Posted on 10/11/2019 12:35:23 PM PDT by simpson96
A Michigan woman who shared her gripes with the services of a local company has been sued by the company for making “defamatory statements.”
Lisa Agostino left a negative, one-star Yelp review of North Wind Heating and Air Conditioning on the crowd-sourced review site in July, claiming it had “gouged” the price of a capacitor she’d purchased, INSIDER reports.
Agostino reportedly wrote that she’d been charged $100 for the piece, but later learned from employees at Lowe’s that she could have purchased it for a cheaper price from the home improvement store.
The suit was filed days after Agostino left her review, and also after company owner Carrie Szajna responded in the comments section, saying that the price had been explained to Agostino over the phone, but that she “would not give me a moment to speak and then hung up on me.”
Szajna tells PEOPLE in a statement that Agostino had agreed to the $100 price three separate times. But after it was installed, she reached out and claimed that she’d found the part for a much cheaper price at Lowe’s.
To settle the dispute, Szajna says she offered to remove the part and told Agostino she would not be charged.
“I did this because I could see there was no pleasing her and she was trying to get something for free and I wanted to make her happy and diffuse the situation,” Szajna says.
(snip)
North Wind is seeking $25,000 in damages, arguing that Agostino’s review has led to a loss of six or more potential customers a day.
(Excerpt) Read more at people.com ...
Not at all, my FRiend. Sending out a technician (how many miles?) is not.
You cannot send out a repairman with a truck and common parts on board for only the price of the part. If the cost of the part is $1.00 to repair the A/C, it still may take $100 to send a repairman and make a profit on the diversion of him as a resource from some other profitable use of his time, tools, transportation as well as the cost of keeping a stock of spare parts in inventory.
The cost of a good auto repair would be at least $100 per hour in the shop bay plus the cost of parts. This Agostino probably got off easy at $100 if the charge included the technician's time portal to portal, and the repair was made on site.
As far as the repair service suing her, the loss of business due to defamation would be just. Hope she has insurance against her stupid deliberate bad-mouthing of a reputable business in print. They were willing to let her off by marking her as a nuisance and charging her nothing for the repair work.
Just curious! How did you know the local plumber wouldn’t buy it at Home Depot?
I can't see where it would cost someone 25% to run an item thru their books...You already buy the parts at wholesale cost and then charge 25% above what the retail cost would be...So now you are up to 50%...
Auto repair shops charge upwards of 60% over their costs.. don’t want to pay Harry’s Garage $25 to change a sparkplug? Go buy one at NAPA and do it your damned self
Harry's garage already gets a set price on the cost of their labor...They don't need to charge extra for the cost of the part...
I have seen where if you supply your own part, they will add an extra cost to install it even tho that charge is covered in the labor costs...
Of course it's common practice by why not be up front and honest about it and say, 'yes, we are gouging the customer, because we can'...
It’s actually around 15% for our costs. Insurance, workmens comp etc are based on our gross
And we don’t charge retail. Just a set 25% above our costs.
And since we are mainly working for government entities, it usually takes 30-60 to be paid. We still have to pay our vendors within 30 days for materials that can run into the tens of thousands of dollars
I always paid for the labor, it’s a separate line on the bill. The start/run capacitor is usually less than $25 and is a separate line on the same bill.
I had to have caps in my AC unit replaced last summer. Sure, I could have bought the caps cheaply enough - if I knew which ones I needed, and the proper procedure to replace them. I know I paid more for the parts by getting a service guy out to fix it than I would have buying them myself, but that’s part of the cost of having it serviced. I was just happy that the guy was honest and didn’t fix anything that didn’t need to be fixed, or recommend an unnecessary new AC unit.
I saw a negative review (& have seen many similar) that gave a 1 star and then said “the product, service & price were good, but I’m giving it a 1 star because it wasn’t the size I wanted”.
The size of which was CLEARLY noted in the product info. If you can’t read the product specs, how is that the company’s fault?
People are sooooooo dumb.
I just had my A/C system checked & cleaned yesterday. The technician found a weak capacitor & replaced it. Total cost for parts & service was $39.
So...there is a law that requires any comments about a business to be fact-based only? If someone leaves a glowing review and it isn’t entirely accurate, could they be sued for false advertising?
Reviews are one person’s opinion, and that is taken into account by readers. I don’t refuse to buy something at Amazon because of a few bad reviews, nor buy it because there are a few positive. I assume some reviews are frauds and others mistaken and SOME will have worthwhile information.
Yelp? I wouldn’t trust ANY review on Yelp.
If the customer's complaint e unjustified but amounted to defamation, the company might well seek a forceful solution to the problem that proves publicly that they are reputable and seek a just end to it to warn of and prevent further inroads on their business image.
Right. Someone had to trouble shoot the equipment to find out what needed to be replaced. And yes, there is markup on the parts over what the vendor paid.
“He was charged $500 for that same $20(+/-)part(capacitor)...including diagnose/labor of course.”
Had a criminal plumbing company drop in to check the water heater. Upper heating element had burned out.
Heating element - $15.
Labor - $785. Total - $800.
Called another plumber. Job done for under $100.
Always shop around for home repairs. The home repair business is infested with liars, thieves and democrats.
When we have to have work done at our home, we have one of those “home warranty” policies which I will not name. The very worst of companies sign up with those companies so I always check for reviews. If you find lots of negative reviews, you can cancel the company they are going to schedule and you can get a company of your choice but you have to do it ASAP after making the claim. This year we had so many things go wrong and had to use the coverage and while it’s not actually the warranty company that is the problem, it’s the contractor.
You’d be surprised at what is NOT covered due to legalese in the policy and at the same time, a pleasant surprise to learn you can “opt for cash in lieu of replacement or repair.” You pay for your own contractor you trust to do the work, furnish the paid invoice to the warranty company and you get a pittance of the cost of repairs - better than a sharp stick in the eye and there hasn’t been any problem being reimbursed and the upside is you are not dealing with a “fly by night” repair company with bad reviews.
I’ve learned over the years to ask for some companies who have been here and did good work only to find they are no longer listed with the warranty company. I think startups sign up and once they get off the ground, they drop the warranty company. We’ve had some good ones and some bad ones.
The premiums are not cheap by any means but you can tailor what is covered - add or delete appliances etc. to arrive at a more tolerable and affordable premium. It requires one to weigh the cost of replacing large items at your own expense or pay the premium and leave those on the coverage.
Just FYI for everyone...
“”The home repair business is infested with liars, thieves and democrats.””
We or rather I got a good education in that in just this year alone. It’s left up to me as my husband is not able to handle any of this stuff where in the past it was all on him. I’ve learned a lot!!! Stuff that I never thought I’d be able to handle but I have and it’s never fun dealing with any of it!!!
$100 for ANYTHING is a godsend from an HVAC company that does a service call to your house. Lady should shut her piehole.
Also, did the numbnuts at Lowe’s offer to install the cheaper priced piece for the dingbat? What would they charge to do that?
I recently had an accessory installed on my HVAC system. I found the part online for $410. The HVAC company charged $750. But, they were the ones installing it, warrantying it for a year, AND crawling around in the insulation in my attic on a 90° day to do it. I shudder to think about the attic work. Well worth the money.
No you can’t. Libel and Slander laws should apply.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.