Ripoff alert! Called these guys October 5, 2015 to tune up my evap coolers. I told them I needed at least one pump and a general tune-up. I used to do this myself, but age and health motivated me to get some help this year.
The technician, Eric, was outside for around half an hour. When he came to the door, I thought he was done and expected to pay around $200. Turns out he was just working on an estimate. His proposal included $463 for two pump motors. I must have bought a dozen of these items through the years and I know you can't possibly spend more than $30 at home depot. I am used to paying around $20. So a 1,000% markup!
It gets better. Eric thought I also needed two v-belts. These are the kind of thing you see in a car connected to the fan. They can't possibly cost more than $10 each. Eric wanted to charge me ... wait for it... $662!!! With the proposed fee of $238 for cleaning, $89 service fee and $378 for pads, the grand total would have been$1,830 to service two coolers. Another company is doing the work today for around $250. I noticed these guys are based near Sun City and maybe they have an easier time ripping off old people.
As I was sputtering at Eric about how much these items cost at Home Depot, and was he kidding? he said I should probably get them at Home Depot, then.
I called into the office today to get my money back for the $89 service fee since the estimate was not in good faith. The first guy I talked to, Jeff, said Bob Brown Service Experts is a corporation and that the price for parts is set and they couldn't do anything about it. (I have a corporation too but I can't charge my clients 10 or 20 times what my products and services are worth.
Finally Dan got on the line and said he'd refund the service fee and that Eric must have quoted the wrong prices. I find that difficult to believe since Eric looked ashamed and said he can't do anything about the prices the company sets. We both knew he had attempted to rip me off and was unsuccessful. I don't think Eric is a rogue employee that cooks up crazy estimates without the company knowing about it.
Stay away from these thieves!