Our Condo is managed by the Core Real Estate Group...

Our Condo is managed by the Core Real Estate Group, and our contractor for the building s HVAC is T&P Mechanical.

So I had to submit a work request through Core, and Core dispatched T&P, to come and fix my heat pumps.

The work was strait-forward. The technician was efficient, came as planned at 8:30AM. He checked both units, topped them up with 2lb of R22 refrigerant (1lb each), used 2 EasySeal to prevent any leaks (1 for each unit), replaced overall 4 plastic caps (similar to tire valve cap) with brass ones. He was out of the door at 10:00AM.

The service report that I signed when the work was finished didn t include any cost or time, as the tech told me it s their common practice (which was filled out later out of my sight). I knew their hourly rate is $128, truck fee is $50 per job. So 1.5 hour of work plus truck fee plus material, I was expecting something around $400 to $500.

The invoice came back with a whopping $905. They put in 3 hours of labour, and charged $429 for parts/material.

I later checked with an HVAC tech, R22 refrigerant costs around $30 per lb (T&P charged $60 per pound). EasySeal costs around $80 each (T&P charged $150 each). Had I known the price they charge, I d have reconsidered my options. And what s with the other 1.5 hour?

When I called T&P, they said 3 hours seems to be reasonable for the work, ignoring the fact that I was home the whole time watching the clock. They said they are a business so the mark-up on parts/material is only fair. I don t even have an issue with the ~90% mark-up, it s the fact that I wasn t informed of the expected cost before hand. The tech later told me he didn t even know the price tag as his boss was in control of all that.

If this is my only problem, I d be happy to go to court with T&P. Since Core dispatched T&P on my behalf, Core paid T&P with our Condo Corp fund once the invoice was sent to them, without me seeing the total cost or asking me about the work quality. Core said it s all in the contract between T&P and our Condo Board, they are just exercising it. But the fact that many others in our building had previous disputes with T&P s charge didn t prompt Core to even mention that I d be owning our Condo Corp after the work is done.

So now T&P got paid $905 and out of the picture. I m owning our Condo Corp for a bill that I didn t even see before payment was made.

Go figure!