An out of town doctor who just happens to be in your neighborhood making house calls is going door to door offering a complete physical including blood tests for only $19.99. The doctor tells you that the cold and flu season is right around the corner, and you should get a checkup to avoid any possible sickness down the road.
The man is wearing a white jacket and has a stethoscope – so he must be a doctor, right?
You go ahead and let the doctor into your home to do the physical and afterwards you are informed that you have a bad appendix and it needs to come out immediately. Even though you feel perfectly fine, the doctor says he cannot leave your home until you have the procedure. He claims you could be dead within a few hours if he does not remove the offending organ.
This may seem like an extremely unlikely scenario, but something similar to this situation happens all too frequently.
Predator Air Conditioning companies will sweep through a neighborhood and offer “too good to be true” Air Conditioning maintenance specials.
They promise inexpensive “AC Tuneups” – sometimes as low as $19.99. They may also advertise the common tagline “Free Service Call with Air Conditioning Repair,” do not fall for this scam!
These tactics are only designed to get a unscrupulous repairman into your home. You can rest assured you will never only pay $19.99. In fact by the time they are finished you may be spending hundreds or thousands of dollars for repairs or services you don’t even need. These types of companies will always try to take advantage of you.
A properly state licensed and fully insured air conditioning contractor would never spend an hour doing preventive maintenance on your AC system for only $19.99. And if you are knowingly hiring an unlicensed and uninsured contractor you are only asking for trouble.
Make sure the contractor who services your AC system is licensed and insured. Also, the best air conditioning contractors are also NATE certified.
Remember that organizations like the Better Business Bureau and any Chamber of Commerce charge members a yearly fee – so any company that pays its dues will be recommended or “accredited”. This is why you should also check online reviews, as well as ask family and friends who they have used, and talk to your neighbors and co-workers.
