“Whoa Man – A Woman’s
Guide to Not Being Taken by the HVAC Man!” By Maggie Redmond
Have you ever been at home by yourself and something in your housebreak? You have no clue what has happened. You just know it doesn’t work. Well I do and that is what inspired me to start this column in the Women With Know How E Magazine. I am a single female and bought my condo for the maintenance free lifestyle. No matter what my sweet southern mind thinks, there are people out there that will take advantage of you when you are in need. After a few times of being taken advantage of, I realized that I can’t be the only one. With single women being 22% of the home buying population in 2006, I know there are other ladies in my shoes.
This column is for you, the woman that doesn’t always know what to do. Like me, you may not have that “Do It Yourselfer”, (DIY) mentality; you may or may not have a man in your life to count on; or you are so busy working 60 hours a week, you just plain doesn’t have the time.
the AC guy. Who? I don’t know. Anyone at this point will work. I’ll just have to take some time off work to get it fixed.
After waking up to a wet sweaty pillow I roll out of bed and pour myself a big COLD glass of orange juice. I pull my hair back and sit down at my laptop to find my very own trusty AC man. I do a local search for HVAC repair….234 listings!!!!! Which one do I pick? Hmm…I recognize a name from the commercials I see on TV. They look nice enough. They can pay for advertising so they must be doing something right. Most importantly they can probably get to me quickly. And right now, quick is what I need.
I grab my cell and punch in the local number. The line rings 2 times and a chipper 20 something answers the phone. Urghh…I am not in the best of moods and that springy voice is not what I want to hear right now. She asks how she can help and I tell her my woes. She gives me some “Uh huhs” and “Okays” with such a helpful tone that I start to honestly believe that this day will not be so bad after all. She tells me she can have someone out between 12 and 4 o’clock today. BINGO!!
At 12:05 PM my doorbell rings. He is on time and I knew I called the big name for a reason. A well-dressed man appears at my door. He identifies himself as my assigned AC fixer and slips the little blue hospital booties over his shoes when entering my home so he doesn’t dirty my carpet. I am mighty impressed at this point. I tell him my same woes that I told the 20 something receptionist and he gives me the same “Uh huhs” and “Okays” then says he will take a look.
Let me share my story…
It’s the hottest part of the summer and I am tossing in my bed hot and miserable. The temperature feels like it is 90 degrees in my bedroom. I’m already down to my skivvies with two fans blowing on me. My dog, Trixie moves about the bed trying to get comfortable but she just fidgets and pants. Bless her heart; I am such a bad mother. But hell, I’m hot and uncomfortable too! I can’t open the windows because that will just bring in more moist, warm, southern air so I guess I’ll just make it through the night and tomorrow I’ll definitely call
After some clanging and banging he comes out with a concerned look on his face and proceeds to tell me that the dooda is leaking and flowed in to the primary whatchamacallit. Then that flowed in to the secondary whatchamacallit which then burned up the something another. (These were not the technical words he used but my best interpretation.) He can go ahead and fix the whole thing; parts and labor, and I can have full AC tonight for 13 94. I choke and don’t want to look like an idiot but wow! I say, “$13.94 is cheap. Fix it up buddy.” “No ma’am”, he says. “That is $1,394.” I choke again but for different reasons. He gives me a sympathetic look and says, “Now…I can get you up and running today for a mere $267 but that would just be a patch. In the very near future you will still have to fix the dooda, both whatchamacallits, and the something another.”
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