Hiring an Air Conditioning Repair Contractor

When hiring an air conditioning repair contractor, it is important to know that there is more to it than opening the yellow pages and picking the first one on the list, or the one with the biggest ad.

The choice can mean the difference between having a comfortable, energy-efficient home and one that is plagued with heating and cooling problems. This is very important in the southern states, where home owners often deal with hot and humid weather, but also experience bone-chilling temperatures in the winter.

A competent air conditioning repair contractor can make sure a home's service is running efficiently and properly. They can help home owners save money and stay comfortable all summer long.

Here are five helpful tips for hiring an air conditioning repair contractor.

1. Make a list. Ask family members, friends, and neighbors for recommendations of air conditioning repair contractors in the area, making sure they have experience on the type of work that needs to be done, not just general contracting experience. Find people who have had similar air conditioning repair work done in their homes and ask whether they were satisfied, needed return trips, or needed to call a second contractor to fix problems.

2. Research the business sites and beyond. Check business bureau sites for any air conditioning repair contractors who may have a history of complaints. While there, also note those who have been recommended. Also check online review sites. Oftentimes, past customers will leave positive and negative comments about the air conditioning repair contractor. While one or two people are always bound to complain, look for patterns or an inordinate number of complaints.

3. Make contact. Once the list has been narrowed down, contact those who look interesting and ask for references and proof of insurance and licensing. Be sure to follow up by contacting their references to ask about their entire experience. Give the finalists a few detailed questions to determine their experience and knowledge. Look for air conditioning repair contractors who have the experience and knowledge to handle an entire house system. The more experience, the better.

4. Get a bid. After narrowing the list down even further to a couple candidates, ask each for a bid that includes all necessary equipment, energy-efficiency rating and any hidden extras. Be sure to ask about warranties and how they handle change orders. Remember, this is not always about finding the lowest price. In many cases, the lowest-priced bids are missing a few components that will be added back in later on. Instead, look for the most complete bids and compere those details to the cheapest bids. Compare apples to apples to get the best understanding of costs.

5. Make the choice. After reviewing the proposals and selecting the new air conditioning repair contractor, make sure to sign a written proposal before the work gets started that spells out specific costs, payment method and schedule, when the work will be completed, etc.