What the work is
The first question is whether this is an emergency. A house that will not cool, with someone in it who cannot easily leave it, is one. A spare bedroom that is warm is not, and we will say so rather than sell you an after-hours visit.
Before anyone drives out we ask you to check three things on the phone, because all three are free: the breaker, the thermostat batteries, and whether the filter is choked shut. Sometimes that is the whole call.
If it is a real failure, you get the flat fee before anyone is dispatched, and it comes off the job.
What we will not do at two in the morning is quote you a system. A failure at night is a failure of one part, or it is a system that has been failing for a while and finally stopped. Either way the decision about replacing it is a daytime decision, made with a load calculation and two numbers in front of you, and anyone who wants that signature while you are hot and tired is not doing you a service.
What we will do is get you through the night. Sometimes that is a capacitor off the van. Sometimes it is a temporary fix and an honest sentence about how long it will hold.
What is included
- A person on the phone at any hour, not a message service
- The three checks you can make yourself, before anyone is dispatched
- The visit fee quoted on the phone, not on the doorstep
- A diagnosis in plain words, with the failed part named
- A temporary repair, clearly described as one, where a permanent part is not on the van
What is not
- Refrigerant put into a system that is leaking, without finding the leak. That is selling you the same repair twice
- A whole-system replacement quoted on the spot at two in the morning. Nobody decides that well at two in the morning. We get you through the night first
- A replacement contract signed after hours
Why a July failure is different here
St. George recorded 98 days at or above 100°F in 2024, the most on record, with back-to-back hottest Julys in 2023 and 2024. The all-time high is 117°F.
On a run like that the inside of a house does not coast. A system that quits at four in the afternoon has the whole evening to lose ground, and the house is still warm when the next one starts. That is the reason we answer the phone at any hour and the reason we will tell you honestly when something can wait until morning: most things can, and the daytime rate is lower.
What to ask anyone quoting this, us included
- What is the after-hours fee, and does it come off the repair?
- Will you tell me on the phone if this can wait until morning?
- If it needs a part you don't have on the van, what happens tonight?
- Is this a repair or a patch, and how long should the patch hold?