When you call for a repair, the first cost you hear about is the service fee. It is reasonable to want to know what you are paying for, and we would rather explain it than have you wonder. This post covers what the fee includes, what happens during the visit, what gets priced separately, and what we promise you before any work begins.
What the fee pays for
The service fee covers a trained technician, a stocked truck, and the test equipment it takes to find the cause of a problem rather than its symptom. A furnace that will not stay lit, an air conditioner that runs without cooling, and a water heater that runs short each have several possible causes, and those causes can differ widely in what they cost to fix. The fee pays for the skilled hour it takes to tell them apart. The answer belongs to you whether or not you decide to go ahead with a repair, and there is no pressure to.
What happens on a heating or cooling visit
Your technician will start by asking what you have noticed: when the problem began, whether it comes and goes, and what the system does when it acts up. Those details matter, so it helps to have them ready. Then the testing begins. On heating and cooling equipment, that means voltage and amperage readings on the motors and capacitors, refrigerant pressures and temperatures, airflow and static pressure through the ducts, and a look at the thermostat and control board. On a gas furnace, the technician adds gas pressure, a heat exchanger inspection, and a check that the safety controls respond. The sequence is the same whether it is air conditioning repair in July or heating repair in January.
What happens on a plumbing visit
On a plumbing call, the technician checks water pressure at the fixture and at the main, looks over the visible supply lines and shutoff valves, tests for leaks, and traces a drain problem to the fixture, the branch line, or the main sewer line. If your home is on a well, the visit includes the pressure switch and tank, since low pressure in a Durham County home outside the city system is as often a well problem as a pipe problem. Anything the technician notices along the way, such as a corroded valve or a water heater near the end of its life, is something you will hear about even when it is not the reason you called. The plumbing services page lists everything we handle.
Items priced separately
The fee covers finding the problem. Parts and labor for the repair are priced separately, and no part is replaced without your approval. A few procedures are also priced on their own because they need different equipment or more time than a standard diagnosis. A camera inspection of a sewer line, electronic location of a leak under a slab or inside a wall, and a full duct inspection are the common examples. When one of those is the right next step, the technician will tell you what it costs before doing it, and you decide.
Upfront pricing, and what the guarantee means for you
Happy Home Services operates on honest, upfront pricing with a 100% money-back guarantee. In practice, upfront pricing means the repair options and their prices are laid out before any work starts, so you can make the decision with the numbers in front of you and without feeling rushed. Members of the Happy Home Service VIP Club pay 50 percent off the minimum service fee, receive up to 25 percent off repairs, and are not charged overtime for after-hours or weekend visits.
Questions we hear about the fee
People sometimes ask whether the fee is just a way to get a technician in the door, and we understand why it can feel that way. The fee is what lets the technician’s time be paid for on its own, so the repair recommendation never has to be padded to cover the visit. A phone quote is a guess at the cause, and when the guess is wrong, you end up with the wrong part, a second visit, and a second invoice. And some ask whether the fee should be waived when the fix turns out to be simple. A dead thermostat battery and a failed control board look identical from the hallway, and the fee paid for the work of telling them apart, which is what kept you from replacing the wrong one.
Ready when you are
Happy Home Services has served the Triangle since 1955. To book a diagnostic visit for a heating, cooling, or plumbing problem, schedule online or reach us 24/7 by phone or website chat. You will know what is wrong and what fixing it costs before anything is touched, and the decision will be yours.