Tuesday, February 7, 2023

A Quiet Week

 There are no appointments on the calendar this week. Those start next week.

The snow drops are taking their time, as I knew they would.


It's 47 degrees and raining lightly but steadily, not weather to coax flowers to show their faces. 

Nearby, the winter cyclamen are slowly putting up blooms. They are Tom's babies and he keeps checking on them, thinking there will be far fewer flowers this year. Maybe they are just waiting. 



Last week we had two house calls for furnace repair. 


You know it's going to cost you when this is parked in your driveway. On the first call it was decided we needed a new thermostat. That bill was going to be $800 with labor and parts. But the service man left saying he wasn't going to charge us yet because  "something is wrong with the heat pump". 

The second call determined that the refrigerant had leaked out of the coils. New refrigerant was added and a dye was added to try to track down the leak. The service man told us we would not be charged for the new thermostat because we didn't really need it, but the refrigerant work alone will be several thousand, and if we need a new heat pump, which we might, it will run about $11,000. 

Oh, joy! But we won't know that for several weeks. No more service calls to disturb this quiet week. 

We won't have to pay the $1300 invoice we received by email today either.  We called the tech company using the phone number we Googled from their web site, not the one on the "invoice" and established that it was a scam. Scammers are getting way too clever, but so far we are smart enough to foil them.

Be careful out there. You've gotta be alert even during a quiet week.


9 comments:

  1. Ouch! Wish we could put our appliances on Medicare. Linda in Kansas

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  2. Oh, dear. The scams just keep rolling along.

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  3. That was so smart to call the company. What is scary is how smart those scammers are to know to bill you. Ouch on the furnace repair!

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  4. That's the kind of scam that is easy to fall for. You know you're working with people on the furnace, so a bill isn't a surprise. I didn't realize they had gotten that sophisticated. Hope the furnace issue is an easy fix. No fun to have furnace issues!

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  5. What an incredible story. You are away ahead of the scammers.

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  6. Wow, scammers are truly something - glad you made the phone call. Fingers crossed this isn't going to be an $11K fix.

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  7. I am grateful that I have a very suspicious husband who is always telling me to be careful with those emails. I have my hearing test today to find out what kind of aids will be best for my hearing loss. :-)

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  8. Hope they find out what is wrong and the bill is reasonable. We had a Heat Pump when we lived in North Dakota...luckily we had no problems with it but the LP Furnace took over when it got under 30 degrees. Good for you checking on the email:)

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  9. Appointments also starts next week for me. I had the boiler replaced last year and it cost a lot. I hope your problems will be solved soon

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