Nightmare on Plain Street! - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

BigFish · 12-23-2009, 01:52 PM

So a few weeks ago our furnace goes off on safety.....I hit the reset, it fires up and good to go! Now we have not had it serviced since we bought the house 4 years ago and I am talking a complete maintenance! I have changed the filter, strainer and nozzle regularly but we needed a complete service so I find a company on Yellow pages.com and the ad reads "Licensed and Insured"......looks reputable?? Or so I thought??? I had made an appointment for this past Monday afternoon. As luck would have it Monday morning the furnace shuts down again so I figure....what luck the guy is coming today anyway so we are all set! The guy shows up and immediately I am suspicious....young guy, truck is not marked......I think maybe check for his oil burner license but I (stupidly) give him the benefit of the doubt and he starts the service! So I am across the basement keeping an eye on him for the first sign of trouble. I say to him....."You are going to change the nozzle, pump strainer and the tank filter right?"......he says....."oh we don't do the nozzle and the strainer"????? Meanwhile he is changing the oil filter (or so I thought) so I walk over to the tank and see that he has taken off my brand new B-4 filter unit and replaced it with a %$%$%$%$ty General model????? I say to him....."that B-4 was brand new and it only needed a new filter....I want that one put back on!!!" I continue on by saying..."Your boss is charging me $225 for a complete service, vac the chamber, clean the heat exchange and flu pipe, nozzle, strainer and filter change......thats alot of money condidering you are not doing anything? Are you licensed to work on furnaces?" He replies...."Yup!"....."Oh...no but I am a licensed plumber!"

I reply....."Do me a favor......pack up your crap (insert different word) and get the @#$% out of here and tell your F'in boss if he has a problem to give me a call!!!!" So the kid splits and its about 4:00 and I still have no heat so I run to the supply store for a filter, nozzle and strainer and there happens to be a guy there who is licensed and comes recommended by the heating supply shop (I know them there as I bought all my stock from them for 10 years) so I figure....ok and he agrees to follow me to my house and take care of it! He sets ahead to finish the job, goes to fire up the furnace and it is smoking like a bastard!!! The idiot had cycled so much oil into the chamber by repeatedly hitting the reset button that it was smouldering and it was saturated with oil!!!!

So he has to open it up, pull the chamber out and inspect to find it is just that...soaked with oil so we decide to be safe we should buy a new combustion chamber for $300 and clean the oil out of the rest of the lining and such....so its 9:00pm and we have to wait until morning to pick up a new chamber. I ask the guy to call me first thing in the am and let me know that he got one? So I am waiting....waiting....10:00am no call so I call him! He says he is on his way and will be there in about an hour and a half! Fair enough see you then! 12:30..........1:00.......1:30....still no show so he finally calls at 2:00!!! He says "Oh I got a no-heat call and my girlfriend had a car accident and blah, blah, blah (I think oh here we go with the lame excuses like many service men do when they are behind the 8 ball and can't just give you the straight poop!). So he says....."I am on my way there right now"......I am thinking "ok.....see you in a few"! 2:30.......3:00..........4:00............4:45..... ...I am pissed off!!!! I call him and I say "Whats up?".....he says "I am just entering Hanover I will be there shortly".......5:00...........5:30......(now Hanover does not take 45 minutes to cross)........6:00............6:15 he gets there and I am ready to tear him a new a$$ and send him on his way and he is all apologies and such and I ask him...."Did you pick up a new combustion chamber?"..........he says....."I couldn't find one as they will take a few days to order and have delivered but we will just clean everything out and burn the oil from the chamber with a piece of lit paper" (its a trick to eliminate some of the saturation without having a fire in the furnace and minimize any risk of such). :OK...good enough I say lets do it...saves me $300 then lets do it!" Well......we remove the chamber fire it outside and as we are bringing it back in.....it crumbles into a half dozen pieces!!!!!

By this time I am fit to be friggin tied....its 8:30 pm and still no heat, its 10 degrees outside and we are faced with trying to scare up a new chamber or have one overnighted if need be to put it in on Christmas Eve day....and we have family coming that night for a party!!!!

Continued below!

PRBuzz · 12-23-2009, 02:17 PM

Did you mean to say you live on Elm St by any chance? Think they made a movie about this senario: Nightmare on Elm St.

So good luck with Santa bringing a new combustion chamber, he'll be there in 30 mins or so........he's just across the other side of Hanover.

