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Message |
    
Master Plvmber
Citizen
Username: Master_plvmber
Post Number: 154
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 11, 2004 - 8:34 am: |     |
Just wondering if anyone needed to call PSE&G for service during this deep freeze we're in. How was their response time? Did they fix the problem? Were you satisfied with their service?
Master_Plvmber
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shoshannah
Citizen
Username: Shoshannah
Post Number: 348
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, January 11, 2004 - 4:24 pm: | |
My sister pays the $13 or so per month for the Worry-Free Contract. When her boiler went on the fritz yesterday, PSEG said they can come on Monday. Hmmm. Two-three days with no heat. |
jfburch
Citizen
Username: Jfburch
Post Number: 1210
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 11, 2004 - 9:08 pm: | |
Wow. 2-3 days with no heat is not Worry Free. |
ashear
Citizen
Username: Ashear
Post Number: 906
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 9:03 am: | |
They tried that on my last winter. Asked for a supervisor, got a call back, someone showed up and fixed it that night. (I still planned to cancel and get a new contract with soemone else, but never got around to it) |
Richard O'Connor
Citizen
Username: Roconn
Post Number: 87
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 1:09 pm: | |
Yeah, the flyer that I keep getting makes it sound like they'd show up before I hang up the phone ... However, I don't generally feel the need for this kind of maintenance plan no matter how 'primary' the system.
(Good maintenance will prevent most failures .... you discover the need to replace or fix before it stops.)
Also, I have this nagging back of the brain thing that says they can't even succesfully keep the power coming to my house constant...do I actually think they can fix a dryer? 
Anyway...they're a great deal cheaper in many ways than what you might purchase on a 'new' applicance from the store, but I think most good plumbers/installers are good about coming out to fix their own work in an emergency.
Richard (ROC)
--Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.--
--AIM: ROConn |
jrbell
Citizen
Username: Jrbell
Post Number: 33
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 2:00 pm: | |
This thread made me look at the service contact I have with Meyer & Depew for the furnace (forced hot air) and AC combo.
We just bought the home and the furnace is the original from 1939. The service contract is $420 per year and it covers parts and service. Does this sound expensive? It does to me, especially when I compare it to a $13/month plan from PSE&G (of course, taken with a grain of salt given the previous posts). Any insight?
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Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 1687
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 2:17 pm: | |
Are repair people quicker to come when you have a service contract? I suppose that would be a key criterion in deciding whether to have a contract. In computer service for industrial computers, this is the case.
My furnace probably needs replacing. Gateway said it's made for a swimming pool, not a house. It's howling almost all the time now. And Saturday, when the weather was really cold, the downstairs could only get up to 59F. I suppose if I bought a new furnace, I would save money in the long run, because this thing is probably inefficient at this size workload.
Tom Reingold the prissy-pants
There is nothing
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bandw
Citizen
Username: Bandw
Post Number: 57
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 2:39 pm: | |
We have a PSE&G "worry free" contract. I discovered, however, that it is far from worry free. Early Saturday a.m. our heat failed. On Saturday morning I called PSEG and, after being on hold for 30 minutes, was told that the soonest anyone could come out was Monday morning. The customer service rep and I then engaged in a back-and-forth regarding how lame PSEG is. When I told him that I would call my plumber and send PSEG the bill, he said that they wouldn't pay. The conversation ended with me getting the Legal Department's phone number. I plan on sending PSEG the plumber's bill ($125) and demanding payment within 30 days (the same timetable that they expect payment from me for their lame-ass service). If I don't get paid, I'll sue them for breach of contract. Jerks. BTW: I called Gateway Plumbing and they came within a few hours and did a great job. Although not cheap, they were nice, professional and competent. They even came back later that night to fix another heat problem and did not charge us. They were terrific. |
Richard O'Connor
Citizen
Username: Roconn
Post Number: 91
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 4:33 pm: | |
jrbell....REALLY? You still have an original 1939 Forced Air (oil fired?) hot air furnace ....
OH MY .... You are due for an upgrade big time
In the mid 70's a relative replaced a mid 50's oil furnace with gas and when they removed the old furnace it was high time ... the firebox had begun to crumble.
but the age of your system is part of the cost of the plan .... nothing on your '39 furnace is gonna come cheap ....
