I offer an annual maintenance for a monthly price but it’s intent is not to be used to push a sale every time but more to keep a record of the systems performance and to catch a potential issue before it becomes a bigger one, there’s also some perks to the program that add some additional value. The whole $29 maintenance thing gives off the whole used car salesman vibe and it’s a bad look for the trade. Loss leader or not

Agreed. A $29.00 PM call is just a way to arrive then find “problems” that supposedly needs immediate attention. Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

There’s a company in NJ that advertise $79 tune up and they guarantee it won’t break down during the season or the repair is free. What they don’t tell you if you don’t due what they recommend during the maintenance it’s not guaranteed. Just keep doing what you’re doing. A great job 👏

I used to work for companies like that and it’s the only way for them to get their foot in the door to up sell things they don’t need.

$29 maintenance and a $189 trip charge 😂

Good service ain't cheap, and Cheap service ain't good !!

It could be legit for a new small company with 3 vans running calls to get new future customers. If a large company is advertising 29.00 then Either they are hurting for business or they want the techs to upsell 300.00 capacitors.

For $29, I'll make sure the system turns on and off. Lol

I used to work for a company that would charge for a full hour of maintenance but expect me to be there for 15 minutes. I fought with them saying I needed atleast an hour which is what caused me to quit that company with less then a year working for them. Watching this definitely made me feel better about my decision.

So glad I do commercial only, can't count how many big repairs we caught before they became a issue during quarterly maintenance. A homeowner will never understand the importance of PM unless they are a commercial property owner who knows

You’re absolutely correct, when I had my company I was a second opinion following these 19.95 tuneup companies trying to sell elderly people a new furnace when it wasn’t necessary

There is a big company in my area that advertise a $ 69.00 maintaince. But that is just to get them in the door. After they are there they tell you that you need a brand new unit and they can install it with low monthly payments. A lot of the people falls for that trick. I was at a customer that called us because there unit was not cooling properly. All it needed was cleaning and new capacitor and contacts. She ask me if she needed a new unit, because her neighbor has the exact same problem. Her neighbor was told this big company she need a complete new system and the company was coming back with the contract and system. I was asked to speak to her neighbor and will I take a look at her system also. All the system needed was cleaning. The condenser was packed up with pine straw and grass clippings. Plus the squirrel cage needed cleaning. Again I say a lot of people arefalling for this trick that this big company is pulling.

You hit the nail on the head. It’s a gimmick just to get in the door for other reasons.

I love this my company offer maintenance plans but if you are not doing your work and rushing they will find out and handle it but as a tech myself I take my time and make sure everything is working and ask proper questions as well

Get in the door for $29. That $29 turns into 2k of repairs. I know a few people that went to companies like that and its amazing how fast their attitudes went from doing right by the customer to just pushing sales.

As a small business owner in mid TN and my dad been working at the biggest hvac company in our area no name needs mentioned they have changed there ways since my dad started there in the early 90s but that aside PM work is filler work in the slow times and making the system is running like it should cleaning the coils topping of the system so when peak heating and cooling season hits if give peace of mind to the home or buisness owner that had the pm work performed will be alot less likely to be calling in peak season

Residential companies just want to get in the door cheap, then sell you some crap you may or may not need. Agree completely. We don't do this on the commercial side.

So I am not in the HVAC community, but just enjoying the videos and knowledge. If I saw a service offered at $29 I would think that it is either someone that doesn’t know what they are doing or someone that is going to get there and start adding all kinds of charges onto the service.

I would disagree, and say that it is more of a bait and switch company. We have similar companies in the Midwest that charge $59 for tuneup but then every single heat exchanger is cracked or every single AC unit has a leak. I do understand finding value and getting into the door but nine out of 10 of those guys are there to make a commission which again is also fine as long as you’re actually doing your job. The only way the customers get out of a $29 tuneup is if they sit and watch the person, go through the checklist and find out what’s included in that check.

