COMFORT ZONE HEATING & COOLING

I did not use this contractor to replace the heat pump at my home because they did not respond to my Invitation to Bid. I sent out bid requests to 4 local HVAC contractors but did not receive a bid back from any of them. Why? Because I tried to protect myself by including a few simple contractual type agreements in my Invitation to bid which the bidding contractor had to sign and return with their bid. None of the agreements were outrageous. They were simple things like; requiring the contractor to repair any damages made by the contractor?s employees to my property and the neighboring property, requiring the contractor to repair any damages made by his employees to the new equipment being installed, etc. You would think that these reasonable and normal expectations should be a given and no problem for any reputable contractor; right? Wrong! These types of contractual agreements may work for a general contractor who could possibly provide the sub-contractor with future business but, if you are a homeowner of only one home, forget about it. The sub-contractor won?t even respond. I did receive a phone call from one of the subs saying he was ?too busy and with all the procedures, he would not be submitting a bid?. So forget anything you may read about protecting yourself when choosing and hiring a sub-contractor. I was very surprised to learn that most sub-contractors don?t even have a contract of their own and, those that do, are very brief and worded to protect themselves, not you. There should be a law requiring a general contract to protect both parties as part of any job of this scope. But, there is no such law so, it is up to you to carefully research and carefully select a reputable contractor. I ended up going with Sears for the replacement of my Heat Pump. I at least received a renewable 5-year maintenance agreement for my Heat Pump which includes an annual service visit, giving me a little peace of mind.