I'd think that for you ... no matter what fuel it uses ... if you replace that '39 furnace with some new energy efficient product you'll make the costs back in NO TIME .... You'll have both summer and winter savings as the new one will use much less energy ...
That is if you mean furnace when you say furnace (boilers do hydronic heating...furnaces do air)
Richard (ROC)
--Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.--
--AIM: ROConn |
Richard O'Connor
Citizen
Username: Roconn
Post Number: 92
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 4:37 pm: | |
Tom -- I'd believe gateway ... through this cold snap (and due to a minor health emergency) I had to use my boiler to heat my house and I got the whole thing --- all THREE floors ... to a TOASTY 74 degrees .... (need to get new thermostat...it was set for 68) (but I have to admit I enjoyed the warmth without fireplace stoking)
And Tom, I think I'd do it sooner than later ... gateway is unlikely to charge you much less in the spring when you don't need the heat as badly and the monthly pse&g savings will offset what you spend.
Richard (ROC)
--Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.--
--AIM: ROConn |
NRL
Citizen
Username: Nrl
Post Number: 433
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 5:13 pm: | |
Tom, Didnt your home inspector tell you that the boiler was wrong for your house? |
Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 1691
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 5:16 pm: | |
I can't remember. I think he did say it wasn't long for this world.
Gateway gave us an estimate, and I think I'll probably replace the boiler. (OK so it's a boiler, not a furnace, huh?) Thanks, everyone, for the advice.
Not sure how I'll finance all this, but I suppose I'll find a way.
Tom Reingold the prissy-pants
There is nothing
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NRL
Citizen
Username: Nrl
Post Number: 434
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 6:21 pm: | |
I am the weather stripping king. But I cant get the windows to seal tight no matter how much weather stripping I use. I have storm windows also but the cold just keeps coming. I also caulked them this past summer.
1) THe drafts seem to be coming in through the glass.
2) The drafts come in from the bottom of the window though I have a piece of weather stripping there.
3) The drafts come in from the side seams also. Can I thread a weather strip up the tracks on the side?
ANy recommendations? |
Master Plvmber
Citizen
Username: Master_plvmber
Post Number: 159
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 6:42 pm: | |
What does the PSE&G service plan include?
Master_Plvmber
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Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 2350
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 8:23 pm: | |
NRL:
Have your tried insulated curtains or drapes? |
NRL
Citizen
Username: Nrl
Post Number: 435
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 9:29 pm: | |
Know what? I just realized I tried to drift this thread by mistake. This thread is about service contracts. I thought this was the old windows thread.
Sorry... |
shoshannah
Citizen
Username: Shoshannah
Post Number: 349
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 1:47 pm: | |
Jr., consider this: I pay less than $300/year for $50,000 worth of flood insurance. |
wnb
Citizen
Username: Wnb
Post Number: 72
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 2:16 pm: | |
These service agreements are cash cows. I think almost any financial advisor would advise to self-insure against these sorts of events by keeping some $ socked away in an emergency account rather than buying into them.
$13 a month is $156 a year. Personally, I think this is a lot to pay for nothing going wrong. I'd rather have the money, because maybe the furnace doesn't break but the car does, and I need the $ for repairs. You're basically taking $156 a year and saying, I can't spend this on anything else but furnace repair. Not even furnace maintenance, only repair. You've paid for something going wrong whether it actually does or not. Why be limited in this way? Well lots of people apparantly think it's a great deal. But I'd rather have the dollars.
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Master Plvmber
Citizen
Username: Master_plvmber
Post Number: 160
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 6:19 pm: | |
To answer Tom's question, yes, a service contract entitles our customers to priority service. I don't know how other companies handle that.
We received lots of calls this week from customers not willing to bear the 2-3 day wait they were given from the other guys.
Master_Plvmber
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nina
Citizen
Username: Nina
Post Number: 85
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 15, 2004 - 11:01 pm: | |
We have the PS&G service contract and it has been well worth it. Our appliances are on the older side and we have had PS&G out here quite a bit. True that the response time is not always great. |
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