Austin Air Companie Blog : Posts Tagged ‘AC service Katy Texas’

Air Conditioning Service

Tuesday, August 16th, 2016

Air conditioning repairs, AC service or new AC equipment installations require the magical little word called ‘SERVICE‘. Without that word you’re in big trouble if a problem develops with your AC system. What does that word mean to you?

This little word ‘service‘ is what in many ways separates one AC company from another. Now all things aside some people view service differently than others. Maybe due to household schedules or whatever. However, your AC system whether new, a few years old or even a decade old or older can break down at any time. Brand of the equipment doesn’t matter all that much in most cases.

Weekend, Night time, Holiday, etc. An air conditioner doesn’t know time like you or me. So why is this important?

If you buy a new HVAC system and it breaks down, your best option to repair it is thru your installing HVAC contractor, because this is who you bought the system thru. It would be a ‘HUGE’ conflict of interest to let another HVAC contractor repair your HVAC system that was installed by another.

If your HVAC system is older and out of the manufacture warranty envelope then it only matters to what degree you trust the HVAC provider that you are calling.

Any HVAC company you use should be licensed and insured and the license number should be displayed on all invoices, advertisements and both sides of the front quarter panel of the service vehicle that comes to your home. (This is Texas law.)

HVAC System Problems & Conflicts of Interest

So why then is this a conflict of interest to have Company ‘B’ work on a new HVAC system installed by Company ‘A’?

Because lets say you have two companies without mentioning names… you have company ‘A’ and company ‘B’. Company ‘A’ installed your new HVAC system.

Your new AC system is now broken and you call ‘A’ but they are closed, don’t answer their phone, goes to voice mail or maybe after hours call service in which you sit on hold for who knows how long only to be told after waiting on hold –that an on call person will call you back in some cases hours later. Say What?

So you think… not clearly due to the excess heat in your house, that you’ll just call another company that services HVAC equipment. Company ‘B’ answers the phone not realizing they are a 3rd party to your otherwise inoperable dilemma. Say they come out diagnose the system for you, charge for labor and other things not covered by your manufacture warranty. They leave, the system works for awhile then breaks down again.

You now decide to call company ‘A’ back. After investigating the system Company ‘A’ determines someone else has been working on it and decides to take the brash approach of denying a warranty claim on your otherwise new AC system. You are in a bad position to say the least.

Unresolved AC Technical Problems

Another common scenario to this is Company ‘A’ the installing company of your new or fairly new HVAC system is called back during normal business hours, they make a repair to the AC unit under warranty terms of the installation charge for labor or whatever charges aren’t covered by the warranty of the AC system.

The AC system works for awhile and then breaks again OR the AC system doesn’t work at all still or worse than before. Part of the reason some of these HVAC companies exist is to replace HVAC systems with no service or technical department to repair the systems they sell. A good deal is a bad deal in short order.

Sometimes they may brag about how many HVAC systems they have installed. But they never mention how many of them they still service? You see the problem with that? QUALITY over quantity OR QUANTITY over quality. Which would you want?

A parts changer is defined as changing parts without proving the part has actually failed. A guess is a guess. Guessing will not fix or repair too many air conditioning systems. Believe it or not you will pay for it one way or another. Why not do it right the first time?

Katy, Texas Licensed HVAC Contractor

This is what I am (Licensed HVAC Contractor), you can’t run a HVAC company in Texas (legally) by any other means. If you hire someone working under another license (commonly AC Technician) your recourse for AC problems that develop with your system goes thru them. If it is a ‘side job’ installed by a technician it is unlikely the warranty covering that system is worth the paper it’s printed on.

I take the HVAC contractor thing to the next level in that I do all my own HVAC installations and AC repairs. I don’t use Technicians, Subs or Installers. I have found I can offer much better quality when I’m fully involved in any project whether it is repair, replace or SERVICE! (It is actually me writing this blog – Ray Austin. No one can be me, but me.) Subscribe to my You Tube Channel here.

Side Job AC Installations Warranty Void By Manufacturer

There are little disclaimers within the warranty limitations that protect manufacturer’s from unlicensed, unskilled people from selling, installing and or servicing equipment.

Improper installation is not warrantable just as much as purchasing equipment over the internet. If you have to resort to such methods imagine how much trouble you are going to have if your AC equipment fails unexpectedly?

