Air-conditioning Repairs
The state Attorney General’s office is offering some suggestions to avoid scams when dealing with your air-conditioning systems, which are being taxed by this week’s high temperatures.
“Keep your cool if you need your air-conditioner repaired in the middle of a heat wave,” Roy Cooper, the Attorney General, said in a press release. “You want your AC fixed fast, but you also want it done right and at a fair price.”
Each year, he said, dozens of consumers contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division to complain about problems with air conditioning and heating repairs.
Here are his tips to avoid problems with HVAC repairs:
Get recommendations. Ask friends, neighbors and co-workers who they use for repairs.
Check credentials. Contact the Consumer Protection Division at (877) 566-7226 and your local Better Business Bureau to learn about the company’s complaint history. To see if the repair person is properly licensed, contact the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors at (919) 875-3612.
Get a written contract. Read it carefully before you sign it and make sure it includes all promises made orally. Remember that state law gives you three business days to cancel if you sign a home repair contract at your home rather than at the company’s place of business.
Don’t pay for work before it’s completed, don’t pay until you’re satisfied, and pay by check or credit card — not cash — if possible.
Consumers can also file complaints online at www.ncdoj.gov and get additional tips on common home repair scams on that site.
