service call

service call

A few months ago I attended a seminar the discussion went off topic and about what is fair to the consumer. I made the mistake of telling them that when I find a bad t&p I normally replace it and also replace feed valve and ex tank unless they are recent. Check all other items and also replace anything that looks very old or in poor condition. The guys at the seminar ripped me up I was a thief giving the trade a bad name and so on. Then the discussion continued and all I kept hearing was the same guys using the same home as an example over and over again. So it sounded to me like they had to make repeated trips to that home granted different problems but most of them would have not accrued had they just replaced those items the first time.
Is there something wrong with replacing it before it fails? We routinely replace parts on our service trucks before they fail or even the truck itself. In my opinion the customer is better served if his heat is working and he has hot water 24/7 I am sure his wife would agree with me. I don’t like 3 am phone calls with no heat if it’s a customer we have serviced in the past I look at this as a failure had we done our job when we where there last we wouldn’t have had a failure. Is this approach really bad for the industry?

Mike

Sure

Seems to me as long as the customer is willing to perform preventive maintenance, it's never a bad idea. Auto shops do it all the time. Why wait until your car strands you on the road before you maintain it?

-Andrew

iN THIS FIELD....

preventative maintenance OFTEN GOES ALONG WAY. Most of the issues we deal with are safety of reliable performance issues. In a car shop you might be majorly inconvenienced, but in the HAVC field, your house can burn down, health can be affected and most of all the customers trust in us will lack. EX: Bryant 3 wire pilot,....I recommend replace at least every 5 years!!!!!!! It is a switch and it usually fails in the dead of winter.

My .02

Mike T.

An Excellent Post!

When you are in a house doing a cleaning on a sunny 60 degree Tuesday afternoon in October, that is a grand time to perform both Preventative and Predictive Maintenance. If a part is on its way out, that is the time to replace it.

I guess the best thing is to inform the customer of what is going on, and what you recommend; probably shouldn't replace anything without informing them first.

I think you are right on the money, and I agree with all of the other posters.

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Predictive maintenance...I like that, can I use it? My customers have gotten used to calling me every fall to schedule a sleep easy check up on their equipment, which includes heating, ventilation, DHW, and sometimes cooking and clothes appliances if they wish. I always routinely change the thermocouples, or ignitors because I should have the burners out or the fire box open anyway. If it is oil, a new filter every year and new nozzle. Electrodes every other year unless they are burnt up. I'll routinely drop pressure and change the relief valve every other year, and in the process check the fill-train, expansion tank, and air vents for operation. If they don't work, some of my customers have given me carte blanche and don't require a call. Others, or new customers, I'll call them, explain the situation and make a recommendation. This gives me a chance to show my knowledge a bit and to win a lifelong customer...or to find out that they aren't interested in really fixing it. If they aren't, I note that on the invoice so I can't get sued for negligence and I get on down the road. I also maintain a customer file with goodies like kids and pets names, family stuff to visit about, codes and keys, billing and contact information, directions to their house, existing equipment and what I have done in recent history. This isn't complicated...just a 4x6 card in a file box, but, when I pull it out, it really impresses the good customers.

One other thing I do that is kinda weird. I collect Beckett AFG burner's when I do a conversion to gas. They are simple, tough, universally applicable, and parts are easy to find here. If I have a customer, who is willing to keep me in the rolodex, and they have a burner that is harder for me to maintain because it is so old, or parts availablilty is an issue, I'll swap out their burner for a used Beckett for labor only. This makes my life easier, and I always have parts for the Beckett. I can carry a whole burner on the truck and swap it out for theirs faster and cheaper than I can find parts here for some of the others.

replacements

What do most companies do when on a service contract call? Are all questionable parts covered by the contract replaced as a courtesy, or just what it takes to get the customer going?

Peter

MIke A.

Your service call is Standard Procedure at my company.

Stick to what your doing your doing your customer a good service.

Scott

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