Better have a large balance in your checkbook if you're going to get a GE
motor. The people that will sell to HO's charge a lot more for GE's IF
you
can find them.

What I find quite interesting is that you and quite a few other people
alluded to the fact that I would get a better deal on the motor then if I
buy it myselft. Do not get me wrong, it may well be but it goes totally
contrary to my experience with contractors/repairs in any other area.

I have no doubts, that the contractor himself, buying wholesale will get a
better deal on the motor (or anything else for that matter) then I ever
could, but I do not have any reason to believe that he will pass the savings
on to me. Just like everyone else he is in business to make a profit, he
knows wholesale prices, he knows retail prices, he knows that HO in most
cases have no idea about prices, but that he (HO), his wife, kids and dog
are awfully hot without A/C. If this is not a perfect chance to overcharge,
I do not know what is.

I just took my car to a dealer, was quoted list price for parts and 8 hours
of labor. Went to an independent mechanic and got list prices for parts and
5 hours of labors. Bought absolutely the same parts (OEM, new) on the
internet and paid about 40% of the list price.

And generally speaking you guys draw a very rosy picture of working with
pros. They show up on time, fix it, charge for 1 hour of labor and below
retail price for parts, do a perfect job and send you a christmas card.

How about an unfortunately more typical schenario - they schedule an
appointment any time during the day and you have to be home all day to wait
for them. They do not show up. When they eventually do show up a few days
later having you wasted one more day, you are totally at their mercy. You
already owe them money cause they charge $75 just to show up. They take 2
hours to diagnoze, then they claim that 5 parts need to be replaced. They
also claim that the parts are very hard to get to, so the labor cost will be
high. They also quote you the price of parts twice as high as what it should
be. On top of it they say that they do not have the parts in stock and they
would have to come back some other day.

You of course have no way of knowing whether they are being honest. What you
do know is that if you do not accept their terms, they will charge you for 2
hours of labor and leave you with a mess. You would have to start all over
with another contractor and chances are quite good that other contractor
will not be any better then the first one.

When it is finally done, they leave you with a $600 bill, the motor is noisy
and vibrating and they would not come out and fix it unless you pay for the
labor again.

Obviously this is not personal and has nothing to do with HVAC people per
se, the whole scenario is unfortunately way too common in any field - be it
car repair, construction, remodelling or anything else. Even doctors and
lawyers do it all the time to their customers. And the advice of getting
good references/word of mouth etc is as old as it's often useless.