I work for a full servicing company that does HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and drains. We have been doing $27 diagnostics and $27 tuneups for a couple years now. Inorder to tune it up it has to be in working condition. So if its cutting out on low flame signal I am still going to go through the entire system. Inspecting the blower, the evap coils, heat exchanger, ect.. but at the end its going to be $27 for the diagnostic and $27 for the furnace tune-up (which includes cleaning the flame sensor) We also have a club membership that includes a furnace tune-up, AC tune-up, water heater flush, electrical inspection, and a drain cleaning. It offers 10% off repairs and 5% off replacements. Also we don't charge diagnostic fees for our club members. If all I do is a diag and a furnace tune up, I walk out with $50. Not bad pay, but if they would like to do any cleanings, need new parts, or would like indoor air quality products added to their system that's obviously all going to be more than $27. I've thought about doing my own HVAC business and I'm not sure I could charge $27 for a tune-up starting out.. My budget would be super lean and I'd rather charge a higher amount for my maintenance service and include many if the "up charges" that we are now selling. Then that way over time I'd be able to build a repuation of straight forward business. It's not that I don't agree with the way my company is doing it now. It's a good business model and makes them a lot of money. Arguably the hardest thing is to do is getting into people's homes for maintenance before it breaks down.. but I'd like to say I'm going to charge then X for a tune-up and walk out with that amount. Not says its going to be $X and walk out with $W,XYZ. I have been watching your videos for years and really enjoy your content. You're actually the reason I started into being a residential service technician. I was a commercial/industrial tinner before this and I'm very happy I made the change. Keep up the good work bother!

This video just reaffirmed all the things I've ever felt but could never confirm without going against the grain. Thank you sir

Worked for a residential company right out of school and this is what they did. We were required to try and upsale at least 3 things and if the unit was 10 years old they wanted us to get a salesman in the door. If our KPI's weren't looking good they'd punish by taking your van away for a week. I found a job in commercial and never looked back.

How are you liking the MB5B bag for installwise? I'm really thinking about getting one

Pennsylvania has yearly required vehicle mechanical/emission inspections, which is another area where shady garages take advantage by offering low-cost inspection fees that turn into lots of 'mandatory' repairs. At least with HVAC, you can always say no to the extras and move on, for the car, you're out the inspection fee and you still have to get it inspected somewhere else before the sticker expires.

you get what you pay for. if you are willing to pay someone to work on your many thousands of dollars system to look at it, you dont care in the first place. not only that, more than likely they will create a problem so they can upsell to you to profit. i dont doubt for a second that they will pull shady stuff.

Arizona company just advertised a 13 $ tune up….. IMAGINE what kind of unnecessary repairs/ new units quotes people get

What kind of questions should we ask and what should we tell them about preventative maintenance do to their system? I’m looking to go to hvac trade

Costs us over $150 to get the truck to the front door. That will generally get you 35 to 45 minutes without being charged anything else. South Florida

California here. When I used to work for an hvac company, they have the same promo. It’s a way a chance to get in the door and place their stickers or upsell future maintenance plans or other things.

Where did you get that red metal shelf

I think the low price is about getting their foot in the door and then selling a bigger service or add on sales.

I'm a maintenance guy for a senior living community. I had one company try to sell me a maintenance plan for $20,000 for 3 years, for them to basically just look at my AC units 4 times a year. I'm not an HVAC tech but I can look at or listen to something and know if it's good or bad my self, then I call someone out if needed.

What are your thoughts on combustion analysis during a PM?

i do a preventative maintenance for my customers for $50 plus any parts if needed. if your unit goes down i come out for free diagnosis you pay for the part. labor is no charge. if i recommend a part be replaced at the time of the preventive service and you don’t do the repair then it’s normal fees. but i think the $29 deal is them trying to sell a new unit when you don’t. i’m like you take care of your customers they will take care of you

In my area I see the same thing. I own a small business in northern Virginia and a lot of companies provide a $59 “heating/ac inspection” vs charging more and calling it a preventative maintenance. They use the cheap price to get in the door find issues and then make the money from there. At the end of the day it’s a sales tactic and it does seem to work. It gets your foot in the door. But I’m right with you i would rather charge a little more and do a proper preventative maintenance and show my customer the value of that. Some customers really understand the difference between inspection and pm but some just care about the dollar amount. Great content though keep up the good work!

