Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine January 2022

S tate, National, Chapter News State national Chapter News

While the electronic thermostat could be operated from the homeowner ’ s phone, he wasn ’ t sure how to adjust it from the house. Channel 5 reported that on a 90+ degree day it was 79 in the house and the homeowner did not know how to make it cooler. After Channel 5 got involved, the contractor adjusted the purchase price of the equipment to $13,000 and cancelled the service agreement. They still needed to release the homeowner from the lien on the home which was part of the service agreement. There are some details in the article that make a contractor have questions; however, it does raise issues of ethics in our increasingly sales dominated residential marketing environment. To read the whole article, click on the following link: https://www.newschannel5.com/news /newschannel-5-investigates/elderly- man-winds-up-with-19-000-hvac- system-that-he-wont-pay-off-until-hes- nearly-100-years-old

He’ll pay it off when he’s over 100.

Jennifer Kraus, Channel 5 News in Tennessee reported that an elderly man purchased from his long time and trusted HVAC contractor a HVAC system for $19,000 which would take him to an age of over 100 to pay it off. Their 1,500 square foot home of almost 50 years was comfortable according to the homeowner; however, it appears that the technician discovered the air conditioner was “ low on gas. ” Since the unit was about 10 years old, the tech recommended that the unit be replaced with the their most expensive unit. The sale included:

• High efficiency air conditioner • Furnace • Air cleaner • Electronic thermostat

The payment was $275 for 117 months.

Additionally, the sale included $13,000 for their highest level service plan. It appears that the contractor includes the service plan in the sale price. That brought the total sale to $32,275.