HOUSTON, TX — The segment of the show only lasted a few minutes. But in that time, several business owners were thrust into the spotlight of national television. While some contractors may have suffered from the backlash of the most recent “Dateline” story, which once again exposed the dark side of the industry, two busy contractors have moved on, maintaining their honesty and realizing that they were given an unexpected boost by their “15 minutes of fame.”
The NBC newsmagazine show ran a segment on June 29 entitled “A real air conditioned nightmare,” in which Houston-area hvacr contractors were caught on camera trying to oversell parts or services after offering “bargain” clean-and-inspect specials. The piece portrayed most of the featured contractors as less than honest and, in at least one case, gave the impression that a service technician had committed a criminal act.