My boss sent me to a residential AC repair on Monday.
It was my first job of the day and it was a nightmare.
The customer was an older woman and she had five children in the house. She told me that the children were her grandkids. Their mom was in prison for drug charges and the woman was taking care of all of the children. I felt a little bad for this frail old lady that was trying to run after five small children. I performed a thorough investigation on the air-conditioning system and I determined the problem to be an issue with the refrigeration coils. I didn’t want to give the customer the bad news, but I knew it was a major repair that was going to cost a fortune. I presented the estimate to the woman and I thought she was going to pass out. She immediately started crying and told me that she could not afford the repairs. I put a temporary Band-Aid on the problem, but I could not fix the problem with the air conditioner on until the woman had money for parts. I gave her my personal phone number and I told the woman to call me if she came up with the money. I would find a way to help her install the equipment for a reasonable rate. I knew my boss wouldn’t be happy that I was taking work from the AC repair service, but this lady needed help and I knew I could offer assistance if I wasn’t on the clock.