Canalratt1 · 12-23-2009, 02:21 PM

Larry it is very easy to get an Oil Burners License, you make an appointment for the exam and pass it you have it! It is actually called an Oil Burners Technician Certificate and with it you can start your own company with no experiance! I know because I just got mine after going to school for that, Basic Electrical and HVAC (I got my 608 EPA Universal Certificate. I am still unemployed and looking to get into these fields. If I knew you were haveing this trouble I may have been able to help you out with it. Even if the chamber was soaked with oil you probably could have saved it but once it was removed you are pretty much screwed. The first guy probably kept hitting the reset, thats the main culprit with an oil soaked chamber. If your still stuck let me know myself and my buddy that I went to school lives close by but not till after Xmas. Good Luck!

BigFish · 12-23-2009, 02:27 PM

So first thing this am I get on the phone as does the service guy (did I mention he is a sharp kid, good at what he does not not good at showing up when he says he will?) and about 10:00 he calls me and we happen to both be on the phone with the same company who "might" have a chamber that they "think" might work (not 2 words you like to hear) so I agree to drive to Franklin to pick it up in the order of saving us some time and with the old chamber in hand I drive there to find that the one they have is simply too small......by this time I am ready to cry or kill and just then the warehouse guy comes in and says that there is a new furnace in the warehouse that was returned because of a cracked heat exchange and that maybe the chamber from that one just might be what we are looking for???? What are the friggin odds I think to myself but hey....lets have a look! We get out there and to my surprise the furnace is identical to mine in every way just a newer model than my 13 year old model so we take the burner off and remove the chamber and its a dead on match, just what we need!!! So new these chambers are $300.....the guy says "Give me $90 and its a deal!"......I am about to offer the guy oral gratification

I am so overjoyed but decide instead to give him $20 so he and his warehouse buddy can get lunch! He then says to me..."Here why don't you take the burner I have no need for it!"..........

Now we are almost back to oral gratification

but because I am in a hurry we just load the goods in the truck and I am off with a new $300 chamber and a brandy new Beckett burner complete that costs about $300 plus all for $90 bucks!!!

Sweet! Now I am just waiting for the guy to get here and I just talked with him on the phone and he says 4:00....which will mean 7:00 no doubt so tune in later to see......"If BigFish Has Heat or......if BigFish Gets Hot!!!"

Cross your fingers for me!

BigFish · 12-23-2009, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canalratt1

Larry it is very easy to get an Oil Burners License, you make an appointment for the exam and pass it you have it! It is actually called an Oil Burners Technician Certificate and with it you can start your own company with no experiance! I know because I just got mine after going to school for that, Basic Electrical and HVAC (I got my 608 EPA Universal Certificate. I am still unemployed and looking to get into these fields. If I knew you were haveing this trouble I may have been able to help you out with it. Even if the chamber was soaked with oil you probably could have saved it but once it was removed you are pretty much screwed. The first guy probably kept hitting the reset, thats the main culprit with an oil soaked chamber. If your still stuck let me know myself and my buddy that I went to school lives close by but not till after Xmas. Good Luck!

I have one Tony.....ya still have to know the stuff to pass....they don't hand them out...if they did the "Clotpot" (Thanks Numby) would have had one that showed up first!

FishermanTim · 12-23-2009, 02:52 PM

Is there any way you can go after the first guy, the "plumber", and get some $$ from them for the damage he caused?

Hopefully everything will work out fine in the end.

Merry Christmas!

BigFish · 12-23-2009, 02:59 PM

To be honest with you FT...I have thought about it....and decided it will be more of a headache and a pain in the a$$...my a$$...and I will never see a dime so.....screw it! Chalking it up to lesson learned!

Sorry Tony if my last post sounded rude? I did not mean it to be! I am wound pretty tight right now!

Thanks for the offer....I do appreciate it. I have a oil burner license...but I did tank replacements and installs so my first hand knowledge and hands on beyond the firomatic valve at the burner pump was very limited. So I bow to those who do it for a living......I just picked a bad apple to start with!

afterhours · 12-23-2009, 03:38 PM

..oral gratification??? what's next? ....flyfishing?

vineyardblues · 12-23-2009, 03:48 PM

Larry Larry Larry

I have been having some issues myself and just got off the phone with a Tech who will be here tomorrow between 11-1pm
Wish me luck

Please

Mine keeps shuting down and will not restart untill I hit that little red button

The temp in the AM is COLD ..........
A good old cleaning I hope!

