Heating and Air Conditioning Repair - Negotiate Your Best Deal

The number of heating and air conditioning companies in Virginia Beach, the city I live in, as in many cities across the nation, is completely disproportionate to the actual need for heating and cooling. Although Virginia Beach has three to four months of hot summer temperatures, rarely does it climb into the mid to upper nineties for any measurable amount of time.

And, as far as winters go... we had a picnic and enjoyed seventy degree weather the day after Christmas! It can get cold but it does not often fall into the teens or single digits with the average winter temps around 46 degrees.

There is a need for heating and air conditioning in the Virginia Beach area but nothing drastic or reason to have several hundred heating and cooling companies all going after the same customers. So, why are there so many of them if the weather is not extreme and supply out weighs demand by a long shot?

Well, I don't have a definitive answer for you but if you find yourself in need of heating or air conditioning repair you can certainly use these numbers to your advantage!

These guys basically starve six months out of the year during the mild spring and fall months but try and "make up" for it in the busy season. As I mentioned though, there is not enough work to go around even in the busy times and knowing this will allow you to negotiate pricing... yes, you CAN negotiate the price.

When you place a service call the company charges a diagnostic or trip fee to cover the cost of coming to your home and they are just breaking even at this point so they do not want to walk away from a repair. You can use this to negotiate the price for the repair. Believe me, there is a lot of room for negotiation because most companies try and maximize every call they can get their hands on.

So, don't settle for their first price. Most likely the service technician will look at you with a confused look on his face and tell you they don't negotiate price. This is usually true as most companies do not allow the service technician to lower a price. However, if you call the office someone will definitely talk with you and will likely lower the cost of the repair to get your business.

It is worth a try, especially on an expensive repair. And remember, most heating and air conditioning repair companies offer maintenance agreements where they give these "special" customers 10-25% off of repairs so there is room to lower their price, and you don't have to sign up to one of these contracts to get it either!