Just two days ago in my last post, I gave my first ever endorsement for a product or service of any kind.  Two days later…I’m giving my first “un-endorsement”.  What a historic week!!!

We went to Lincoln, Nebraska to visit family and celebrate Christmas, the weekend before actual Christmas.  We got back to our home late that Sunday, December 18th, and it was 48 degrees in the house!  The furnace had stopped working at some point that weekend.  Knowing it was a Sunday and nobody was likely to come out, we looked in the phone book and thought we’d try somebody new (for us)…”PrairieSons Inc.” in Brandon.  They said they’d be out the next day. We turned the fireplace on, kept reasonably warm through the night, and waited for them to come the next day.  They arrived, and couldn’t find anything physically wrong with the furnace.  They hit a reset switch (the “roll out switch, that  had tripped), the furnace was running, and they said to just keep an eye on it.

6 days later, we wake up on Christmas Eve morning (Saturday) and it’s not working.  We call. They’re working that day, so they come out, and again, find nothing wrong after doing a diagnostic.  Again, the roll-out switch was flipped, and it runs again.  The guy basically said “it happens”, but didn’t recommend changing out the roll-out switch or anything, so there wasn’t anything new installed, nothing replaced. I got the bill today.  Here’s everything the bill “description” said. The bill didn’t even refer to 2 visits, just the one visit on the 19th:

• Customer called with no heat
• Found the roll-out switch had tripped.  Fire unit and it started up and shut down correctly.  Checked intake to exhaust for any obstructions. Found none.  Checked temp rise and filter.

For that…$270, plus $17.55 in taxes.

It’s a rip off.  It’s a ridiculous fee for a very small amount of labor.  I would NEVER use this business again, just for that reason.  But to make it worse, when we got the bill a few weeks later? A small card with a rambling message on the back.  It turns out PrairieSons Inc. has a very religious owner, by the looks of the enclosed card (photo of it shown above).  It’s quite the ramble, moving from topic to topic!  It all ends with a cheery “Godly people are basically guaranteed to suffer” and “The worst is yet to come”.

CHEERY!  Thanks for the sermon, PrairieSons Inc.!  Not that I asked for it.

I contacted the owner and complained about the bill, saying it was a rather ridiculous fee for providing no parts, and simply hitting a reset switch. I also complained about getting a religious message with my bill.  The response?

I am sure there is more to the work we did than hit a reset for the fee that was assessed Terry. I will have Bruce in our office look this up Monday for more clarification and get back to you. In regards to the Bible tract, we send that out with the bill to every new customer. We are sorry you took offense to it. That is a staple of who we are and what we stand for. It may not fit you and that is fine. Everyone will stand before him on the last day and need to make an account of their own life. That is a decision that only you can answer.

Uh…NO, PrairieSons, what I told you was 100% accurate.  You came out, found nothing wrong, reset the “roll out switch” to flip it back on, and…that’s it.  Two times, yes, and if you charge $270 for less than an hour’s worth of work? I guess that’s your prerogative. It’s also my prerogative to complain about your ridiculously high prices.

As for getting ANOTHER sermon, after I complained about the first one?  TERRIFIC customer service, PrairieSons!  What is your business model?  To TRY to piss off your customers?  That’s what it seems like.  Telling your customers they’re basically going to hell isn’t the type of message you typically expect to hear when you’re getting home appliances repaired!

Quick perusal online and I see others have complained about PrairieSons, both in terms of getting ripped off, and in terms of the religious messages.  Save yourself the bother.  Is your furnace out? Air conditioner out?  Live in the Brandon/Sioux Falls area? There are PLENTY of repair places in the area, so unless you skipped church and REALLY, REALLY want a sermon along with your repair…pass on PrairieSons and go with another company.