Raven · 12-23-2009, 03:56 PM

my plumber hasn't even called yet so back to the shrinking
wood pile i go....

GOOD LUCK VB
~
OH MY GOD Larry ///i just re read this whole post
and cannot believe the amount of bullsh1t you've had
to endure in the last 48 hours.

I hope it all works out soon.

BigFish · 12-23-2009, 03:56 PM

Be careful you do not hit the little red button too many times Peter......you will shoot too much oil in the chamber if you do....and wind up like me! Flyfishing??? You would sonner catch me with a.....oh never mind!

Mike P · 12-23-2009, 04:07 PM

When I lived on Long Island, and had an oil fired boiler, we not only had at least a dozen heating oil companies to choose from, but because there was so much competition, every one included a service contract. You locked into a 5 year deal, they included free repair service. It never took more than an hour for the service guy to respond and fix anything that went wrong. Don't oil companies around here do the same (we have gas here)?

When my ex needed a complete new system, the oil company financed it with an interest-free loan if she agreed to a 5 year contract.

vineyardblues · 12-23-2009, 04:15 PM

Larry what time is the party and whats on the menu

If I need any parts , that is

Now to clean out the "Boiler Room"

So you can turn around

BigFish · 12-23-2009, 04:18 PM

Mike I used to get alot of free oil from tank removals I did. So until last season I had no need of an oil company...except to keep me employed!

I have been hesitant to sign a contract and get locked into their high prices....but after thinking about it...we only use about 330 gallons a season so maybe the higher prices will not be too bad given the piece of mind. I have been in touch with one of the companies I did work for...will be signing up soon!

BigFish · 12-23-2009, 04:29 PM

Said he would be here at 4...just called taking the backroads...traffic.....I am guessing 8:00! From Sharon!

Slingah · 12-23-2009, 04:36 PM

that's good news...I think your lucky you got someone, and the deal on the parts was pretty sweet.....hope all goes well!
good to hear your signing with someone...the cost of the plan is a wash with what you'd pay for a clean-out....and your like me usage wise, difference is like a hundred buck in fuel cost....

PRBuzz · 12-23-2009, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigFish

I have been hesitant to sign a contract and get locked into their high prices....but after thinking about it...we only use about 330 gallons a season so maybe the higher prices will not be too bad given the piece of mind. I have been in touch with one of the companies I did work for...will be signing up soon!

The is no need to "lock in prices" for the season with most oil companies, that is an option. I've had auto-delivery from several companies for the last 25 years and just pay the going rate at time of delivery even with automatic delivery. Right now I'm with Mass Energy ( Mass Energy Consumers Alliance ), I'd recommend as they are kind of like a coop and have the most reasonable prices. There is a annual, minimal subscriber rate.

BigFish · 12-23-2009, 05:50 PM

Almost 6....not here yet!

Slipknot · 12-23-2009, 05:54 PM

Ya he may be good at what he does, but he is poor at making excuses and promises , he can't be in 2 places at once, not reliable is not good, just tell the truth if ya got too much work to handle. yikes
don't piss off the bigfish

good luck Larry
just put the thing on yourself already

BigFish · 12-23-2009, 06:03 PM

Just called....10 minutes away...so maybe here at 7?

Swimmer · 12-23-2009, 06:15 PM

You can't make this chit up! Good luck Larry!

Merry Christmas Angie.

afterhours · 12-23-2009, 08:29 PM

well........???? maybe frank will have to check on him....

PRBuzz · 12-23-2009, 09:28 PM

9:30 Got Heat?

Backbeach Jake · 12-23-2009, 09:32 PM

That poor kid is gonna get himself killed if he hasn't already.

BigFish · 12-23-2009, 10:33 PM

The kid lived! So there is an extremely happy ending! We have heat! The kid spent in the ballpark of 9+ hours here the past 3 evenings......he did the complete service and cleanout, cleaned out all the oil saturation by hand, put the new chamber in AND....put the brand new burner setup on....so now we have a virtually new furnace......so we are settling up and the kid says........$160.00! $160.00 I said to him?!?!?! You are friggin insane.....I was extremely happy but the kid did alot of work and great work at that so we wrote him a check for $300 bucks! So where the original cleanout was gonna cost $225 all that work and a virtually new furnace cost us $400!!!! Sweet! Alot of aggravation though!