This idea just struck me recently when I felt taken advantage of by a recent furnace repair. We can all benefit by everyone's input of their experiences, good and bad, of local contractors. I'm not talking about slander or misleading statements, just letting the facts speak for themselves. In the future it would be great to know where the best place to get topsoil, landscape materials, or advice on what to look out for in our neighborhood. Recently I was told of a speeding van that dropped off a man going door to door - wonder what he was peddling ???

2 year old furnace ignitor fails

Our 2-year old furnace was installed by a sub-contractor that is out of business, so I called Atlas-Butler (don't ask me why) when the ignitor went out. It was below freezing outside, they came a few hours later that Friday night, and agreed it was the ignitor, but they would have to order one as it is an odd-ball they don?’t have in stock (thanks Maronda). After huddling around the fireplace all night I was told about noon on Saturday (after several calls on my part) that the part would not arrive until noon Monday, and they had no idea of the cost. After a cold weekend I called them Monday 1pm and left a message to call me. At 2pm, I called again and fortunately got the parts dept, and yep my part was in. They couriered the part to my house by 3:30, the repairman got there after 4, still didn?’t know what the price of the part was, and proceeded to install this part you could hide in a single fist. After retreating to his truck to call headquarters, he came back with a bill for $179. After letting him know what I thought of this price for such a common part, I let him escape check in hand. I later called a local supply store that they obviously don?’t buy parts from, and got a price of $75 for the exact item (brand and part number). I understand the concept of ?“markup?” in this business, but did not realize it can be exchanged for the term ?“robbery?” as well. Because of this incident, I will obviously not be doing business with Atlas-Butler in the future. Anyone have any good recommendations for furnace work?