paid $229 for an ignitor you got taken.

 

Let's break this down.....

 

To get the $24.99 ignitor you linked to, you would have to pay $32.98 after shipping and then wait for 3-5 days without heat for delivery.

 

The company has to pay a technician to drive to the home and diagnose the problem. There is your service call.

 

The technician has to drive to a parts house to get the part and back, then install the part, verify that was the only problem, cycle the unit to make sure it is working properly.

 

Depending on travel time, time of day (was the call after hours? on a weekend?), a professional diagnosing the problem, installing the part, cost of gas, truck, tools, business overhead, the individual market and margin, the price could easily be justified.

 

Service companies are not just charging for a part, they are charging for their time and services as well.

 

FWIW, here in Birmingham, our company would charge as follows:

 

Service call/Diagnostic Fee: $77

Flat rate price for ignitor and installation: $109 to $140

Possible return trip charge: $18 to $24

Energy and materials charge: $5

 

The charges vary depending on if the customer has an existing preventative maintenance agreement.

 

So I guess a normal customer has the choice of paying $36 for an ignitor, waiting 3-5 days to get it and then paying someone to install it, hoping that is the only problem. Or paying a couple hundred bucks to a professional to handle it and have heat the same day (or worse, the next if the part is not available at night).

 

I know which choice I would make.

Let's break this down.....

 

To get the $24.99 ignitor you linked to, you would have to pay $32.98 after shipping and then wait for 3-5 days without heat for delivery.

 

The company has to pay a technician to drive to the home and diagnose the problem.  There is your service call.

 

The technician has to drive to a parts house to get the part and back, then install the part, verify that was the only problem, cycle the unit to make sure it is working properly. 

 

Depending on travel time, time of day (was the call after hours? on a weekend?), a professional diagnosing the problem, installing the part, cost of gas, truck, tools, business overhead, the individual market and margin, the price could easily be justified. 

 

Service companies are not just charging for a part, they are charging for their time and services as well. 

 

FWIW, here in Birmingham, our company would charge as follows:

 

Service call/Diagnostic Fee: $77

Flat rate price for ignitor and installation: $109 to $140

Possible return trip charge: $18 to $24

Energy and materials charge: $5

 

The charges vary depending on if the customer has an existing preventative maintenance agreement. 

 

So I guess a normal customer has the choice of paying $36 for an ignitor, waiting 3-5 days to get it and then paying someone to install it, hoping that is the only problem.  Or paying a couple hundred bucks to a professional to handle it and have heat the same day (or worse, the next if the part is not available at night).

 

I know which choice I would make.

 

No need to get defensive. I just wouldn't go that route. And you don't have to wait 3-5 days. Any Menards or Home Depot carries these. Just my $0.02. Sorry if you took it the wrong way. Wow.

 

The point is, that very people know how to work on a gas furnace. So to say someone got "taken" is implicating that companies are ripping people off. I guess you could say the same thing for an expensive MRI or a nice steak dinner, because those things don't cost anywhere near what companies charge.

 

If you can do it yourself, great. More power to you. But keep in mind, that professionals go behind do-it-yourself-ers on a daily basis and fix messes that could have been avoided in the first place.

 

Just last week, we had to replace a circuit board, a contactor a transformer, among other things (I don't have the whole invoice memorized) because a guy decided to change his own thermostat and connected the wires wrong. It fried a whole line of parts that cost him nearly a thousand bucks when all was said and done.

 

So it isn't as simple as a $25 part, especially when you are working with gas, which could kill you.

Edited December 16, 200520 yr by Rex Hudler