Side jobs are done in cash. A technician doing a side job doesn’t want any documentation because if his boss finds out he faces immediate termination from his regular job. You can’t hide a side job from a licensed HVAC contractor. If you don’t have any documentation of installation how do you expect to be covered by a Manufacture Warranty?

Every piece of AC equipment made has unique model number and serial numbers that are attached to the HVAC license that bought it. If there was no HVAC license present at the time of sale, the warranty is virtually worthless in most cases. A technician license is not a valid license in and of itself. In Texas, a valid HVAC contractor license is gold in color, a technician license is white.  A technician license is merely a registration with the state. Send in your $20 and boom! You are now a AC technician too? Ironically it doesn’t mean much without EPA certification. The more you read here, the more you will learn.

No Licensed HVAC contractor worth their ‘salt’ is going to warranty or install an air conditioner that you bought over the internet. You buy it, you install it and warranty it yourself.

A new AC system install a few years old with problems and you’re calling a HVAC contractor that didn’t install it? What do you suppose this Licensed AC Contractor is going to think when he sees the equipment in question?

Why aren’t you calling the HVAC contractor who installed it?

Just for fun, I’ll tell you a few likely titles of this made for home movie:
“NO WAY OUT!”
“That’s Going To Cost You”
“No Where To Hide”

Professional AC Repairs

This Air Conditioning blog is designed to help you make wise decisions when it comes to your choices regarding comfort decisions for your home. I hope you attained this information before making a costly mistake.

All is not lost, costly mistakes are lessons, provided you learn from them and don’t repeat them. An HVAC system is, by a national average, a 15 year appliance and in some cases can last even longer when installation and maintenance is done properly and adequately. Notice I didn’t mention a brand name here, brand bashing is not professionalism by any stretch of the imagination.

Nothing is perfect in an imperfect world. AC Equipment that I’ve installed myself has failure rates within the warranty period that run in a tight range of 2-3% annually. Most HVAC companies have new equipment failure rates often 8 times or higher than this figure. In some cases this may be due to a lack of maintenance by home owner, improper installation, improper diagnosis or out right incompetence. Please choose your HVAC contractor carefully and wisely.

Thank you for visiting with me today. I hope your day is comfortable!

About the author of this blog:
My name is Ray Austin. I am the owner and operator of Austin Air Companie, a HVAC Service Company serving Katy, Texas | Cypress, Texas | Richmond, Texas and some surrounding areas. I am a Texas Licensed HVAC Contractor with over 20 years experience in Air Conditioning and Heating Systems. I hold an AOS degree in HVAC/R, EPA universally certified to handle any refrigerant and NATE certified in HVAC installations and repairs.

Austin Air Companie
832.475.6895
“Your home comfort from A to Z”
Air Conditioning | Controls | Heating | Zoning

For more information on AC & Heating
for your home visit me at my main website @

www.austinairco.com

Better Service. Done Right. On Time. Guaranteed.

AC Repair Katy Texas

Monday, February 2nd, 2015

How to choose an HVAC repair service Katy Texas?

[Video embedded below]

Maybe you are at the point of doing just that… you’re trying to decide which Air Conditioning company in Katy, Texas you are going to let into your home to service, repair or install a new air conditioning system. My HVAC company is different and this blog post is designed to show what sets me apart in order to help you reach an educated decision without a bunch of gimmicks. I feel you are smarter than all of that nonsense.

This air conditioning blog post is designed to clear up a few myths first that many people have about air conditioning companies in general. Everyone has seen the low teaser rates for air conditioning check ups for 69, 59, 49, 39, 29, Free or whatever the price is. Many times the customer is lead to believe this is all they have to spend… all you need is a check up they say. You will find out pretty quick this is rarely ever the case once the company shows up to service your air conditioner or furnace.

If you’ve ever watched that popular show on TV named after a certain breed of fish tank, you know that one of the most important questions of any business is:

“What does it cost you to acquire a customer?”

This figure can be figured many different ways… the cost is typically derived from over head costs that include all expenses, like advertising, rent, tools, service vehicles and in some cases salaries of office staff, managers etc. I can assure you that customer acquisition cost for any HVAC company is no where near even the $69 figure.