Preventative maintenance is useful for large commercial applications with a lot of roof top units - ours include cleaning drain pans , flushing drain lines , cleaning evaporator and condensing coils and changing filters, and inspecting electrical components such as contactor pitting , capacitance , greasing bearings and replacing belts. Heating season is inspecting exchangers , cleaning burners , flame sensing rods , etc. Repairs wrote up from work found on PMs are at a reduced rate than regular cost. That being said it’s fully disclosed that electrical failures can happen at any time . But the way our PM model works c we can find issues before they are noticed and be preemptive with the repairs . We price them for most package style units to be around an hour per unit. If a unit is not functioning , we can use time within that allotment to attempt to diagnose it , but if starts to run over that time we inform the customer that the particular unit will need a separate service ticket written up.

Nobody is doing any "maintenance" for even the $79 that they advertise near me. They are just getting their foot in the door to sell (or steal) as much as they can. I have two properties and three HVAC systems between them. Fed up with being overcharged for refrigerant and poor workmanship, I got my EPA refrigerant certification. If a charge is a bit low, I take care of it. If a capacitor, contactor, or thermostat needs replacing, I do it. In the spring, I clean the outside coils. When something is beyond my capabilities, I call a company that is willing to pull permits and have their work inspected. Oh yea, I just replace the water pump on my daughter's Forester. I was quoted $1220 for the repair. There were three bolts on the pulley and six on the water pump. it took me about three hours, including drive-time to get the parts to replace it. The parts were less than $300 FROM the dealership (which overcharges for parts) including a new drive belt that really didn't require replacement. I believe in "preventive maintenance!" :)

I live in Nebraska, I think the value behind Preventative maintenance programs depends on your location. Like on RTU's out here, regulators freeze up A LOT in the winter, and we have cottonwood at the beginning and end of summer, not every customer knows how to do things like cleaning the coil, cleaning the flame sensor or they're just plain scared to touch things, because in most cases, if it's not a licensed contractor, the warranty gets voided. Now, i do think companies can do better as far as pricing is concerned. On PM checks, i always took at least 1.75-2.0 hrs and checked everything that needed to be checked. I think prices can definitely be better, but i also think the need for preventative maintenance depends on your location, and its environmental effects on the equipment

I saw a sign in Murfreesboro for a $29 maintenance. Spent the rest of the day wondering why someone would do such a thing and how they have no choice but to upsell every customer they see.

Same BS here in Atlanta. Just a gimmick to get their foot in the door to upsell the customer on something, even an entire new system.

I think consumers are particularly blind to their hvac systems, until they fail. Where I live in South Georgia, companies are notoriously predatory when it comes to service and upselling, it’s a shame.

In my area, we have several HVAC companies that will offer an inexpensive, bi-annual maintenance service for approximately $99 a year. The catch is, they assume the customer will call them when they have an issue and then when there is, the HVAC company will charge three times the normal repair cost to make up for the $99.

I agree, $29 for hvac PM is not condusive to the customer OR business model. However, the customer gets the magnet at the end.

$29 hvac maintenance is aka the magic flashlight maintenance. Look for write ups to send out proposals. Low cost on the maintenance High cost on the repairs or longer maintenance related work like coil cleaning a unit if it’s an indoors

It gets the technician in front of a client to find something and generate sales.

The owner of my last company told us when he is selling a maintenance contract for big commercial accounts he tells them “we’re not the cheapest but if I can make a profit on the maintenance and be thorough then we can save them from a service call where we over charge because we undersold a maintenance”

Its a scam and it applys presure on the techs to upsell. The company i worked for years ago was one of the biggest in the state and boy were they greedy. Since then i Try to never work for a residentual company, commercial only. $30 for a maint is a lie point blank and a bad idea... The people that come up with this kind of marketing has no idea the worth of a great technician that knows what he or she is doing. Up here its called sales tech and is the worst job in the world for a HVAC Technician/Mechanic with 3 or 4 decades in this industry. Its a total lack of respect.

Feel the same way I was taught the same way the old school way we don’t see that anymore in our industry . Now I’m older trying to teach the younger guys that old school way they don’t want too hear that.

