I think I almost got scammed. When my furnance died last week, a tech came out & said it was a pressure switch; replaced it with a temp & ordered new part. Said everything else was fine. New part came in 2 days later, different tech comes to replace. He tells me my heat exchanger has a crack & my furnace is likely releasing CO & is dangerous, I need a new furnace ASAP. Something made me suspicious--after all, the other tech said no such thing. So I pushed back.
I said, "I need a second opinion." I also ordered a low level CO monitor, which came today. I have ZERO CO in my house, even down by the furnace. ZERO. So I google cracked heat exchanger & it turns out this is actually a fairly common scam! They try to get you to agree to buying a new furnace on the spot, some techs even make a pencil mark to make it look like a crack and then use a camera to show you. This guy used a camera & showed me what looked like a tiny squiggle.
It really seems odd to me that the first tech, who was here when my furnace wasn't working and was trying to find the problem, wouldn't see this crack that was supposedly right near the opening. I have a second opinion place scheduled to come out tomorrow but now I'm wondering if I should just cancel that. I'm really angry! Would they have done that to a man, or did he see an easy target???
I hate that being a woman means we are more likely to be taken advantage of and lied to when we are dealing with stuff like this, because now I don't know if I should still have it looked at (which I am going to have to pay for), or if I can cancel since my furnace is working beautifully and there is definitely no CO being released into my house. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
@DrPsyBuffy In a former life, I was an (honest) service writer at a car repair shop. My best advice is to A. get word of mouth recommendations from people you trust B. establish a long term relationship with a local service you trust.
@DrPsyBuffy That's often the case. Harder and harder for independents to stave off corporate take overs.
I really, really cannot stand dishonest people.
Making a profit dishonestly has really infected far too many aspects of American life.
@mrquindazzi And it makes it harder for people in my situation to know what's the truth and what isn't. If the previous guy I used said, "you have a crack, you need a new furnace" I would've said, "ok, let's do it." But now I'm suspicious and am worried this new company who is coming to give me a second opinion won't be any more honest than the other guy. Ridiculous.
@DrPsyBuffy It's an awful situation. As you say, it makes you suspicious and distrustful.
@mrquindazzi I did have one, but he retired! So when my furnace went out, I went with a big name in the area, but now friends are telling me they are known to pull shit like this. :(