subject: Heating And Air Conditioning Repair - Negotiate Your Best Deal [print this page] The amount of heating and air con corporations in Virginia Beach, the town I am living in, as in several cities across the country, is totally out of proportion to the need for cooling and heating. Though Virginia Beach has 3 to 4 months of hot summer temperatures, infrequently does it climb into the mid to higher nineties for any quantifiable quantity of time.
And, as far as winters go... we had a picnic and enjoyed seventy degree weather the day after Christmas! It can get cold but it does not often fall into the teens or single digits with the average winter temps around 46 degrees.
There's a need for heating and aircon in the Virginia Beach area but nothing extreme or reason to have one or two hundred heating and cooling corporations all going after the same consumers. Therefore why are there many of them if the weather isn't intense and supply out weighs demand by a long shot?
Well, I haven't got a conclusive answer for you but if you find yourself wanting heating or air-conditioning fix you can use these numbers to your benefit!
These fellows essentially starve half a year out of the year in the mild spring and fall months but try and "make up" for it in the busy season. As I discussed though , there isn't enough work to go round even in the busy times and knowing this will permit you to agree pricing... Yes, you CAN barter the cost.
When you place a service call the company charges a diagnosis or trip charge to cover the price of coming to your house and they're just breaking even at that point so they don't need to run away from a repair . You may use this to arrange the price for the repair . Trust me, there's a lot of room for negotiation because most companies try and maximize each call they can get their hands on.
So, don't settle for their first price. Most likely the service technician will look at you with a confused look on his face and tell you they don't negotiate price. This is usually true as most companies do not allow the service technician to lower a price. However, if you call the office someone will definitely talk with you and will likely lower the cost of the repair to get your business.
It is worth a try, especially on an expensive repair. And remember, most heating and air conditioning repair companies offer maintenance agreements where they give these "special" customers 10-25% off of repairs so there is room to lower their price, and you don't have to sign up to one of these contracts to get it either!