Old company i used to work for here in Kentucky one of the biggest in the state and they did the 19.99 system check special pretty much go in make sure there system runs and then tell them they should get a new unit or charge you 400 for a new cap. And 140 for 3 filters I hated doing that so i quit went against what i believe in

it's called a loss leader, you lose money on the preventative maintenance but you make money marking up the part they don't need 1500% LOL

$29 is to get in the door and then rack up the bill with parts replacements and drain cleanings

I agree as a small business owner myself and hate this model it’s a foot in the door those that do this are to turn unit into repairs or install money and repairs are chosen then they get more money than a maintenance cost… Yup question yourself to diagnostic and add value I agree

Zac we are skilled in a demanding trade that as techs we have to have the skills of all three trades Elec, plumbing(piping) and HVAC-R so to shorten the story yes we should charge for the knowledge we have learned over the years

I'm not the first one to say this but HVAC franchise company's do this just so they can sell you a new part on a failed or almost failed part in the system, than charge you (for example) $650 for a dual outdoor cap,,, yes you heard $650 right. Once the customer is committed to buying that part the "tech" flips it to a lead for a new system and customer can use the $650 they just spent as a down payment for that system. And the tech gets his commission on each lead or part he sells. You may think I'm crazy but its just a bait scheme. I recently walked away from a local company that got bought and started operating this way, ethics and morals are more important to me. I love your content man keep up the good fight!

Upsell, upsell, upsell!! Sir you need a capacitor, a contactor, and to add life to your compressor I also recommend a hard start kit, lol. Not a good business practice but people are catching on now and I’m glad

I’ve bee charging $79.95 per maintenance, $40 per additional system. It does not include filters but most of my customers keep their own filters. That pays me just enough to do a good once over and keep them running in top condition. I’m here in North Ga.

Its like when you take your car to the shop, the mechanic could just start naming pieces, given that most people don't know car parts or how it functions

$29 PM is just trying to get feet in the door to look for upsells. A true PM will allow for time AND material to clean a system and replace some consumable items, therefore making it preventative. Go in and replace an igniter and flame sense rod, at an actual reasonable price, not the 300% marked up price. Prevent that known failure before it’s cold out. You’ll make your money on the blower, inducer or compressor failures down the line.

We charge 400/year for one system but we are very thorough. I may need to change that

That $29.00 is for arriving at the front door, then many problems are found, the PM call then adds up to Big $'s 👍 Au

It’s the same idea as, free battery test for your car. It gets you in the door, or then the n your door. Once they are there, they can upsell. It’s all about up selling, with those companies. I worked for one for one month, I asked the lead profit maker (Woops, I mean tech) on how he does it and his response was “I have to lie”. That was it for me, I left that company. I’m not here to lie and rip people off, if you need the part or the repair, then so be it. But sometimes we do recommend a part or unit to be replaced even if it’s working fine at the time, because we know, give it a little while and it might be the next service call. But that takes experience to know that for sure. Pay me may full rate for a tune up and most likely you won’t see me again till next season’s maintenance. Yes, possibly I’ll find issues on that maintenance, but that’s why I’m there. To hopefully prevent future breakdowns and address true issues that exist at the PM. I do t charge little for a maintenance but rather the opposite, because if you do well on someone’s equipment, most likely you won’t see them for another year, and I’m ok with that.

My company in North Carolina offfers an annual maintenance plan, and it takes us 45mins on average per system. Properly maintaining a system is very important to the longevity of the system. I aggre though that no company can properly do a maintenance at that price.

What sucks about residential is it’s all bout sales nd commission. This is y I switch to commercial side and don’t regret it.

I agree with you it goes way back to I can do it cheaper from the early 90,s thst was going on then alot and alot of ppl lost there units due to incorrect servicing everyone knows I hope thst price of $29.00 is just ridiculous if they don't and have thst service they will find out when there unit goes down or maybe it's a set up to make more money later when the $29.00 customers need a new unit idk...

$29 just to get foot in the door. And that’s when the company’s lie about needing new equipment or replacement parts. There’s a company by me who does this I won’t say there name because they are actually a big company here but they tell you a new condenser is need if the capacitor is bad after 5 years. Lastly I think certain maintenance is a scam. Oil burner maintenance and larger commercial equipment is necessary but other then that I dont know. I would much rather get called out for a let’s say no cooling and perform a PM to correct the problem then go every year and “PM” a unit because we all seen how the tech or company gets blamed for something going wrong “I get it maintenanced every year” yea but that doesn’t mean the compressor still can’t go bad.

Definitely a scam, I’m a hvac contractor in S.C, we get several calls behind other companies that offer that $29 service. Customers always complain that there was no value in that service example the tech only inspected my filter, didn’t check anything else and made several recommendations. Great content 100%!

