Furnace Problems

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by JustAnotherGuy

Did the $220 cover the first hour of work? If not that is even more absurd.

Yes, the $224 (actual amount) was for the "call". The other $245 was to cover parts. The guy was here for about 30 minutes.

[sclitheroe]

What was the problem with the furnace, at the end of the day?

[Red Potato Standing By]

Unless the guy was the owner he would have to be payed atleast 3 hours,but more then likely 4 hours which would eat up most of that 224 dollars.

[Ducay]

So what, furnance repair guys are never on salaries?

[Red Potato Standing By]

should it matter if they are on salaries?

[Ducay]

Im just playing Devil's Advocate. You're all assuming they're charging $200+ for a call out because they have to pay an employee for min. 4 hours....but that just assumes that the employees are hourly.

[Red Potato Standing By]

true i guess,as far as i know though even salaried employees are entitled to overtime(i now there are exemptions)

[Bindair Dundat]

Speaking as someone in the trades...nothing out of line with the price. I charge out at $50/hr, and I'll guarantee you my overhead is way less than a major plumbing/HVAC company.

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

What was the problem with the furnace, at the end of the day?

The motor.

[Dion]

What was the total cost?

[Deegee]

Not to nitpick, but I am pretty sure in Alberta you have to be paid a minimum of 3 hours worked if you show up for work, not 4 like previously stated.

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by Dion

What was the total cost?

Just under $500. I really have no idea what this part is worth though, so who knows if that is a good price or not.

[ken0042]

Under the category of "too late" I will offer this bit of info for future reference: Atco will come out to do a free service call on your furnace.

Within those 18 different fees you pay on your gas bill; you pay for emergency calls. Last winter my neighbour's furnace died when it was -25; and they called me. I couldn't get it running so I called Atco. About 40 minutes later the guy came and showed me how to fix the problem in the future. The thermocouple (sp?) had carbon deposits and was no longer working. A good cleaning with steel wool and it was working fine again.

Total cost for the service call- $0.

[DuffMan]

Another under the category of a little too late, you could have went to Canadian tire and bought a motor for approx $75 and done it yourself. But you could not diagnose and fix the problem, so you paid him for his expertise, afterhours.

I'm pretty sure that is about standard for stuff like that. I think I paid a plumber something like $120/hour, not long ago, and I remember him telling me his after hours rate and it was over $200.

On another line of thought about this minimum four hours stuff, he was there for half an hour, so suppose he had 3 other calls he did at 1/2 hour each and had them all done in four hours. He would get paid for 16 hours.

[4X4]

I don't think $220 is outrageous. He may have only been there for half an hour, but he also had to go and fire up his cold ass van and drive there, and drive back home again - at midnight - to do a job that you can't do, and that he had to go to school to get ticketed for, so that you don't have to sleep in minus 29.

Respect your trades, people. They may not wear the fancy suits you wear to the office, but without them, you'd be living in a teepee using a fire to keep warm.