Overnight the contactor on our A/C unit outside shorted out causing the unit to continually run even though the air handler inside the house was off. I called Universal Air in the morning and they sent a technician out in the afternoon. After removing the access panel from the outside unit, he quickly diagnosed the bad contactor and informed me that he can replace it for $250. He also said I probably need Freon for another $100. Being somewhat handy and seeing that there was no way that part with labor can cost that much, I quickly did an Internet search for pricing. I found the part at a local supply store for $28! I told the tech. no thanks and he gave me a bill for $34 for the service call.

It took me about 2 minutes to remove the old part; 20 minutes round-trip to pick up the new part and 2 minutes to install it. In less than 30 minutes and for $30 I accomplished what they were going to charge me $250 for!

This was actually the second time I had them out to the house. The first time they charged me $300 to clear the drain line and clean the coil. I now feel as though I was ripped off then as well.

Both times, the technician was adamant that I need a whole new system and they would do the job for around $3, 500!