"Richard J Kinch" wrote in message
. ..
TURTLE writes:

Your ganging up all hvac people as hacks when only about
1/3 are hacks, 1/3 are uneducated enough in the business to do it
right, and 1/3 is real hvac service professionals.

I don't mean to lump the whole lot together. In any service business,
you have some that are technically competent, some that aren't, some who
are competent but with no head for business, and those who are crooks
with excuses why they're not. On top of that natural order, you have
the government contractor licensing, the EPA licensing, in some
situations the unionization, in collusion to bar entry to the trade and
to maintain prices. And on top of that, you have the manufacturer's
restraint-of-trade practices for price maintenance, which happens in
every industry that sells costly equipment (white goods, farm equipment,
cars, used to be personal computers before they got cheap), with
manufacturer's constantly influencing dealers to stop discounting and
competition.


I have to disagree with you on this.
You are making is sound like you CANT get into the trade. You can. While
there is a set order, FOR A REASON, that you have to be properly trained,
its not impossible.
The EPA licence is not difficult. Not at all. I dont support union..you want
it...you can have it.
State licence shows competence in paperwork, basically. In order to get to
that level, you have to show time working in the trade, so that they can
feel confident when you get your gas fitters ticket, you wont do something
stupid like use garden hose for a gas line.
As far as pricing...no one tells me what I can or cant sell my equipment
for. I had one company that sent me a C+D letter one time, and I replied
back with an up yours....and never heard back from them again.
What I find amazing, is when I price out a system, as I just did, and will
go deliver the estimate package to the builder as soon as I send this reply
an check a couple of others, is that I normally get questioned about "Why
are you so much lower than XYZ?"
LOL...an the truth is, I am not lower, he is HIGHER.


Every bunch that wants government to enforce licensing talks about
"protecting the consumer" and "raising standards of professionalism",
but in reality it is all bout restricting the market, raising prices,
and picking who gets to practice the trade.

I dont agree, and all it would take would be one week with a tech in a van
to see what we see out there to prove otherwise...
What we are for, is taking what we have now, and enforce the laws on the
books, not so much to the homeowner, but to the so called pros out there
that represent the licenced bunch we have now.

I do agree that as time goes on, the few that are entering the skilled
trades are NOT so skilled, and therefore, in order to present yourself as a
professional they need to show more experence, and the ability to do the
work.
You claim our trade isnt rocket science, and you are right, altho its used
on the space shuttle and ISS.
Its more a matter of thermal and fluid dynamics, basic math, and physics,
and a good dose of common sense thrown in.

What I sell my units for, only the customer cares, and if the customer wants
to spend more on a Goodman..so be it. If they are that weak minded to
believe that a Goodman compares to a York, or a Trane...I dont want them on
my customer list anyway.


Doctors, lawyers, barbers,
manicurists, morticians, tile-setters, etc. The chief determinant of
which enterprises are free of this and which are lousy with it is the
simple aspect of how easy it is to lean on people trying to do it. You
can police the drywall trade, you can't software over the Internet.