One thing about this man and Quality hvac , He is honest , If He says it is XYZ, you will get what you pay for and nothing less , and nothing that is not needed , Good work ethics !! I would never call a company that offers a 29 $ maintenance call !

Shit the cost of the tools u need to do a proper maintenance should cost over 300 to be profitable and that’s a low number. What it cost to acquire all the proper tools for both heating and cooling is thousands of dollars. Let alone the cost of training and time spent to learn these systems. One of my biggest struggles in the hvac industry is what it actually cost the Tech to even get started and to charge 30$ is a fking kick to the nuts to any true tradesmen and the shitty conditions we have to put ourselves in to get the job done. Ppl in this country need to value and respect those of us who provide labor intensive services.

We had a Black Friday sale for 8.88 and I was doing tune ups for 8 dollars just to “get our foot in the door” kept us busy for December got some good opportunity calls, turn overs and what not but overall didn’t enjoy the experience. We would run into a lot of customers that were taking advantage calling us for diagnostics for 8 dollars or blower cleanings or even duct cleaning idk I didn’t see the value in it especially when giving options and all I would ever get was “I thought that was included” or “u said it would only be 8 dollars” in my opinion it wasn’t worth the headache. I still did everything by the book. Educated the customer, gave my recommendations, provided a service but in the end it’s the customer who’s gonna either listen or not. I’m very blunt when it comes to what’s wrong with the system or ways to improve it though I think my customers appreciate my honesty.

those ridiculous low rate maintenance fees are just a way to get in the door and upsell the customers what they don't need or to condemn a good operating system

Company I work for has shifted towards sales revenue. All they care about is revenue. It sucks not being able to do a proper maintenance and lie to people but that is what I am being forced to do. I completely understand the importance of revenue because that is what put money in my bank account but I don't like the direction our industry is headed with sales tactics

A lot of big companies have to keep their guys busy in a slow season and $29 tuneup is a great way to get in the house and possibly sell a new system. There’s a lot dishonest companies in this business.

I think the problem is the company more than the tech. These companies advertise these deals and then when a tech doesn’t upsell on the maintenance to add on things like lights and additional cleaning that isn’t included in that $29 they get talked to and disciplined to be offering these options or get out and on to the next as quick as possible. We as Technicians need to stand up for what’s right by these homeowners and offer a true preventative maintenance/cleaning instead of a way to get into someone’s home and upsell everything. I’ll tell you now my time for an hour is worth well over $29 to properly clean and check a unit over.

Facts these companies are also the ones that sell caps for 800 dollars and call them like system reliance power distribution or some bs. They will not last. Quality and professionalism and honesty always lasts

Split systems take way more time in my opinion compared to packaged units especially if the indoor unit is in the attic.. and we don’t take into account systems that are inverters or have way more components to check. Cleaning outdoor unit, thoroughly checking capacitors, reading manuals on high seer equipment to get them to run 100% to check refrigerant charge and making your way to the indoor unit can take hours to do a good job. Not everything is 14 seer electromechanical

My maintenance for resi work is 85 for commercial is 150

29.00 ? Sounds like a bait and switch opportunity for the so called mechanic to be a salesman and try to sell UV lights, filters, new T Stats, and whatever else he can "up sell" to make money. Now as for what we do, is WE TELL CUSTOMERS AFTER THE SYSTEM IS 3 YEARS OLD WE WOULD LIKE TO DO A pm ONCE PER YEAR (SPRING)... while the main thing is flushing drains, we still do a complete check-up. Test all levels, caps, etc. Our price is 155.00 for the first system, and 100.00 each per additional system at same location.

$29 is a scam to fleece the customer with additional charges‼️This is bad, that is bad, or maybe the HVAC system is in dire need of replacing. We have a company here in Memphis that has a well earned reputation for SELLING not SERVICING❗️

I just quit my job because they had us running $8.88 tuneups/ maintenance

On the business side of things, you’re losing money on a $290 maintenance visit in most markets. So if you do anything less than that, then you’re losing money on the job anyways. Must offer services for the home no matter the dollar amount of the initial call.

I agree with most of this, howeverif you have a customer that does annual maintenance and the same tech is going out for years, a good tech should be able to perform most tune ups in less than an hour. We have a competitor that offers a " me your own price" tune up... Then they go out and tell them that the whole system needs to be replaced 😂😂😂

I do $250 for the year two cleanings per year and 10% any service.

