Our AC went out last week & we endured 2 nights in the heat. We were very thankful for our ceiling fans! A repairman came out on Friday afternoon through our home warranty company. Very nice gentleman. Anyway, he quickly diagnosed that the problem was a tripped breaker. What? Something we could have fixed ourselves!!! So I sheepishly thanked him for his time & paid the $60 service fee.
That got me thinking about all the silly service calls we have had in our life as homeowners. First was the $100 for a sprinkler company to replace a battery in our sprinkler system at the old house. I even supplied the battery. Then there was the electrician through the home warranty company that told us (for $60) he couldn't fix anything because it wasn't up to code. More recently was an $85 charge for a repairman to tell us to buy a new TV.
I think I'm in the wrong business. Imagine...."You have a dead battery in your hearing aid -- that will be $50". "You clogged up your earmold with wax -- that cleaning will be $75". Ha! Patients would laugh. As frustrating as a homeowners woes are, it is nice in my line of work to try to help people. I want my patients to feel comfortable with me, to want to come see me, and to trust that I will try my best to take care of the problem -- without a ridiculous "service fee".
Don't feel bad. It's not just you. Two weeks ago, I paid $85 for a plumber to use an S-shaped screwdriver to unclog our disposal. That took about 30 seconds. His assistant literally hadn't even gotten the chance to turn on the flashlight yet. At least he let me keep the $2 wrench for free. I can't believe he charged me for the visit-- especially after I gave him my new water heater business last year.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! That is so funny. Good observations A. We have been going in the opposite direction lately. Our dishwasher went out a couple of months ago and we just dumbly went out and bought another one. Well, last week we got a letter in the mail from our home warranty company asking if we wanted to renew our policy and guess what the warranty covers (among other things?)? DISHWASHERS! We didn't even look at our warranty before we paid $600 for a dishwasher. I was SICK with regret, but we learned a lesson. :)
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