Choosing an HVAC Contractor for AC Repair
Choosing a Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Contractor for repairing a home unit should be easy, but when the need is urgent, the task can be tricky. This is because homeowners would naturally want to hire an expert and reliable air conditioning repair contractor whom they could trust, someone who will not overcharge them, and someone dependable enough to show up promptly.
Apparently, these could be tall orders especially in areas where unscrupulous individuals pretending to be licensed HVAC contractors operate. It would be best for every homeowner to be aware of the red flags that indicate that a “contractor” is unlicensed, and may just be trying to make money out of the supposed repair jobs and scam the homeowner.
Red Flags in Hiring a Contractor
If the contractor came knocking on the door, and is in an apparent house to house within the whole neighborhood offering a “free air condition inspection” or even go through the length of free cleaning, then a homeowner should start to be suspicious of this effort. Inspection for one is a service offering that most legitimate HVAC contractors carry out, and charge customers for, let along cleaning the entire unit. These supposed complimentary services should ring alarm bells because it definitely indicates a scam.
Choosing a Reliable Expert HVAC Contractor
Choosing the right Air Conditioning Repair Contractor could get easy when a homeowner can get referrals from friends and neighbors who may have contracted air conditioning repair service. Such a referral should be very useful in narrowing down the vast amount of choices for HVAC Repair contractor serving a specific community. Consider the most recommended contractor as part of a shortlist to vet.
Choosing an HVAC Repair Contractor is an important item in a person’s to do list, even if his AC is working in top condition? Why? Because breakdowns can happen anytime, and a homeowner should not be left to hire only the available contractor whom he has not checked out at all, and whose abilities, expertise, and reliability is in question.
Vetting the Shortlist
It is important that a phone or face to face interview be made with the contractor so that the homeowner can ask the contractor the questions he has about the service to be carried out as well as his experience in carrying out such. It is important to ask for the timeline and possible cost of the project.
Moreover, the homeowner should also ask to see the contractors’ license as well as other permits and certifications the contractor may have in view of his business. He should also make sure that to countercheck these information because it is not enough to be shown an ID picture, and presented a license number.
Where to Verify the Legitimacy of a Contractor
The best way to verify the legitimacy of an air conditioning repair contractor is by entering his license number in the Contractors State License Board’s official website. By doing such, the homeowner can also find out whether there are pending cases or complaints against the contractor, and what the status of these complaints are.
Another indicator are the search, and social media pages associated with the contractor since ratings and reviews can be found in these accounts. Third Party Service Ratings websites like Home Advisor and Angie’s List also provides great help in knowing what the past clients of the contractor thinks about the service he has rendered.
Upon knowing that the contractor is indeed licensed, the homeowner should ask for cost estimates at least from three different licensed contractors. Examine these cost estimates closely but do not immediately choose the contractor that presented the lowest CE as this could mean a misinterpretation of the job requirement, or worse a below-standard job and supplies.