I work for one of those companies 29 dollar inspection just to go in there and sell them stuff uv lights etc straight commission boss get on your ass if you don’t sell, I joined thinking I would learn the trade, I haven’t left because they gave me a bag of tools total cost 2200 high quality tools. They take out 75 each week off check for tools and if we get fired before we gotta pay it all off up front and give it back which is bs and if we pay it all of it’s ours

29.00 get some in the door to lie about things you don't need that's why I hated working for big companies that made us do this

These "free" or "cheap" inspection marketing gimmicks are just that. They get in the door then find multiple "problems" and push extra repairs or even full system replacement that often is not at all justified. The techs are incentivized with a portion of the pass through sales they generate. I say this as a commercial HVAC tech who still has my old Furnace and R22 AC condenser running on my house from the 1990's. Can and should I updated my stuff for efficiency sake? Yes I see it this way, my furnace has a single speed fan, no leaks in the heat exchanger, a simple A coil, a simple control board, newer electrical components in the condenser over the last few years, and is cleaned and maintained properly so why change it. ;) Any of these companies services techs would walk in and tell me I needed a new furnace and AC condenser within 5 minutes of arriving. If it smells like a Skunk it most likely is (or maybe a Pot dispensary).

When things get slow. You wanna keep your guys busy. My maintenance’s usually last 1-1.75 hrs. I do them for free if I’m desperate enough. But I can say it’s paid off. I’ve made lots of money on them I’m up all time but if I don’t make any money I’ve essentially bought that customer. 8/10 they are calling me for service/ replacement because of the relationship I’ve built. Essentially buying my customers. I’ve found countless of cracked heat exchangers on them. I give a full walk thru of their system top to bottom. You don’t find something on every one of them but at times you do.

I agree the $29.00 maintenance is a hit for the company to run by itself. It depends on who you have working on your system. Finding parts and unit operations out of manufacture spec to stay ahead of a breakdown, is a way to keep your system running as long as life as possible.

$29.00 special? 🤨 That right there screams DANGER!!!!!!! I live just below the Tennessee/Alabama line near Huntsville and I pay $250.00 for maintenance/tune-up on my 2-1/2 Ton HVAC Heat Pump system. If someone told me about their $29.00 special, I'd laugh in their face. 😂

I am not in that market, but I think they are just trying to get in the door, and one can't even be mad at that. It's no different from when a company says free this and half on that, only to hit you with the fine print...Besides, the customer that would bite for those "deals" are the customers that you really don't want. If we are honest.

I saw you make sure the equipment itself works well and is maintained but I didn't see you check the ductwork. You really only showed yourself checking half of the equation. Might want to bring this up my man.

It’s the Jiffy Lube business model

If you’re a bigger company I think a fall maintenance should bare minimum include cleaning the flame sensor, burners, pressure switch tubing, drains if high efficiency and taking a combustion analysis while offering it at a reasonable price as it takes no more than 30 minutes to do. If you’re a smaller company I believe in taking more time as being a smaller company means you can spend that time as you will not be as busy but giving that higher quality service which in turn I believe should be charged. Some customers prefer that better experience whereas others want the bare minimum at a reasonable price.

Yeah nice video. If the condenser water doesn’t come out dirty and the capacitors are fine then I feel like I’m wasting my time

I had a $99 pm that turned into 225 without notice. No repairs made only problems noted. Just be honest and up front.

49 is strictly bait & switch , they get there foot in door & try up sale .... but really customer receive little benefit & or Dangerous even maybe

Like you said it’s basically a marketing ploy to get your foot into the door. Of course you’re going to find something that the customer needs. The reason for the low price is because most customers are cheap. But you really can’t do a full maintenance for 29 bucks. People like cheap and they think they’re getting a bargain.

preach brother u is right

It’s not preventive maintenance. You can not prevent issues happening in the near future. We call it planned maintenance plan. And it cost $219.00 a year/ with 15% off parts and labor.

It’s literally just an excuse to get a salesman in the residence just to attempt selling a new system or at least an upgrade.

They just want to get in the door to find or (create) a problem. And also sell products to gain commission. Which is usually mandatory to do to keep your job.