When searching for a heating and cooling contractor, you may have stumbled across the term “service call fee.” Also named a “trip charge,” this fee is the expense an HVAC company requests for sending a technician to your home when your heater or AC unit seems to be malfunctioning.
Why Do HVAC Companies Use a Service Call Fee?
A service call fee recoups the cost of traveling to your home. After all, this takes time, requires fuel, and produces wear and tear on the company vehicle. It’s important to know that service call fees don’t typically come with parts and labor if you decide on a repair or replacement.
How Expensive is a Service Call Fee?
Every HVAC company decides how much to charge for a service call. Some companies select a standard or flat rate for each service call, while others raise the rate if the customer is somewhere outside the standard service radius. The specific cost varies by market and company, but you may expect your usual trip charge to be between $79 to $129.
Who Covers the Service Call Fee?
If you arrange a service call, you will need to settle the trip charge regardless of what step you take later. For example, you could decide to accept the technician’s recommended repair or replacement, depending on which choice is more cost effective.
You are encouraged to compile several job estimates from various HVAC companies—just remember that you can end up paying a trip charge for all these visits. Even if you take no action after the first service call, you will still owe the technician a fee for coming to your home and carrying out diagnostics.
How Can I Avoid Paying a Service Call Fee?
A smart way to decrease trip charges is to participate in an HVAC membership from Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning. All four of our memberships include a waived service call fee, meaning we’ll come to your home and assess your HVAC system for free.
Other money-saving benefits of an HVAC maintenance membership are:
- No overtime charges
- 15% savings on repairs with the Maintenance+ Plan
- 15% savings on indoor air quality products with the Maintenance+ Plan
- And much more
If your furnace or air conditioner is behaving strangely, or you’re open to an affordable HVAC maintenance plan, All American Air Service Experts is happy to help. We charge some of the lowest service call fees to get your HVAC repair or replacement off to a good start. We are also eager to help our customers save money on emergency repairs, replacements and maintenance with valuable offers on our website. If you’re ready to enjoy savings and peace of mind while enhancing efficiency and home comfort, give us a call at 386-310-2061 today!