66 degrees, is not a heating emergency... VENT

[Thorpe]

Sorry guys, just gotta grumble for a moment... So I am on call this week for work (hvac service tech) and had some d-bag call me at 1230am because his heat isnt working. Now its been mid 30's all week here in MN, so its not exactly cold out (ie: -20) So the guy says he is concerned, because he has children in the house, (I can understand that) So I asked the gentleman, well, whats the current temp in the house? His answer, 66 degrees! Do kids freeze at 66 degrees??? He seemed slighlty shocked that I wasnt going to drive about an hour away at that time of the night/morning for a 66 degree house... Thankfully my own kids woke me up nice and extra early, so now I can take that lovely ride in my service van... UGH, stupid people... Thanks for letting me vent!

Edit: When I show up, if you are wearing a tanktop, or barefoot, you will receive ZERO sympathy from me.... MORONS

[atc007]

LOL,,you gotta love some Human beings... Feel for ya Thorpe. When I could still farm,not only didn't our cows complain. They were downright thrilled for all that we did ! Toughest job I ever loved.

[brapp]

thsats whan it becomes an emergency with a ingnrance fee of an added 25% lol

[bkm]

Wow, I keep my house at 68 and love to sleep at 66.

[Dirtcrasher]

I have tenants at 80 degrees with no shirt on and a window open. Sometimes there heat shuts off for the weekend........ :D

[atc007]

^^ I couldn't do it !

[Russell 350X]

I'm on call aswell, 24/7. It sucks pretty hard when you get called out at 2am Xmas morning...

[200x350xtriz250]

Just a question, but if it is at 66 at 12:30 am what do you figure it will be by the time you get there in the morning? My house is poorly insulated and if I lost my heat at 12:30am and it was mid 30's outside, I'd bet my house would be in the 40's by morning - a 40 something degree house with kids in it sounds like it could use attention to me. Being on call would suck, but what constitutes an emergency situation is relative to which side of the phone you're on. Hopefully you get paid extra for being on call.?

[Thorpe]

Their house was at 64 degrees when I got there at 8am....

[Dirtcrasher]

Just a question, but if it is at 66 at 12:30 am what do you figure it will be by the time you get there in the morning? My house is poorly insulated and if I lost my heat at 12:30am and it was mid 30's outside, I'd bet my house would be in the 40's by morning - a 40 something degree house with kids in it sounds like it could use attention to me. Being on call would suck, but what constitutes an emergency situation is relative to which side of the phone you're on. Hopefully you get paid extra for being on call.?

I don't mean to come across the wrong way, but, customers and or tenants, (sometimes many people in general) with a problem are idiots. They call you about a problem and proceed to tell you what THEY think is wrong. I've learned to listen to what people say, but not absorb it until I feel it's worth adding to my brain as I may have an aneurism - J/K

Kinda like when a girl when questioned over her I phone about her car not starting says "It won't catch". I'm not smarter than the average bear, I do dumb crap all the time, but at least I'm AWARE of the dumb crap I've done and try to learn from it.

Take summer as an example; If you can maintain 72 degrees with little humidity and a properly sized AC unit/duct etc, your doing great. I had some moron call me last summer 6 days in a row because he couldn't get his house down to 68 degrees and it was near 100 degrees outside and 100% humidity. He couldn't pay me enough to explain to him the logistics of air conditioning.......

Maybe this cold clown above had a dirty filter, maybe he had a programmable setback thermostat, maybe he had a heat pump and it was 30 degrees outside that night? Who knows; But it's up to the tech to ask a few simple questions and determine whether it is a true emergency or whether it can wait.

- A lady told me her heat wouldn't turn off. The thermostat fan was set to "ON" and she assumed the heat was running. She was 3 hours away.

- A tenant decided to defrost sausages in a pan, with the wrapper on them and fell asleep. He set off the fire system clearing out the whole house and asked me when I could come down (This was at 11PM). I told him to call the fire department.

- A female tenant "fixed" her leak under the sink with masking tape. It was leaking for months, swelling and ruining the base cabinet. I cut out the PVC and it was filled with 15 straws/food/wax (she had hundreds of candles) and didn't tell me until the sink overflowed and got all over the rug. She told me the plumbing was cracked........

No good tech would leave someone in a dangerous situation ("I smell gas" etc.) but you have to make your own assessments sometimes. And I consider myself a tech whether I'm back doing HVAC or running this sh!tshow they call being a landlord...............

