scrabbler Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 (edited) I wanted to know if any of you have heard of this anywhere at all... We recently received a letter, appeared to be a mass mailing, that stated a local company (no bad reports on it as far as I can currently find, still searching) is offering a gas furnace and an ac unit, BRAND NEW, (not a new build, not last years model, not refurb) for around 950, saving almost $2200. This is an INSTALL price with all fittings etc. NO EXTRA CHARGE. They continue to state that you can call for a no obligation check. Your furnace must be over 8 years old, they have less than 100 furnaces and once gone they are gone and they only have certain models and again, once gone, they are gone. They listed no brand names but did state that they would come with all warranties. I called and ensured there was no obligation and we have an appt soon to see if one of the few will heat and cool our house. Considering our furnace is almost 20 years old our ac is probably close, this is a heck of a deal. Can anyone point out problems that I should check on? I will check warranty, manufacturer etc...but any other thoughts? Thanks! Edited February 14, 2009 by scrabbler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseygirl Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 HUH??? I'd do tons of checking on this first. My A/C went this Summer & the condenser for it was $4k (4.5ton). My neighbor replaced both the furnace & her A/C this Fall and spent $10K (they added some extra ducting but that was only $1,500 of the $10K) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrabbler Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 I know...which is why I wrote it here for you guys to pick apart and have even more questions for me to look into. So far I found them at the BBB and they have an A+ rating. One complaint that was solved although it was deemed acceptable by the BBB but not acceptable by the complainant. The company has been in business for at least 30 years. I am doing more searching but want to make sure I am not missing anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conj Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 call your AG's office to see if they have received complaints. got specs on the unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrabbler Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 That is part of the deal...there are 4 different units available, a certain amount of each. They will evaluate to see if they have one that will fit in our house. The reason they say they are doing this is because this is a dead time of the year and they spend the rest of the year catching up. They are attempting to stay ahead of the game with the bad economy and thus are offering these at cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conj Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 This is the busiest time of year for HVAC around here! I hope it is true - I hope it will work for you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrabbler Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 They said it is the quietest time for them...thru April. So far the business is panning out (doesn't mean the offer will)...but I do appreciate all the suggestions of what to be on the look for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieseldude Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Used to be in the business. Around here this is the slow time of year. There are several reasons why they are having a sale of new units. They could have been pre-purchased with a deposit by a builder that due to the current housing market now is not building houses. So the local distributer is stuck with certain models and needs to move them out ASAP. Some HVAC contractors will pre-purchase on spec x number of models for the upcoming season. Something happens and that contractor can no longer honor his agreement. Again the distributer will offer these units to other contractors at a bargain so they can unload them. Pre-purchasing in the off season is a common practice in some parts of the company. And sometimes the deal goes bust. But again as always it is buyer beware. Check out everything before signing a contract. Tell them you need 72 hours to look it over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrabbler Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 Thank you for that info. Am hoping/assuming the estimator will give us a written estimate and, if they do have a unit for us, a reasonable amount of time to consider and decide. So far, I am accumulating as much info as possible and appreciate all that have shared their thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbieshops2003 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I received a similar letter. I always throw this kind of letter out. I kept this one because it "sounded good". Please post when you find out if this is legit. I know lots of companies are doing things to get business. But I was affraid to jump on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrabbler Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 My dh is not in the business but in the business of knowing those in the business and so far this one is panning out. We speak to the person in a few days and will update when I know more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pchappy Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I would check the brands that are energy efficient. There are lots of people selling older models at a cheap price to get rid of them. Google for energy efficient models. There is no sense replacing your heater for higher bills. I personally would be skeptical of a mass mailing flier and am willing to guess this is a come on. Keep us up to date and good luck. Oh by the way ask friends and neighbors who they had do theirs and how much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peppysfireball Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Don't