The Cost of Threatening Legal Action
So, back in August of last year, in the heat of summer, a tenant called to let me know that their air conditioning system was not working. I called a very well known (read: big) local HVAC company to attend to the problem.
Basically, due to a recent tropical storm, this company was behind with their service calls and sent out an incompetent technician who came out to the property at the very end of the day, misdiagnosed the problem, added freon and promptly left.
The next day I called to let the company know that their guy didn’t fix the problem. They promised to send someone else out who, arrived at the very end of the day, properly diagnosed (but did not fix) the problem and again, promptly left.
The following day, a Friday, I again called the company who let me know that they were backed up on service calls and they would not be able to come out until Tuesday, due to the Labor Day weekend.
Not wanting to subject my tenants to sweltering temperatures for another three days, I called another company who promptly sent someone out and fixed the problem.
Here’s where it gets interesting; Two weeks later, I received a bill from the first HVAC company for a service call. I called the company and was gruffly told by a female receptionist that, “[I] called for a service call and [I] would have to pay for it.” I explained the situation to her to which she replied, “Well, [she's] been in business for 40 years and [she's] obviously doing something right.”
Not wanting to argue any further with this lady who obviously has a Ph.D. in customer service, I ignored the bill. The next month, I received another invoice with interest added which I also ignored.
In January, I received a letter from someone else in the HVAC company threatening me with legal action if I did not pay their invoice including the interest.
I calmly replied, in writing, to this person explaining the situation including that I had to call another company to repair the problem because they were backed up and could not complete the repair 5 days from the first call for service. Soon after, I received a letter requesting a copy of the other company’s invoice which I duly mailed. A couple of days later, I received a phone call saying that they would be voiding the invoice in question for which I thanked them. Done and done.
Needless to say that I will not be doing business with this company again due to my experience but this didn’t have to go down like this. Here’s how they could have prevented this situation:
- Don’t bill customers for services not performed
- Don’t threaten legal action for a $100 invoice when it would cost at least $500 to pursue
- Get “Dr. Crab Ass” off the phones and back into the hole where she lives
- Communicate (calmly) with customers
- Be up-front with a customer when a service can not be performed for whatever reason
Sheesh!