[Thorpe]

^^AMEN Steve!!!

[RIDE-RED 250r]

I have worked as a service tech in the past, not HVAC but lawn and garden and exercise equipment..

I remember noticing how quick people are to pick up the phone and call for service when they aren't the ones paying the service bill. Also noticed how much more irresponsible people were when they thought their service plan covered everything. Imagine their disgust when I had to inform them they would be paying the full service call and that their warantee would NOT cover bent mower blades, broken spindles, etc because they were hitting large hard obstacles with their mower... A $155 service bill usually snaps most people back into being a little more responsible with their equipment. Can't count how many times I had to show people the things (mainly customer abuse) in the written warantee/service contract that warantee/service plans did not cover. And STILL they would get irate! Was a good job, but I don't miss dealing with customers like that. Some people think that if one spends $1000 on a cheap lawn tractor the company owes them a lifetime of free repairs... Sadly mistaken

[200x350xtriz250]

Their house was at 64 degrees when I got there at 8am....

Obviously good call on your part! I'd love it if my home was that tight. I've never been on call for anything, never a landlord and am glad about both. Kudos to those that have to deal with these issues at all let alone on a regular basis.

[YAMAHA_Jim]

I used to be a propane service tech,Some customers learned that by saying"I smell gas" or "I think I have a leak" means we had to go,no acceptions.Then when I get there,there is no leak or smell of gas.It was a tactic just to get me there asap. Few times I got right back in the truck and left them there with no heat,no hot water,no stove/oven.I didnt care but I did get scolded when I got back to the office :) effem.Also had C.O.D. customers call when they were out of gas(propane),I get there,make sure they are there before I hook up the gas,Then after I'm done and go to find the guy to get payed,he's gone....Unhook the tank,load it back on the truck and away we go,,,no money ,no gas a-hole.I like my current job digging holes in the earth better b/c there aren't any customers to deal with.

[Dirtcrasher]

^ Great to hear about some other techs that don't take any crap!! :beer

They need US more than we need them :beer

[riverrat]

I don't mean to come across the wrong way, but, customers and or tenants, (sometimes many people in general) with a problem are idiots. They call you about a problem and proceed to tell you what THEY think is wrong. I've learned to listen to what people say, but not absorb it until I feel it's worth adding to my brain as I may have an aneurism - J/K

Kinda like when a girl when questioned over her I phone about her car not starting says "It won't catch". I'm not smarter than the average bear, I do dumb crap all the time, but at least I'm AWARE of the dumb crap I've done and try to learn from it.

Take summer as an example; If you can maintain 72 degrees with little humidity and a properly sized AC unit/duct etc, your doing great. I had some moron call me last summer 6 days in a row because he couldn't get his house down to 68 degrees and it was near 100 degrees outside and 100% humidity. He couldn't pay me enough to explain to him the logistics of air conditioning.......

Maybe this cold clown above had a dirty filter, maybe he had a programmable setback thermostat, maybe he had a heat pump and it was 30 degrees outside that night? Who knows; But it's up to the tech to ask a few simple questions and determine whether it is a true emergency or whether it can wait.

- A lady told me her heat wouldn't turn off. The thermostat fan was set to "ON" and she assumed the heat was running. She was 3 hours away.

- A tenant decided to defrost sausages in a pan, with the wrapper on them and fell asleep. He set off the fire system clearing out the whole house and asked me when I could come down (This was at 11PM). I told him to call the fire department.

- A female tenant "fixed" her leak under the sink with masking tape. It was leaking for months, swelling and ruining the base cabinet. I cut out the PVC and it was filled with 15 straws/food/wax (she had hundreds of candles) and didn't tell me until the sink overflowed and got all over the rug. She told me the plumbing was cracked........

No good tech would leave someone in a dangerous situation ("I smell gas" etc.) but you have to make your own assessments sometimes. And I consider myself a tech whether I'm back doing HVAC or running this sh!tshow they call being a landlord...............


I feel your pain bud. I own HVAC business and been in it for 33 years. I've seen everything from halon dumps in computer rooms in Manhattan because the guys on duty don't know how to disable it correctly when I am working there, to stupid people who suddenly forget how to program their thermostat after 22 years, and think it was something I did last week, and call me screaming while I am ice fishing. Just charge people like that double, you'll feel better right away.

