Gas Furnace Repair - Beware of Travel Fee
I had a problem with our gas furnace, the exhaust fan was making a horrible sound, it was certainly dying. I took the fan part number and called JC Robinsons to request replacement and installation of a new fan. Within a few hours a subcontractor from JC Robinsons came to investigate the problem. He did not bring the fan with him. After six minutes, he has confirmed that I was right and that the exhaust fan needs to be replaced. And here the problem began. After making a few phone calls he said that he needs to go to a warehouse to buy the fan. However, JC Robinson will charge me for the travel time to pick up the fan (estimated around 2hrs x $119), installation time (1 hr x 119), fan ($285), plus taxes, that will end in grand total around $700, if everything goes fine. I and my wife were shocked, JC Robinson tried to charge us for travel within Ottawa roughly $270 !!! This is absolutely improper collection practice. I have never heard any contractor, nor a company to charge for travel to pick up required parts, especially if you give them the part number ahead of their visit. What if the part needed to be delivered from another city, would they charge me Xdays x $119, if not how much then? This is ridicules. We asked the JC Robinson subcontractor to go away. He left us with an inspection invoice for $119/hr + tax = $134, which I paid. I complain that it is not right for JC Robinson to charge the travel fee within the same city, and yet the travel fee rate equal to the repairs rate.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $7,000.00
- Company Response
I am sorry your experience with J.C. Robinson & Sons was unsatisfactory. I can personally assure you that every service technician J.C. Robinson & Sons employs is an employee and not a subcontractor. For non-warranty service visits we charge an hourly rate. Since your furnace was one that we did not install, we unfortunately do not carry that manufacturer's parts in our service vans. The round trip to the supplier of that brand of furnace was approximately 40 km. Our technician would have probably needed an hour of travel time to pick up the part. I apologize for the miscommunication.