Before the winter winds began to howl a few years ago, my husband and I replaced our dying furnace and central air conditioning system. We chose a contractor based on the unenthusiastic referral of some friends and a well-timed direct mail advertisement.
The two men who came to do the job were friendly and seemed competent. But, they were young, it was a Friday and they ran into a few snags that prolonged their workday. We arrived home after they left and inspected their work. We could tell they took a few shortcuts. Happy hour took priority over happy customers. Some razor sharp sheet metal corners were exposed, we didn’t like the route they chose for the air conditioning line and the cleanup was somewhat lacking.
First thing Monday morning we called the office to complain. The owner of the company was at our house almost faster than we could hang up the phone. He shook his head when he looked at the work and affirmed our conclusion that the job wasn’t done exactly right. He apologized and immediately got on his cell phone and summoned the installers back to our house. They sheepishly apologized, too, and fixed their mistakes to his (and our) satisfaction while he personally programmed our new thermostat for us – something we didn’t ask him to do, but saved us some time.
Now when anyone asks our opinion on where to purchase a furnace, we don’t give this company a lukewarm recommendation like our friends did. We give them a great recommendation, not because of their customer service, but because of their service recovery.
