alvinjshin in Hamilton

AC evaporation coil froze up. Defrosted it and it froze again. I could hear the refrigerant line gurgling, so I knew that it needed recharge. Too bad my regular HVAC guy was at his cottage for another week, and we're in a heatwave this whole week. My regular HVAC guy charges $100 to recharge R410a, which is a very good price, well below market price. Called up Bulletproof Heating and Cooling, they were friendly and scheduled me in the next day (nice!). When I asked Scott on the phone how much it would be to recharge R410a refrigerant, he said "uuuhhhh...ummm... I think...it's $60 per pound and we charge $100 just for us to come out and diagnose the problem". Ok no problem, $60 per pound installed is a fair rate for R410a since it's about $180 for a 25lb cylinder of this regulated material. My air conditioner takes 3.5lb max to fill and it was freezing over, meaning there was some left in the system. I'm expecting $120-180 for 2-3lb refrigerant and $100 diagnostic fee, or $220-280 for the visit. Bulut and his crew arrived on time and were very nice guys. But here comes the gotcha: they added a $200 service fee for "doing the work" of refilling the refrigerant, even though $60 per lb is usually the price of refrigerant including installation. The $200 labor fee was also never mentioned on the phone, even though I asked "How much would it cost to recharge R410a?" Ended up paying $450+tax for recharging 2lb of R410a refrigerant. Oh well, at least my wife is happy that it got done quickly :) Here was the final price breakdown: $100 diagnostic fee $120 2lb R410a refrigerant $200 labor fee Total $450+tax Total visit length: 1 hour Total materials cost: $15 The price was on the high side, but keep in mind that they are very nice guys, they fit my appointment in at the last minute, and my wife is happy with the cold air. They told me that they've even done service calls at 5am in the morning, so they are very hard working. Just wish they'd been upfront about all the fees on the phone.