Beware of Doctor Fix-it!\r
I called them for maintenance on my furnace. Anthony G. pulled out the blower wheel to show me it was dirty and it would be $200 to clean it plus $200 to replace the capacitor that was registering at 8.9 instead of 9.4. He also said the evaporative coil was very dirty, but could only be seen if I crawled inside to look at it, which I did not do. That would be $900 to clean.\r
I asked why it cost $200 to replace a $6 capacitor and he said that is the minimum repair charge. \r
I didnâ??t have him do anything beyond the maintenance work.\r
I ordered the capacitor on line with 2 day shipping for $15 and replaced it myself in less than 10 minutes.\r
After he left I could hear a squeal when the furnace came on, but not loud from upstairs. Quite a different story when I was in the basement a few weeks later when the furnace came on with a loud squeal, so I called them back out.\r
Kevin said the noise could not have been there when Anthony G. left or he would have heard it then. He said the blower motor and the blower wheel were creating the noise; the system is in poor condition and recommended system replacement with furnace and AC running as high as $12,000. He also said he would be surprised if the system lasted two weeks.\r
Of course I warned that I would be getting a second opinion.\r
The second HVAC company that came out voiced a much different opinion. They said they donâ??t pull the blower wheel out to service it because it has weights on it, much like a car wheel, and they can fall off or be moved a bit if the wheel is pulled out, causing the wheel to wobble and eventually could lose the blades. This also has an impact on the blower motor potentially causing it to have play in it and replacement necessary. They could not say for sure that this problem was caused by Doctor Fix-it, but â??oddly coincidentalâ??. They replaced the blower wheel for $200 and the blower motor does now have some play it, but hopefully will last for a couple years. They also showed me that the evaporative coil was NOT dirty.\r
Doctor Fix-it are crooks and tried to take advantage of a senior citizen. Shame on them.
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