Letters From Our Readers: Nov. 2, 2015
Editor’s Note: The following remarks were made regarding the “Contractor Suggests Fix for Bottom Feeders” editorial by Kyle Gargaro, published Aug. 31, in The NEWS.
STOP THE PROBLEM AT THE SOURCE
I love the ACHR NEWS. I have read it and used it as long as I can remember and I’ve been an HVAC contractor and instructor since the early 1980s. I’m responding to the article titled “Fix for Bottom Feeders.” You knew you would get a rise out of that segment. Let me start by saying this contractor in Texas is a [retracted]. The only thing the huge license fee would do is get larger and stifle competition. Imagine a qualified person wants to get licensed to do HVAC work. Next, he or she can pass the test and have enough money to get started. Well, $7,000 right off the bat to the government does not seem like a good investment in a new business. The problem for these illegal and immoral moonlighters and unlicensed people is directing the enforcement to the correct place.
Step No. 1 [in fixing the problem] should be heavy fines to the wholesalers that sell to these people. Just go sit in the parking lot of these wholesalers and watch all the unlettered pickup trucks, vans, and station wagons. It’s easy pickings to watch these guys. Step No. 2 is to have no online sales of HVAC products or supplies. The final step is hefty fines to the homeowners caught using unlicensed contractors. Lastly, many contractors have a contractor’s license, but do not know a thing about service, installation, or loving your customers as people. They are great marketers and sales people, and have great margins, but leave customers with a poor installation, poor service, and lots of headaches. But, the company made top dollar for that sale. Just saying! There is no magic bullet that fixes it all. The last thing contractors and business people need now is more government regulation and more overhead that has no return on investment. Let the licensing boards do their jobs. You make a license law — figure out how to make it fair to the licensed contractors and the public. It’s not rocket science. Stop the problem at the source, which is where you get the HVAC products.
Curt Gavel
Owner, Curtis L. Gavel A/C & Heating
Clearwater, Florida
Publication date: 11/2/2015
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