I remember I had a guy move up from NYC to the country, and I couldn't get his part right away, he started moaning about having no heat. Well I provided him with some electric heaters, but I explained to him, hey you are the man of the house, it's your job to provide heat for your family. Have at least 2 or 3 methods of back up, including one that doesn't require power, or get a generator, because it's just a matter of time before you are going to need it. Welcome to the real world a__hole. Well I didn't say that last part, but you get the picture. First thing I did when i moved up to the country was install a wood burning stove, buy a kerosene heater, and an electric heater.

Depending who that customer was that called you in the middle of the night, I would have went there and charged him triple even, for the emergency call. People like that are a blessing to us, be happy.

[Thorpe]

If I owned the company, triple would have been applied... Unforuntaley I am just a grunt....

[BiggDogg]

Price doubles for stupidity

[Dualstroke]

I am service tech/small projects for my company in the electrical business.I get calls all the time. Problem is I remember when I/we used to be able to run the job and tell customers how it should be.Now a days my company goes by the customer is always right. The company never stands behind there employees and would rather agree with the customer than stand behind a long term employee.I love it when the customer starts sending emails constantly till you show up and the company calls you 5 times while you are in route. I feel your pain guys. I get sick of the BS every day but it pays well and every day gets me closer to retirement.

[riverrat]

Well the customer IS always right. Which doesn't mean they know wtf they are talking about. You can advise them on the right course of action, but they may not always take it. Sometimes no matter what you do, you cannot win.

I had a guy once have me come out to fix his refrigeration in his market. He told me he mostly does all his own work, but couldn't figure this one out, so he called an "expert" aka me to do it for him. Of course like every other refrigeration call, it's a freakin emergency because the food will go bad. He told me he was the one who put most of his market together, showed me the case indoors, then the condenser outdoors. All the lines were hidden so I took him on his word. Said the machine was running, but not getting cold. There was several machines there. After about 1.5 hours of trying to figure out what was going on, it occurred to me that the machine he pointed me too, was not the condenser for that case, and it was another one. I then trouble shooted the problem, drove 45 one way to get the part, and fixed it. Booya, I am the f'in man right? Just like every other refrigeration call, once the bill was layed out, service charge, hourly rate, parts, he started his whining, just like every other market, or restaurant owner out there. Complained he could have bought a new condensor for that price. So I said yea, but you would have replaced the wrong one, and still had the same problem because you don't know which machine does what, and you never labeled anything. I said if you like I will buy some nice steaks from you, because tonight is my birthday. I noticed he charges way more than most people for his steaks, what a f'in hypocrite. I hate refrigeration calls. He was the nicest guy in the world until I handed him that bill, and my prices are way more than fair, believe me I know. Not only that, I actually fix problems, and stand behind my work.

I had a similar experience with the local subway. He wasted 15 minutes of my time talking to me about what the problem could be, and how much it would cost. Again I said time and material. Someone was already there and didn't fix it properly. Said he could almost buy a new machine for that price. So I then pointed out to him that I could buy a half pound of meat, a half pound of cheese, and a loaf of Italian bread for the price of one of his Subway sandwiches (that gives you practically no meat) and feed my whole family. I started getting agrevated because I already knew how this would end, I told him you got like 1 minute to make a decision, then I am going to start charging you for standing here. He said forget it. In a town of 3500$ you shouldn't piss off any locals. Me and several people do not eat there now, because I make sure I tell everyone how he conducts business. I also point out that ever since he took over, how cheap he is on the meat in your sandwich, which is true. His loss.

Ha, dualstroke, I feel your pain too. Back in the 80's when talking beepers first came out I worked for a company that used to do that. The fat b1tches in the office would beep me and I would get a recorded message of them screaming at me while I was stuck in good ole' NYC traffic. That beeper mysteriously fell off the roof and broke into a million pieces, and I had to get one of the old ones again with just the numbers. When I first started wroking there we had 7 mechanics, and 7 ppl in the office. It went down to 3 mechanics, still 7 in the office. We did computer room AC for comanies like DOW Jones, Morgan garauntee bank, HBO, MTV, etc. We had an "on-call" rotation, which then wound up to be one week on call, one week on back-up, then one week off. We got nothing extra for it. Since we sort of had them by the balls being that we were only 3 workers, I fought to get $150 extra for being on call, and 4 hour min per call. It took a lot of arguing, but I got it, then I left. haha. They abused the crap out of me, and all I ever did was the right thing for them, that was my parting gift. I was like a doctor on-call.