AC repair am I being scammed 911

hurley0351

Hello please help if you can! My ac went out at my house. Called repair man, repair man refills Freon States problem is leak that he can not find. 5 hours later I come home from work. Ac still does not work. I recalled the repair man he says that the compressor is overheated that he shut the power off and will come back in the morning on Saturday. Am I being taken for a ride should I have to pay him more since the problem was never fixed in the first place?

beenthere

If he refilled it with freon.
Then there was no reason for him to shut it off.
Since he probably had to run it to refill it.

Ask him how he refilled it.

biggles

he charged the unit but couldn't run it because it overheated...the cold suction line from the indoor air handler/furnace is the cooling for the compressor as it returns thru the insulated line....get your self a comfortable chair Saturday and sit right behing this guy as he explains why it is overheating? 5 hours the bill has been payed,make that know to him or call his shop before he puts his tools down.once he dives into the unit he is going to BANG you again with no fix guaranteed

handy man88

The compressor may have overheated because of the freon leak resulted in all the freon being gone. If it was leaking so badly, he should have noted this as he was refilling your unit.

Most tech look to fix leaks by filling and then listening and then using the snoop (eg. dish detergent/water) to find the bubbling. Could be just loose fittings, but if there's a hole, it can probably be weld repaired.

texas115115

Lots of good answers. The only thing is I wonder is why it took him five hours to decide he could not fix a leak. Then he charged the system without fixing the leak, AND discountced the unit. I would not have wasted the EXPENCEIVE freon. I carry nitrigtion and dye to check for leaks. The system can be charged with nitrighion, then listen for leaks or soapy water. When that does not work I use dye and a black light. Sometimes the leak can't be fixed, most of the time they can. So with that said the only thing I would wonder is why it took five hours. Seems a little long to me. Is he charging you windshield time, or is that the amount of time he was at your house? Also is he bringing out a replacement part on saturday, if not why is he comming back out? Hope this helps.

handy man88

Maybe that's the difference between a mom and pop, don't care shop, and a highly rated service company who actually cares.

hvaclover

I think the OP needs to give us a little more input. I am not clear when he turned off the power and when the OP was informed the comp was overheating.

Sounds like it might be a restriction to me. If the unit was completely flat then it would seem to me you woild be able to hear the leak.

__________________
Just slow, not stupid.

Scuba_Dave

I'm sorry but where are people getting that the repair man was there for 5 hours???
Owner arrived home 5 hours later & CALLED the repairman again

handy man88

How can the repair man properly diagnose the problem if the homeowner, in your assessment, wasn't home to allow the repairman access to the home of which the repairman would need to check both the outside condenser unit AND the air handler/thermostat inside to properly service the unit?

texas115115

There are more mon and pop shops around than big boys. My experance is the mon and pop shop need to do more for trere customer because every customer is a potental make it or break it. Now I dont mean to say that all mom and pop shops are great, its just like everything else some good some bad, and somethime it was just a bad day for the good guy. BE HAPPY, LOVE LIFE, DO THE BEST YOU CAN.

texas115115

Even though a repairman can turn on the unit without going inside, it still is not enough to just be outside. I now understand why he had to come back and could not fix it on the first visit. Thanks to scuba for reading op better than me--repair man was five hours late--all makes more since to me now.

Scuba_Dave

Gee, I don't know - maybe the guy gave him a KEY
My plumber & my oil guy both work on my system & my house when I'm not there

Some people even have a different key to the basement to allow people in

Maybe he let him in at lunch & went back to work
Maybe Scottie beamed him in

handy man88

With regard to mom and pop shops, the good are good, the bad are atrocious. The worse are generally those contractors that get work from realtors who need to patch things up that inspectors find. These people are some of the worst scum of the earth.

Even the big name companies will take advantage of you if you're not on top of them.

My parents used to have a service contract with John C. Flood and they sent a young guy out to service their two units. This young dude just checked the filter and sat in the van for 1 hour b/c it had a GPS on it. Needless to say I canceled that contract when I found out about it.

texas115115

Good point

handy man88

Maybe, maybe not. And maybe none of your theories are valid either, as they are just theories.

I wouldn't trust any contractors even if I'm there, let alone give them a key to my house when I'm not. Most people would agree.