I am writing to express some concern about a recent service experience I had with your company.

On January 2, I called to have a serviceman fix a gas smell on a furnace. A serviceman, Chris, came the following day. After spending about 15 minutes looking at the problem, he said he would not be able to fix the leak without ordering parts. Since there was a newborn baby in the house, I pressed him to come up with a temporary fix so they could have heat. I suggested that there might be a way to bypass the problem. He agreed, and he performed a temporary repair.

He left a bill for $284. It seemed high, considering he was there for approximately 60 minutes and did not use ANY parts – just a small amount of caulk to plug the leak - so I expected that this included a charge to return with parts on a follow-up visit.

I was very surprised when he returned on January 22. After replacing the part, he presented a second invoice for $253. Surprised, I called the office to understand the detail behind the charges – expecting to get a breakdown of the invoice. The man who answered would not provide any detail, other than to say that the replacement part cost $60, and that “it’s like a good steak; things cost a lot of money.” That comment did very little to help me understand how a $60 part and two service visits amounted to a $538 fee.

(By way of comparison, I have six oil furnaces and heaters in the main house, which are in regular need of repair. My oil furnace service company – MJ Neil – charges $80 for a service call and 60 minutes of labor, plus parts.)

The office clerk was rude and unprofessional. He told me that he had already given me a substantial discount because I’ve been such a good customer. This was not believable, as I had never used Abra-Cadabra before. The charges are significantly out of line with what I would expect to pay for a service call. The charges were not described in advance of either visit.

I wrote a letter to Abra Cadabra on January 24th outlining my concern with the fees, and asking for an itemized bill.

On January 31, Angelo Pascale, the president called me and said he had received my letter. He said they had decided to refund all of the charges and that they had suspended the technician Chris for a week without pay; all I had to do was come to the office and pick up a refund check. However, Angelo then abruptly said he had to call me back, and hung up the phone. After an hour, I called Angelo back and got no answer. I left two voicemails. The next day I called from a different number, and Angelo answered. He said he couldn’t talk right then and didn't know when he could call back to finish our conversation. I subsequently left two voicemails for Angelo and have not heard anything back from him or Abra Cadabra.