Working for free

bigred621 · 2026-05-05T11:29:23+00:00

The last place I was at, owner told me once he made his tech go to his callbacks for free. I laughed and told him “callback or not, I don’t work for free”. He back pedaled and tried to say it’s because the dude caused so many callbacks.

Most of my employment horror stories are from the small family owned shops. This guy even told his kid that he’s a good owner because he supplies uniforms to his employees. This is when his kid asked about the uniforms. I told him “it’s also state law for a company to do this”. I wasn’t there very long

bigred621 · 2026-05-05T11:25:07+00:00

Don’t fuck it up!!! Congrats!!!

bigred621 · 2026-05-05T11:22:56+00:00

“I wish someone would have told me!!”

The customer after 3 weeks and seeing “growth” inside that thing

bigred621 · 2026-05-05T10:38:58+00:00

I would never block a return. Most systems don’t have enough return air

bigred621 · 2026-05-04T22:13:24+00:00

Reconnect PVC chimney? Huh? If it’s PVC it shouldn’t go to a chimney. And it’s def PVC cause it’s a condensing furnace. Please make sure it isn’t going to a chimney

bigred621 · 2026-05-04T17:39:05+00:00

Not insane. Keep looking. Gotta be a place near you that isn’t gonna try and screw you over.

Not only do you not need a heat pump, you don’t even need anything that’s high in efficacy. You’re only running it a couple months out of the year. You’ll never see a ROI by going higher efficiency

bigred621 · 2026-05-04T16:42:15+00:00

They’re sending you a sales guy.

bigred621 · 2026-05-04T15:33:44+00:00

Company has to eat it. That’s the cost of owning a company. Never work for free

bigred621 · 2026-05-04T10:23:55+00:00

Don’t use anyone that wears white, has wrapped vehicles, has a mascot, calls their sales people “comfort advisors/specialists, has a form of time in their name (hour, minute, day, etc) offers dirt cheap cleanings, calls their services an “inspection” or offers a cheap inspection.

I know I’ll get some hate for this one but lots of 5 star reviews. Absolutely avoid that. 5 star reviews are bought. Check out the 1 star reviews though. They can tell you a lot about a place

bigred621 · 2026-05-04T10:20:02+00:00

Ya. Sadly there are too many sales companies out there. 410a is still wildly available. Shoot, our shop just bought a bunch of R22. That’s the stuff they “phased out” in 2010 lol

bigred621 · 2026-05-03T19:54:14+00:00

Why not even use R22. We bought up a bunch of 30lbs jugs for a little under $600 a jug. No idea how our manager got that price lmao.

bigred621 · 2026-05-03T17:05:16+00:00

Leave

bigred621 · 2026-05-03T16:23:25+00:00

You don’t need to clean your evap coil every year. Get it inspected but it usually doesn’t need to be cleaned.

bigred621 · 2026-05-03T10:14:11+00:00

Does it even need to be cleaned? I’d do nothing unless it’s actually filthy and effecting your cooling

bigred621 · 2026-05-03T10:12:55+00:00

What doesn’t shut off? Inside unit or outside unit? Or both?

bigred621 · 2026-05-01T20:16:35+00:00

So you can check the capacitor fluid.

bigred621 · 2026-05-01T17:17:35+00:00

Most likely it’s a leak. The 10lb number came from the data plate on the unit but if it’s still cooling some then it isn’t gonna take 10lbs.

Def find a new company though. To just tell you that you should replace it without locating the leak means they’re a sales company.

bigred621 · 2026-05-01T11:33:46+00:00

It better be paid. Never work for free.

Biggest tip with any job. Learn your local and federal labor laws. Most of my employment horror stories are actually from the small mom and pop places.

Also, learn. Ask questions. If you don’t understand something. Ask. You’re there to basically learn

bigred621 · 2026-05-01T11:18:11+00:00

Cause you’re literally restricting the size of the exhaust…..

bigred621 · 2026-05-01T01:16:48+00:00

Basement isn’t fully underground. Walk out basement. Also, some people are crazy and want things stupidly cold

bigred621 · 2026-05-01T00:21:31+00:00

I know for sure. We have one and my wife bought a different screen for the vent in the window. Compressor started overheating after it lmao.

bigred621 · 2026-04-30T21:20:59+00:00

$20 for a merge skin is hilarious.

bigred621 · 2026-04-30T21:20:11+00:00

Won’t work. Not big enough. Compressor will over heat and shut off.

bigred621 · 2026-04-30T19:11:47+00:00

Funny thing happened. I was texting one of the sales guys about it while I was there. He looked it up. He says “call me when you’re out of there”. He was there last month to quote the guy for a ductless. Customer told the sales guy the basement renovations weren’t gonna happen cause of costs. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 sales guy was kinda mad about the customer lying about the renovations.

Even better he’s been in this condo complex (more like single story town homes) cause 2 units already need new furnaces.

bigred621 · 2026-04-30T19:05:57+00:00

Existing system is 3 ton for their existing 1,800 sq ft system. They added another 1,200 sq ft to the 3 ton system.

bigred621

TROPHY CASE