As one of San Antonio’s trusted AC service providers, Tiger Services Air Conditioning works hard to make sure homeowners don’t have any AC issues to worry about. But there’s one major change happening in our industry that is giving homeowners like you cause for concern.
Out-of-town corporations are coming in to buy up established local businesses, one by one. And many of the companies are not often disclosing these changes to their clients. If your go-to “AC guys” were part of a corporate buyout, you’ll be seeing some changes in their technicians, their services and their billing.
We keep seeing this happen — and hearing from unsuspecting homeowners who’ve been burned by these buyouts — so we’re covering this topic in a two-part series. Here we’re talking about what this means for homeowners, and we’ll follow up to address the impact on the hardworking technicians in our community.
Wondering what happened to your regular AC company? Here are four problems with the corporate takeovers happening in San Antonio.
After a buyout, the big corporations used to phase out the local business’s name. Now, you might not even see that new corporate identity at all. Recently, a number of AC companies have changed hands without customers even knowing it.
Where you’re looking for transparency, now you’re not sure who owns the company and what they’re all about. Are they supporting local nonprofits or giving back to the community like your favorite small business once did.
Small, local companies don’t have high-pressure headquarters to answer to. They’re in business to serve you with old-fashioned, reliable service. After a corporate buyout, though, many times that company you once trusted is now worrying more about becoming a profit center and maximizing revenue on every service call.
If your AC system breaks down, all you want to do is have someone take a look and give you a few straightforward, reasonable solutions. You’ll also want some time to mull things over before committing to a major expense.
If you call up a company that’s been bought out, many times they’ll send out two employees. One is the wrench-turner who takes a look at your AC unit. The other is a salesperson who will start pressuring you to consider a premature replacement — even before your AC’s issue has been diagnosed. If you’re not careful, even the simplest repair calls can turn into $18,000-$23,000 jobs.
Many of those teams are under a lot of pressure to bring in the sales, but it’s unfortunately not a pleasant experience for homeowners who just need help. Whether you’ll be moving soon or you’re trying to get the best lifetime value out of your AC system, it’s helpful to have a down-to-earth conversation about your goals and options with someone who can support you.
But what you’ll get after a corporate takeover is a stressed salesperson — not a repair technician — who can only guess at the problem, drive the price up and pressure you to make a choice on the spot.
At Tiger Services, we’ve seen those buyout offers — and we’ve turned them down. The Mollgaard family has been proudly serving San Antonio since 1978, and we plan on keeping it that way. We can honestly say we’re passionate about what we do, and that helping homeowners like you is the most rewarding part of the job.
Nobody likes to sleep in a hot, uncomfortable house only to wake up to a massive repair bill from a high-pressure salesperson. So, if you’d like to be treated like a friend instead of another number to an out-of-town corporation, give Tiger Services a call.
When you’re choosing an HVAC contractor, you want a team you can trust. We offer outstanding repairs with some South Texas old-school customer service. No pushy salesmen — just fair pricing and great service.