Anyone know about this service tech move?

Teemok

On Friday a good customers bother calls me up saying his furnace has been deemed dead and was curious if I could give a second opinion. "The Comfort People" otherwise known as the sales people were scheduled for Monday. The diagnosing company has the cartoon guys with tools on their vans and flags on their shirts. I offered to look that night as I needed to measure up a water heater swap. I opened the furnace to find these rubber southern cockroaches placed around the gas valve and blower cabinet. At first I though they were real but I've never seen a bug like that in NorCal. in 30 years. Thermostat and gas valve wires were all pulled and I read a write up about a bad (intermittent) gas valve accompanied by 45 pictures. A lawyer technique: Overwhelm and confuse them with info and discovery. 80% Trane burner tubes crossovers tend to make little heat/rust spots on the sides of the manifold mount brackets. This was indicated as very bad. A sign that the heater was damaged by over heating. There was never a high limit code. The problem was a failed 3 month old Nest refusing to charge despite have good voltage and a C wire. The gas valve works great. My guess is the tech knew that. Are the roaches a new industry thing to scare people? Keep them from DIY ing or making other companies not want to look at a nasty job? The logic and risk vs reward judgment is child like.

EdTheHeaterMan

Customer: "Waiter, What is that fly doing in my soup?"
Waiter: "Looks like the backstroke. No extra charge for that local delicacy."

Larry Weingarten

Hmm, This looks on the surface like plain ole' fraud. I'd be thinking about filing a complaint with the Contractor's State License Board. Maybe see if an attorney would be willing to take a percentage of the judgement to take them to court. Stuff like this reflects badly on the trades. Maybe have a local journalist call the buggy ones for a service call

Yours, Larry

Steamhead

Larry Weingarten said:

Hmm, This looks on the surface like plain ole' fraud. I'd be thinking about filing a complaint with the Contractor's State License Board. Maybe see if an attorney would be willing to take a percentage of the judgement to take them to court. Stuff like this reflects badly on the trades. Maybe have a local journalist call the buggy ones for a service call

Yours, Larry

This!

reggi

You'd need a "Caught on Camera" to nail them.... IMHO nail

hot_rod

Or a practical joker. The novelty store was out of rubber snakes🤔

Teemok

I thought about calling the company and talking about it but It's not worth it. Making yourself the target of the ethically challenged isn't wise if it's not necessary. Maybe putting them in the mail with an unidentified note questioning if this is how they operate. Likely denials and no proof they left the rubber bugs there would lead to nowhere good. I know my customer wouldn't want to high profile it. Laugh it off. One word: Commissions. The shake down hustlers are many, using proven trained boarder line techniques. This looks like a not so smart overzealous creative.

109A_5

Hello @Teemok,
Maybe, for now, just put them on your trophy shelf as one of the best Bugs you have repaired.

mattmia2

Maybe it was supposed o be a surprise for the installation crew and they hadn't counted on them getting a second opinion from someone competent.

Teemok

@mattmia2 I like that Idea, just an inside joke.

reggi

mattmia2 said:

Maybe it was supposed o be a surprise for the installation crew and they hadn't counted on them getting a second opinion from someone competent.

But the diagnosis was incorrect to begin with...who knows what the message meant... Especially since the problem was the Nest... They pulled the wires from the thermostat and gas valve wires were pulled, seems like vandalism or theft..or something 

ratio

While I don't understand the rubber roaches, never underestimate the power of plain old incompetence. Perhaps the tech was grabbing a doughnut when the Advanced Diagnostics slide was shown during his onboarding.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@Teemok

I agree that you shouldn't put a target on your back. You gain nothing and there are risks involved.

Should be a way to nab them though. Maybe an investigative reporter if there was one you could trust.

ChrisJ

Larry Weingarten said:

Hmm, This looks on the surface like plain ole' fraud. I'd be thinking about filing a complaint with the Contractor's State License Board. Maybe see if an attorney would be willing to take a percentage of the judgement to take them to court. Stuff like this reflects badly on the trades. Maybe have a local journalist call the buggy ones for a service call

Yours, Larry

It does, and it's not fair to those who run an honest business.

Teemok

Fair seems an ask beyond modern reason. I'm in a unique market: 8th highest median income and 2nd highest income per capita country in the US. The need/ability to pay /predator/pray balance makes for strange relationships. Company and homes turnovers adds to the predatory environment. I'd sooner attempt to stop congressional insider trading than be a trades justice enforcer here. I'm not getting between the hustler and his mark. The journalists report would say: Majority of big ad shops are regularly taking advantage of customers in shady ways. It's not really news. We pay a lot more for gasoline as well it's an accepted cost of living in this location. What the markets will bear is scripture. Fraudsters gonna fraud. Maybe it's just a bad apple...yeah right. Buyer beware. Pay a premium for honesty or do the dance with the wolves.

hot_rod

Well you know the company better than we do, so.. hard to tell from our perspective.
Could it be a a simple prank?
Bugs to keep the mice at bay?
There is always at least two sides to every story. Innocent until proven guilty I suppose.

This statement seems like a reach?
The journalists report would say: Majority of big ad shops are regularly taking advantage of customers in shady ways. It's not really news

Regardless, every homeowner should get multiple opinions on mechanical repairs or replacements.

STEVEusaPA

At least they didn't say the bugs died from CO poisoning.

Teemok

@hot_rod Always two sides to a story, LOL. Facts in quantum superposition, if that isn't the spirit of the times. A reach? It's just my opinion, speculation, about what real investigative work would find. I'm not interested in airing loads of common state of the industry dirt on a public forum. Rest assured your sensibilities would be injured. I just wanted to know if the bugs thing is common. It seems it's not and that's good.

hot_rod

Do you know for sure who placed the bugs there? That’s who I would ask the reason for them. 

Not a journalist. 

And I pretty certain you don’t have  much insight into my sensibility. Or if they could be injured🤓
Since we have never met. LOL

GGross

Teemok said:

@hot_rod Always two sides to a story, LOL. Facts in quantum superposition, if that isn't the spirit of the times. A reach? It's just my opinion, speculation, about what real investigative work would find. I'm not interested in airing loads of common state of the industry dirt on a public forum. Rest assured your sensibilities would be injured. I just wanted to know if the bugs thing is common. It seems it's not and that's good.

The bugs aren't common, but if you ever find a 4" crescent wrench near a furnace or boiler it is mine and I want it back 😂

WMno57

GGross said:

if you ever find a 4" crescent wrench near a furnace or boiler it is mine and I want it back 😂

Those are very collectable. Here is a rare one.
http://www.alloy-artifacts.org/mckaig-hatch.html

hot_rod

WMno57 said:

GGross said:

if you ever find a 4" crescent wrench near a furnace or boiler it is mine and I want it back 😂

Those are very collectable. Here is a rare one.
http://www.alloy-artifacts.org/mckaig-hatch.html

Are the 4" versions you can buy now, the overall or handle length? The 4" are a handy tool for tight work.
I though I had one, but now I can't find it