Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - A Technician Dilemma

Recently I had a need to call a service technician to look at a furnace at my mother's house. Technician A arrived early way before our scheduled appointment, opened the furnace door, looked at it, took a carbon monoxide reading, said it was high, scared her and tried to sell her a new furnace. When I asked Technician A to review what he had done with me, he went through it again, gave me a bill for $60 and said he could have the furnace replaced by Friday. While we were downstairs, my brother was looking at the meter hanging on the heat register upstairs and noticed the reading was zero.

After the Technician A left, I asked my mother if she minded if we got a second opinion and called another service rep. Technician B came over and did more than just open the door and look at it. He did a thorough maintenance job, including a water test, dismantling and cleaning the burners and the blower, replaced the filter and told me to go get a carbon monoxide reader / alarm which also read zero - and said it was fine. After installing the alarm it has yet to go off.

My dilemma here is what to do about Technician A and the $60 bill he gave me for the service call. I want to do the right thing and be fair, but I also feel like someone tried to take advantage of us. In speaking with a friend, they suggested I send Technician A a copy of the report from Technician B and give him a chance to respond. Quite honestly, Technician A is kind of a big guy with a sidekick covered in prison tatoos, so I'm a little nervous about ticking him off.

Any advice?

I would let it go. Send a very nice letter detailing your experience to B's company telling them how pleased you are (no need to name names). You can report it to the BBB, but if "A" isn't a member all it will do is get the report in their database. You can also tell the story (naming names) to anyone and everyone you know or run into and maybe you'll save some people from buying a furnace unnecessarily.

Wouldn't have hurt to have tipped "A" $20, but probably wouldn't be expected by a first-rate company or tech.

So let me make sure I understand your response.

I should go ahead and pay Technician A - who also owns the company by the way - $60 for the service call and tip him another $20 for trying to sell my mother a furnace she doesn't need?

I think Tow Guy meant it wouldn't have hurt to maybe tip Technician B, the one that did the good job for you.

And I agree with him that you should probably pay "A" the $60 bill and write it off as a learning experience. If you didn't pay him for the service, he could take you to small claims court, and the hassle is definitely not worth the cost. Just remember the good service provided by Technician B and continue to use that company and recommend it to others.

I agree with the guys.. Just pay A go on with life, and keep B in your phone list for further service if needed.