So what does this mean?

It means if I run a new customer service call I am risking that I will lose a significant amount on that call if all I collect is a service fee or check up fee. Realize I said “New Customer”.

I can’t tell you specifically what that customer acquisition number is for HVAC companies because it varies based on the management decisions of the company and how it’s run and what it’s over head expenses are as well as debt levels.

This business is highly competitive and pricing structure as well as technical know how significantly influence whether a business will flourish or flounder. There is a constant flow of new HVAC businesses that start every year that think they can do it cheaper than everyone else. They pull it off for a time and then fade into the sunset.

There is nearly a 50% chance that incompetence of the technician, company or both will affect you in some way. Nearly all HVAC companies are set up this way. The problem with this is that there is no standard as to the experience level of the technician you are paying for and you’re left to repeat this procedure of choosing a comfort provider either through means of previous comfort service provider failure or a lack of that provider giving you the comfort service you deserve or a suspicion of incompetence.

It’s never cut and dry, because every HVAC contractor has his own opinion of what you should do as well as any technician that works for him. If a technician works under that contractor, they have in most cases very little in the way of say. It’s very political to say the least. I was once a technician so I know all to well what goes on.

Differences from one HVAC company to another more or less fall along the following factors:

1. Air Conditioning Knowledge & Experience.
2. Air Conditioning Service Availability.
3. Proper Air Conditioning Diagnosis & Repair.
4. Proper Air Conditioning Installation & Equipment Registration.

I am a licensed HVAC contractor and I don’t use technicians or subs. That is another difference worth mentioning.

Notice from the list above that price is no where to be found in those examples and for very good reason… prices fluctuate and companies go out of business due to those prices. If the job is done wrong what good did that low price do for you if you have to do the job again? You may not find this out for a few days, weeks or a year or more later.

HVAC is a hard business with many challenges that are unique unto itself in such that it’s a seasonal business on top of all these other challenges. During peak demands a HVAC contractor has to work in uncomfortable conditions. In many cases we are going into “the oven” more or less. Because of this there is also high turnover rates with in this business. No one calls me to tell me their AC unit is cooling perfectly. I can only assume that it is.

The challenges to me and my HVAC company are probably not what you would expect, so with that said, I encourage you to watch the video embedded below where I describe some of these challenges unique to the HVAC industry in even more detail as well as talk about my own personal challenges in starting Austin Air Companie from nothing to where I am today. I think you may find this very interesting.

A company only stays in business by repeat business or growth in new customers. A properly working air conditioner can work for years without too much fuss in most cases provided that the system was installed properly and maintenance recommendations are followed. I have served hundreds over the years… if they called me back regularly with problems I wouldn’t be pleading my case with you right now.

I use my own company statistics because I know that the more I do for my customers the less likely it is I will hear from them for additional service. So if my customers use my services once in 5 years or less because I installed a new system for that customer 5 years ago that is running problem free… well how hard is it to see that I have to keep acquiring new customers in order to survive? Hard to believe this is currently my biggest problem right?

The truth of the matter is I currently spend more time working on blogs, maintaining my personal website, making videos than I spend actually working on and repairing or installing air conditioning and heating systems. Yes, this is a bit shocking isn’t it? How can one man do all of this?

The reason behind that is none other than experience. I know what I am doing and I follow a strict work ethic that works. You may not always like what I have to say, but you don’t want me to dilute the truth do you? Reference: See gimmick definition.

Thank You! for visiting with me today. I hope this blog post and video helps you make a wise decision about your own home comfort needs in Katy, Texas, even if you decide not to use my HVAC services.

About the author of this blog:
My name is Ray Austin. I am the owner and operator of Austin Air Companie, a HVAC Service Company serving Katy, Texas | Cypress, Texas and some surrounding areas. I am a Texas Licensed HVAC Contractor with over 20 years experience in Air Conditioning and Heating Systems. I hold an AOS degree in HVAC/R, EPA universally certified to handle any refrigerant and NATE certified in HVAC installations and repairs.

Austin Air Companie
832.475.6895
“Your home comfort from A to Z”
Air Conditioning | Controls | Heating | Zoning

For more information you can always visit me on my main website @
www.austinairco.com

Better Stuff. Done Right. On Time. Guaranteed.