
Just the other day I was talking with a friend who was telling me about a bad experience that he had back in 2003 with a local AC company in Southwest Florida who we’ll call “O-Air” to protect their identity.
Jake said:
I remember as if it were yesterday because it was the summer solstice (aka the longest day of the year, north of the equator) when my air conditioner decided not to work. I just had replaced it a little over a year before that so I was quite puzzled as to why there was water all over the floor of the closet in which my air handler was located.
I called O-Air, which was the AC company that installed my air conditioner a year prior, and they told me that they were booked solid that day and couldn’t inspect it to see what the problem was.
By this time, it was approximately 91℃ and I was in no mood to hear that they couldn’t fix my AC especially because I had a maintenance agreement with them! When I told them this, the receptionist said that my maintenance agreement expired a month ago.
While trying to maintain my composure in my 90 degree home, I asked her why I hadn’t seen or heard from any of their technicians within the past year, after all they were supposed to maintain my AC every 6 months. She replied “Because you didn’t call to schedule an appointment with us sir. That’s your responsibility.”
Needless to say, Jake decided that O-Air no longer deserved his business.
The reason I share his story is because it got me thinking…Why wouldn’t an AC company actually call their customer to schedule a maintenance appointment?
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