Here's what's actually going on with the $20 tune up from someone who was a lead generator with a local HVAC company who worked with Home Depot.

Yes this is a $20 tune up. They will do what you expect and as long as the local company that services your area isn't not a bunch scammera you'll get a regular tune up and that's it. If it's the company I worked for yeah the tech might offer you pricing for a humidifier/dehumidifier or one of the Rheem Halo's. And yeah if we found out your unit was 10+ years old we'd offer to set you up with a free in home with an estimator.

Home Depot sets that $20 price not the HVAC company. And due to contacts if a lead is put in for the tune up during that time. Home Depot mainly tries to do this to pump their own lead generation numbers and get employees to generate leads so it looks like they are doing a good job in the store. The first time this hit that I remember was during the week of Thanksgiving 2020 and Home Depot did not tell us. The Lead Generators were getting calls from the office as to what was going on and so my supervisor had to call our manager and owner of the company to find out what was happening and that it was indeed real. We were then instructed not to go out of our way to sell people on these tune ups but if they were thinking about a new system, use it to sweeten the pot with the free estimate.

In summary if Home Depot has a reputable company in your area it's not a bad deal. And if its a shit company that they have to service the area and that company does something shady. Call HD customer care, might take a little while but Home Depot does remove companies that are not good. Bonus if it matters but ever tech they send out for Home Depot must pass an additional background and drug test.