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June 10, 2008
Crud & Customer Service
Can anybody guess what this is? (See attached photo).
If you guessed "the world's most clogged HVAC filter" you'd be right.
I'm currently remodeling an occupied home and spent the last 2 weeks in full-on, plaster bustin' demolition and fast, furious framing. All this amounts to one heaping dust cloud. Inside.
Now I did my best containing the dust -- I even set up a Delta air cleaner www.DeltaMachinery.com to knock down as much dust as possible -- but the HVAC system's returns vents still breathed in dust by the filter clogging truckload.
My AC guy who was there to install a new condensate line alerted me to it. "Hey man... look at this." On my next trip to Depot, I got a new filter -- and a few extras for the homeowner and by the end of the day, there were a lot of satisfied people.
Because my AC guy went a small extra step to make sure he left the jobsite better than he found it I was able to do the same thing (no one was even close to checking the air filter before we left the site), resulting in a customer who is very satisfied with not only the big picture work, but the details.
So I ask... what little things that don't cost much in time or money -- but deliver on customer satisfaction -- do you do? Do you hire a maid when you're done working inside? Throw the customer a barbeque? Give them a gift certificate? Send a note? What are your customer satisfaction tools and do they work?
Posted by Mark Clement at June 10, 2008 9:50 AM
Comments
Anytime drywall work is going on in a project or any other type of work that generates dust, you should install filter media over the HVAC returns to avoid this problem. Relying on the standard filter material that comes with the unit is not enough!! The filter caught a lot of the dust, but what you don't see is what made it through and is now inside the unit doing irrevocable damage.
Posted by: Cora Roberts at June 11, 2008 8:13 AM
My thoughts exactly on the filter Cora. The HVAC should have been the first thing protected, not the last thing checked on the way out the door!
All the extra fine dust that got through lays on things and attracts moisture. I hope the unit was compleetly cleaned before the A/C guy left.
In the future all returns shold be indentified and have high quality filters taped over them before starting any dust storms!
Posted by: Mark P. at June 11, 2008 11:45 AM
