Heater Rat

13^th November 2011

Dear Cassi,

   

I gave you the run down on my crazy bills. Well just as crazy as the bills was the story of my heater. I think it must have been on the frits for two years but most of the time I was at work so it made little difference. However, with the new developments I felt it was time to get the thing repaired.

   

First I called a company that sent me something in the mail. They said they would come in five days and it would cost me a hundred dollars for them just to look. They said it would be a fifty dollar fee if I canceled in less than 48 hours.

   

Smelling a rat, I pulled out the old paperwork from when the heater was installed in 92 and called the company that had installed it in the first place. They said it would be sixty nine dollars, and they would be here within the day. Getting warmer, but still not great.

   

Then my neighbor came across the street and told me that he was getting his air unit worked on, and the repair man would come over and look at my heater for free. That was the first bit of good luck I’ve had in a long time. This fellow came over and looked at my heater and said it was the fan exactly what I had thought. He said he had to check on part availability and that he would call me in a few hours.

   

I called the second company back and told them that I had already found the problem. I gave them the whole story. They asked if I wanted a second opinion. ‘I wouldn’t mind one,’ I said, ‘but I’m not paying sixty nine dollars for it.’

   

You have to figure that they would have been better off taking down what information they could have over the phone and giving me a price, but if they want to be stubborn they can lose business.

Stay safe, Cassi,

Richard Leland Neal