Ashton Service Group

Call Ashton to see why my furnace wasn't starting up and as I guessed the motor was on it's last legs. Service guy estimated $650 or $550 if I purchased their stupid service plan. This estimate had no breakdown of the labour and material (new motor). I protested slightly and said it shouldn't take more than an hour to replace this motor. He said he change a motor recently and took him 3 hours, haha! Was charged the $82 dispatch and visit fee.

I had a friend (who has a gas ticket) replace the motor (cost <$100) and less than 1 hour of his time.

I was told Ashton charges a flat fee to change furnace motors. Okay that's fine, but for $650, there's a lot of profit to be made for a $100 motor. I suggest homeowners shop around before parting with such large amount of money. I'm sure other furnace repair guys (eg independent business owners) would charge much less. Even if you had another service guy show up and have to pay their service fee, it pays to shop around. I understand businesses need to make a profit but this was a rip off.