He booked the most expensive job we do. We advised against it.
Twenty years with one company, then the standards slipped
This customer had used the same servicing company for 20 years. The last few visits had gotten sloppy, so he started looking around. He found us online, read the reviews, and booked the most intensive job on our menu: a full chemical overhaul for his three units, wall-to-wall.
Our technicians arrived on time, ready for a strip-down that usually takes the better part of a morning. Then they actually looked at the units.
Twenty-year-old units change the maths
The system was over 20 years old. A chemical overhaul means dismantling each unit down to its bare shell, soaking parts in chemical solution, and pressure-washing everything. On units that age, plastics turn brittle, fasteners seize, and seals that have held for two decades do not always survive being dislodged. The risk of creating a leak during the strip-down was higher than anything the overhaul would fix.
An overhaul is the right call when a unit has years of life left and the buildup is too deep for normal servicing. That was not this system. Recommending it anyway would have earned us four times the invoice, and quite possibly a breakdown that was not there before we touched it.
A standard service and a gas top-up instead
We advised him against the overhaul he had booked, and explained clearly why. What his system actually needed was a standard service on all three units and a gas top-up for the compressor: $28 per coil and $85 for gas, $169 in total plus GST. Roughly a quarter of what he was prepared to spend.
The team went straight into efficient service mode: aircon serviced, gas topped up, filter and inlet wiped down, everything done in 45 minutes.
"After assessing my 3 units and compressor, they advised me against doing any standard service or chemical wash. Due to the age of my 20+ years AC, it was rather risky to strip the units down.... I was impressed by their evaluations and honesty (advised on what should be done)."
Cold air again, and a customer who says he is coming back
The aircon was, in his words, spitting cold air again. We gave up the biggest invoice of the day and gained something worth more: a customer who spent 20 years with one company and now says ALV Aircon is his top choice for the next one.
If your aircon is 20+ years old and a company quotes you a full chemical overhaul without inspecting it first, ask them what the strip-down does to brittle plastics and old seals. The most expensive service is not automatically the right one. A company you can trust will sometimes tell you to spend less.