In article ,
George wrote:

Richard J Kinch wrote:
i realize its an
old system,but i think you should be able to have a leak fixed if you
want with no guarantee.

Trade licensing essentially outlaws minor repairs by making it difficult
to enter the trade, restricting supply and raising costs. Thus the
market provides only more expensive repair methods (such as remove-and-
replace) even though a cheap, quick fix like your leak repair may be
well worth doing.

In other words, the licensed contractors stand to collect $5K installing
$1.5K worth of equipment, because they've colluded and licensed
themselves into an agreement to fleece you by that much. They will
justify such markups in their minds by the apparent costs of these self-
imposed restraints, rather than being honest with themselves that they
are running a legal racketeering organization. Anyone who tries to
operate more efficiently is forbidden a license and forcibly stopped if
operating unlicensed.

This is the trade licensing scam. You should be able to run an A/C
business without such artificial barriers to entry. Let those that want
to "protect the consumer" certify contractors who meet technical
standards, but don't force the uncertified from doing business. The
consumer can choose whether to hire certified contractors. This is
basic economic freedom. The US is quite unfree, a police state, in this
regard.

Clearly you have never been involved in the operation of a business. If
you operate a service business of any type and fall into the "it only
has to work for a few more weeks" or whatever repair on old/marginal
equipment there is 99.97% certainty that they will behave as if they
paid for a new equipment installation and will become irate when it
fails in any way (including things that were not even touched). Business
operators know it is best to walk away when someone wants their "pinto"
repaired.

And some consumers are sick to death of being jacked by business owners
who shotgun* every repair, out of fear of call-backs that might expose
their incompetence or put a dent in their obscene profits.

Case in point: Female friend took her overheating car in to a
well-respected local auto repair facility. Comes the call, which I took:

"Car needs a new water pump, new radiator, new thermostat, new hoses."

Friend was unemployed at that time and in tears over the considerable
expense which she simply couldn't afford.

"How do you know it needs a new radiator?" I inquired.

Snotty response; "That's our diagnosis."

"How is that diagnosed?" I continued.

Even more short-tempered: "With a pressure test."

We went down to pick up the car, but didn't leave the lot until after
I'd confirmed that the radiator had not been tested, nor any other part
of the cooling system.

I put in a ten dollar thermostat, and that was the end of it. Except for
the giant sign I put in the back window of my own car, declaring the
facility to be "as crooked as the day is long." I drove around with it
for several months and met quite a few people with stories of their own.

If you think this account is an anomaly, well, all I can say is I
disagree. I doubt if there's one out of ten competent and honest repair
person in any trade. That's been my consistent experience.

*replace every component rather than troubleshoot to the component level