It is never easy to deal with a client who is unwilling to pay for services well done. Unfortunately, the world is full of individuals who tend to take advantage of HVAC technicians and other professionals. In all my life as an HVAC serviceman, I did not have to encounter such a person until recently. Surprisingly he was a commercial client whose chain of restaurants we had service for a whole week. The units in the restaurants had been neglected and required a lot of cleaning and repairs to restore the air conditioning to its original status. Sadly, even after helping him get back the unit and spare him the expense of buying new HVAC systems for the different premises, he wanted to be stubborn about paying us. His excuse was that we had not signed any agreement on the amounts, so he would pay what he deemed fit. Being a mature and experienced HVAC contractor with over three decades of experience, I did not have the energy to argue with him. Instead, I asked him to channel the payment through the company and get feedback directly from the owners. That was a route he was unwilling to follow since he knew it might attract legal penalties. Finally, after a few minutes of push and shove, he agreed to pay the amount owed. He even apologized for his stubbornness after his workers reported improved airflow and comfort levels as reported by their customers. It turns out fake HVAC servicemen had duped him that he only wanted to pay for confirmation.