know why anyone would pay thousands. Our furnace brand new without ac ws only 550. My parents just built a new house and bought one with ac from the lumberyard and it was only about 950. Of course that 's put in yourself, but it's not a big chore. My husband did it in a day so did my dad.Ours is a Heil, which my husband swears is the best although most people would say a Trane is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLM Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Please let us know if this works out. I am looking to replace ours soon and am dreading it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristirw Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Let me know after you get your estimate on brand and model number if they give it to you and I will be happy to do some research. The price seems a little too good to be true. I work for a HVAC company and that price is below wholesale for most every brand I can think of. Does the add say a complete system with installation? Make sure to ask the efficiency rating on the unit SEER for the cooling and the furnace rating should be a percentage number. Also ask what type of refrigerant the unit uses R-22 or the new 410A. I have a feeling that the numbers they used are going to be a example of installation and unit that will not fit your needs and they will give you a much higher price once they come out. But its worth a shot especially if you are in the market. Also keep in mind if you have a 20 year old unit you should expect to see around a 25% energy savings (or more) depending on the efficiency rating of the new unit, due to new guidelines on efficiency ratings. Just let me know and I will be happy to do some research when you get the specifics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrabbler Posted February 14, 2009 Author Share Posted February 14, 2009 (edited) It really was quite simple, and upon re-reading the letter, the company did not lie. However, the wording of the letter was a bit vague and that is where I missed the intent. The deal is, you can purchase a furnace for around 950 but you must purchase the AC unit for x amount of dollars. Our final estimate was a bit less than $5000 which is the figure we were quoted last year from our regular furnace guy. My problem with the entire situation is that at no time did they say any basics and it was hard to get any straight talk out of the "salesman". My dh and I both asked several times for the basics and he wanted to show us the warranty, the add-ons and explain everything. Even when he left the estimate, it had no model number, no btu, no seer, just a price. (He had, in his sales pitch, told us the btu he advised, which was a bit bigger than the one we had but not crazy big, and he also told us and explained the seer number and how the federal guidelines are changing in 2010.) I believe that if we would have gone with the company, we would have gotten a brand new furnace and ac but it wasn't a "deal". In my opinion, the letter was worded to get a foot in the door. I do want to emphasize that I believe from my research and from what they told me that I would have gotten a very nice furnace and ac unit. However, it would not have been a deal that I could not turn down. The salesman actually even did the old, "let me call my boss to make sure we have one of your units in stock" spiel. And yes, the spiel even went so far as for him to tell us that they have a few of the ac units but, yes, you guessed it, ONLY 1 FURNACE UNIT left. Oh and you guess it, they could install it TOMORROW! At this point in the sales pitch, I was laughing inside. And I want to add that the salesman was incredibly professional and polite. I believe he was following a sort of "script" but that isn't necessarily bad. My only complaint is that the letter was written in such a way that it could and was misconstrued. Considering I am always one to find the double speak in words, I was a bit mad at myself to have missed it. And considering that I asked so many questions of so many people, I was a bit disappointed that they never spoke straight. (but hey, that is the way to sell things.) The funny part was that after the 2 hours of measuring, explaining and the sales pitch, he left the estimate with his card and said "So do you believe it isn't a scam now?" Unfortunately I was not able to answer because although I do not believe it to be a scam, it wasn't the plain speak we were hoping to hear. Now that we have an estimate, we are setting up a time to speak with our heating and cooling guy and will see what they say. And yes we have the btu and seer number so we can see if the "other guy" measured well and gave us a good estimate. I appreciate all the feedback. My dh is very glad that we got the ball rolling on a new unit even if we weren't totally pleased with the first company. We now have numbers and some experience to make a more informed decision and it only cost us some time. Edited February 14, 2009 by scrabbler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampbaby Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Now that we have an estimate, we are setting up a time to speak with our heating and cooling guy and will see what they say. And yes we have the btu and seer number so we can see if the "other guy" measured well and gave us a good estimate. I appreciate all the feedback. My dh is very glad that we got the ball rolling on a new unit even if we weren't totally pleased with the first company. We now have numbers and some experience to make a more informed decision and it only cost us some time.In our area you can have your utility company come out and they will recommend the correct size unit for your home. We did this just to have a "comparison" size, etc. and it worked out very well. Too small a unit and it won't do the job but too large a unit really won't work overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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