It pays to be firm when you’re dealing with service providers

In November of 2004, I purchased a new furnace from a local heating company. The deal included three free cleaning/tune-ups. When I called in November of 2005, they told me that the new furnace would not need the first tune-up until January 2006, which made sense since the unit was brand new. The second tune-up occurred in February of 2007. Through an error in their scheduling, they did another tune-up in October of 2007. I did not notice the scheduling error until after the work had been completed and I had filed the technician’s report.

When I contacted the company, the scheduler informed me that, even though they had made an error, the work had been done and would count as the third free tune-up. I insisted that I had not realized the error until I had filed the technician’s report and should not be penalized for their error. The scheduler told me that she would have to speak with the manager and would get back to me. I calmly told her that if the manager did not make a decision fair to me, I would be canceling the new three-year service contract which the technician had arranged with me, and looking elsewhere for service. An hour later, I received a call from the scheduler informing me that they would be doing the third free tune-up in October of 2008 and extending the service contract until November of 2011. Polite insistence when you’ve been treated unfairly will usually get a positive resolution to your complaint.