$461 to replace a fuse that took 5 minutes!

I will never call this company again. I had a horrible, overpriced experience with A-1 American, a non BBB accredited business. I paid $461 for a 5 minute service call which consisted of the technician changing 1 single fuse. My personal customer service from them was awful. But I have learned something. I will definitely ask more questions prior to having a technician come to my house, and I will check Yelp reviews and call several companies before making a decision.

Questions for HVAC technicians BEFORE they arrive at your home:

How do you charge, by the job or hour?
What are your fees by the job_____, by the hour?_____________.
What is you service call fee?_____ Is it deductible from work completed?
I am having this issue ____, can you give me a base and maximum estimate and job completion fee before coming to my house.

My experience with A-1 American:

On August 31, 2016 I called A-1 American because my air conditioning thermostat was not working.

The technician arrived and informed my husband that the issue may be an extensive failure in our attic wiring, and that the fee for him to fix it would be $461. At no time did the technician inform us that there was a flat rate charge of $461 for any work rendered. If I had received an estimate to put in a fuse for $461 I would have declined it and just paid for the $79 service call.

The technician replaced the fuse which solved the problem. This took five minutes then he gave us a bill for $461.

We were shocked, then called A-1 to speak to his supervisor John, but he was unavailable. We were told we must pay him the full amount and we could call his boss in the morning to dispute the bill. Also at this time I told him to take out the fuse and leave but he wouldn’t. I told him I would pay for the agreed upon service call charge, but he refused and demanded we pay the full amount of $461. We paid the $461 by check under protest (noted on receipt) to get the technician to leave. The check for $461.00 was cashed on 9/6/16.

We never signed or were asked to sign an estimate or any paperwork that disclosed a minimum $461 charge.

When my husband signed the contract it was only after the 5 minute work had been completed and it was the only way to get the technician to leave, my husband signed “Protest” on the contract.

I called another air conditioning company American Mechanical and explained this issue and they said based on my invoice they would have charged about $100.

I was hoping this was a new employee, under trained or just a bad communicator. I called A-1 because they are a Best of the best Gold winner and felt confident that this was a honest and trustworthy company. Currently I am extremely disappointed in this company.

I do not have a problem paying for service rendered but feel the $461 is an exorbitant amount to replace a single fuse.

I wanted either:

1. A more acceptable charge.

2. A-1 to remove the fuse and refund me the balance.

I called September 1st, September 2nd and John was not available so I left a message with the receptionist for him to call me.

On September 2nd I submitted a complaint via their website.

On 9/13/16 I called and talked to Greg and emailed him my complaint.

On 9/14/16 I received this response:
I have checked with the technician and supervisor. The invoice states “replaced bad fuse and re-wired thermostat”. The charge of $461 is consistent with our price book for these 2 tasks. Our prices are reflective of training, insurance and the knowledge to find problems and fix in the quickest time. Other companies will quote you low prices when you call and they are not at the job to see what needs to be done. This does not mean we will drop our charges as a result.

No adjustment can be made to the bill.

Greg
A-1 American Services, Marketing

We have several problems with this response.

The technician never rewired our thermostat, only replaced the fuse.
We were never informed of the $461 for any work rendered, only the worse case
scenario.
We felt intimidated and forced to pay an exorbitant amount for a minimal service.

On 9/14/16 I filed a complaint with the BBB, by the way this company is not BBB Accredited.

Other complaints about A-1 American

$780 to replace a 6-inch piece of pipe. I immediately called another plumber who quoted me “no more than $150” and they could arrive at my house by 5pm. We had to pay A1 American $78 just to tell us a jacked up price! What a SCAM! Read More
Facebook Posts about awful service
Ripoffreport.com A1 American Plumbing Heating & Air Take Advantage of Elderly Clients – Price Gouging – Terrible Management Chesapeake, Norfolk, Va Beach, Hampton, Internet. Read More

If you know of a great HVAC company please email me email and let me know.

Cheers – Carrie