Comfort Line - Questions and Answers

This quarter's questions and answers introduces a new way of pricing heating and air conditioning service and installation work. We call it our "Up Front No-Risk Pricing System." We have been using this customerfriendly system since April. This segment explains how the system works and why it is better for you.

What is Hart & Iliff 's "Up Front No-Risk Pricing System"?

Suppose you go to a restaurant and there are no prices printed on the menu. You ask for the price of a particular meal and are told that the price depends on how long it takes the chef to cook it. What would you do in this situation? Probably get up and walk out of the restaurant! Over the years, like most other contractors, we priced our heating and air conditioning work on a time and material basis, which is similar to the pricing in this hypothetical restaurant.

With time and material pricing, the charge for a service call consists of a material charge and a labor charge. The labor charge is determined by multiplying the time spent on the job (including travel time) by an hourly rate. The price for the job depends on how long it takes the technician to do the work. With a very experienced technician, the repair could easily cost less (take less time) than with a less experienced technician.

Every business must consider labor and material costs in setting their price. However, we believe that time and material pricing is unfair because the cost of the repair may vary depending on the technician and you, the homeowner, have no idea how much a repair will cost until after the repair is completed. Our new "Up Front No- Risk Pricing System" eliminates inequities and allows us to quote you a firm price before we do the work.

How does "Up Front No-Risk Pricing" work?

There are two components to each job. The first component is a diagnostic or trip charge. This covers the cost of getting our technician to the job and analyzing the problem. The second component is the actual repair charge. This charge is based on all the costs we incur in having the technician perform that particular repair.

What makes the "Up Front No-Risk Pricing System" better for me?

The advantages to you are as follows:

• You don't have to concern yourself with the experience level of the technician. The charge will be the same whether you get our most experienced or least experienced technician.
• With "Up Front No-Risk Pricing" there are never any surprises. We can quote you a firm price before we do the work.
• You don't have to concern yourself with how much time the technician spends on the job. Even if the technician encounters problems and the repair takes longer than expected, it won't affect the price.
• Since the repair is not based on the actual time spent on the job, if the technician takes some extra time to explain the operation of your unit, it does not affect the price.

I have a service contract. How does the "Up Front No-Risk Pricing System" affect my service contract?

If the particular repair is covered by the service contract, the terms of the service contract prevail. If, on the other hand, the repair is not covered by the service contract, then the repair would be priced using our "Up Front No-Risk Pricing System." There is no guess work and we can quote you a price before you approve the repair.