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| - Our office has a standard glass door with black aluminum framing. Our standard thumb screw was a little loose and not turning properly. The manufacturer/service tag sticker on the door said Vortex and had a phone number for service. So I called and asked if someone could come take a look at our loose thumbscrew.
A guy showed up on Monday, spent about 30-40 minutes here. Apparently the casing or latch assembly was loose . All he did was take off the thumb screw, lube up the area, and put the thing back on. Done deal. No parts, no major issues.
While he was here working, I asked the service tech what the cost would be. He said "I have no idea, the office would be in touch regarding the bill". He had me sign a service order or work order. I looked at that paperwork to see about cost, but it said nothing. No mention about a minimum service charge,or hourly rate.
3 days later a bill comes from Vortex for $240.00! It had a list of work done, but nothing itemized, just a total. Here's some verbiage taken from the invoice regarding the details of work done. This is no joke...
- "Technician arrived and found thumbturn not operational" (Nice find!)
- "Removed cover plate" (about 10 seconds...I watched)
- "Found thumbturn loose" (no shit? How did they figure that out?)
- "Re-aligned lock assembly" (no new parts, just realignment)
- "Lubricated points of friction" ($10 lube charge...seriously for 2 drops)
- "Standard quality and safety check" (ring up another 15 minutes! We don't want any savage killer doors over here)
None of that was itemized, just a total of $240.00!
Okay, so here's the good part. I called to see how this could possibly add up to $240. I was informed the labor rate is $108/hr. That's outrageous for a guy turning a thumb screw, but okay, whatever. He was here about 35-40 minutes, which is clearly shown on the service sheet I signed. The A/R lady from Vortex said they only bill in 30 min increments and round up to the next increment. So I'm being billed for a full hour.
Okay, where'd the other $130 come from? They include drive time to and from their shop. I asked what that rate was. You guessed it. $108/hr. So I looked them up on Google while she was on the phone with me. Their office is on Kyrene in Tempe. Our office is on Priest in Tempe! I asked how that could take an hour of driving time being we're extremely close. Her response was that it doesn't matter that we're so close, it's a minimum of $108 trip charge even if you're across the street!!!!
He wasn't driving a Ferrari or gold plated chariot. In fact, had I known I was being billed $108 for an hour driving, I would have made him pick up my dry cleaning and some tamales too!
The good news is that they showed up on the right day and the tech was very nice. Their doors are nice too. I gave them two stars because the only problem I had is the shifty way they bill and how ridiculously expensive they are. No one provided me any information on cost until they mailed a bill. I'm sure they do great work, just be prepared to pay outrageously for it.
It should have been obvious by how they train their service guys to say "I have no idea what our hourly rate is". Get real! First day Johnny?
Lesson: I should have known if you ask for a lube job from a person you don't know, they'll probably over charge, then screw you!
:-)
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