All Weather told me the last appointment he takes is at 4:00 pm, & that I had to be there at 4:00 sharp to meet him (to avoid him having to pay out overtime). I left work two hours early, to meet him as per his request. He did not show up until 6:30- no call, no warning. Only after I called at 5:30 & complained did the tech finally call me & give me an ETA (at 5:55). After the tech got there, he spent ten minutes at my home diagnosing the problem. He pulled off ONLY one of two panels on my furnace, the upper one. He left stating that he thinks it is my blower motor, and he would get back to me in a day or so to confirm if the part would be covered by the home warranty. However,he did NOT remove the lower panel which covers the blower motor- so he did not EVEN SEE the blower motor, to support his diagnosis. In additon, the vents were blowing- if it were the blower motor, the vents more than liklely would not be blowing.
Two days passed, i did not hear back, so again I had to follow up with him. After leaving me on hold for fifteen minutes (I timed it), he said he would call me back. Two hours later, no call back, I followed up again. He told me the home warranty won't cover the claim, but not why they won't cover it. I called the home warranty, & they stated his report claimed that the furnace was dirty, & therefore the blower motor went out- so it's my responsibility. I then opened up both panels, & took pictures of the buners, the blower motor, & the control panel of my furnace. None of those componenets, nor the furnace in general, were dirty. The furnace is old, the blower motor appeared rusted, but definitely not dirty.
I demanded a second opinion- the home warranty. sent out another contractor, who spent significant time trying to diagnose the problem. Turns out, it was not the blower motor, it was a capacitor. And of course, the furnace was not dirty, just like I claimed.
So here's what this contractor tried to do in a nutshell: earn an easy call out fee ($100) for ten minutes worth of work; make up a bogus diagnosis, & then present it in a way to the home warranty so that it would not be covered by them. That now freed him from any obligations to the home warranty. Now, with his foot already in the door at my house, & with winter coming soon (plus a baby he had seen in the house), he can try to sell me on hiring him for the work, at 3x the rate that he would be paid behind the scenes by the home warranty. It's a scam to take advantage of unsuspecting customers, right before winter starts. Good think I squaked so much about it- & did not just accept what he said.