Aircon "repairs"

[Moneymatters]

I fear I may have fallen foul to one of those "pig butchering" scams we've started to hear about.

It started innocently with a new shiny AC bombarding me with cool waves of affection.

Then 2 summers later it desperately needed a cash(gas) injection of 35,000yen.
I dutifully paid thinking this was a one off thing.
Two summers later (this year) it needs another cash(gas) injection of 35,000yen.
Now just two weeks later I've just paid another 65,000 for work that took less than 30 mins.

I had suggested to she who is to be obeyed that we ask them to remove and reinstall the unit correctly.
Apparently, this isn't needed. Some part looked "frozen" and it should "probably" be OK now.

FYI. Reinstallation, if we are allowed that option, will cost 100,000 apparently.

Most annoying is the Compressor is directly beneath the unit.
Literally the most simple installation I could conceive of..
I'm seriously thinking of going to night school to learn AC installation at this point.

If you happen to know a reliable company you could recommend in Tokyo I'd deeply appreciate it.

[Deep Blue]

I always go with the service centre of the manufacturer- in our case Daikin - rather than trusting a random handyman. We needed some new gas in one unit, but it was more like seven years old and has not required any more gas since then (another four years now)

[Bushiman]

Then 2 summers later it desperately needed a cash(gas) injection of 35,000yen.

Blimey...
Here in Nagano, sure, our ACs certainly don't have to work as hard as those in other prefectures but they are on daily July~October and in 12 years I've never had to re-gas them...

[Moneymatters]

Then 2 summers later it desperately needed a cash(gas) injection of 35,000yen.

Blimey...
Here in Nagano, sure, our ACs certainly don't have to work as hard as those in other prefectures but they are on daily July~October and in 12 years I've never had to re-gas them...

"Blimey". Steady on now. It's not that bad.

I'm sitting in my study with an AC installed close to 20 years ago. never needed any attention so far..
So I agree. It's possible to install a closed loop system correctly.
Think we've just been unlucky this time and the path to remediation is littered with the unscrupulous.

[Bushiman]

Then 2 summers later it desperately needed a cash(gas) injection of 35,000yen.

Blimey...
Here in Nagano, sure, our ACs certainly don't have to work as hard as those in other prefectures but they are on daily July~October and in 12 years I've never had to re-gas them...

"Blimey". Steady on now. It's not that bad.

I could've gone for a full-fat "Cor Blimey!?" But decided to take it down a notch with just a regular, untouched "Blimey..."

Still, definitely sounds like you're being 'taken to the cleaners' with that AC... Defective unit, or just shoddy repair/maintenance work, either way, you've put enough money into it to have bought a whole new AC!? That seems pretty bad...

[cocacola]

either way, you've put enough money into it to have bought a whole new AC!? That seems pretty bad...

Seems like it would be better to purchase a decent, new unit, even with the added installation fee.

Wife and I was just looking for a cheap-o A/C unit for our little tatami room. The Sharp aircon we bought over 5-years ago went dead, and the servicing/repair charge would be 5万 minimum (from the manufacturer). We thought it'd be cheaper to just get a new one. Went to Biccamera, saw the cheapest thing they had which was 6万円. Thought okay, we don't need anything fancy (wife actually didn't like the way it looked, super-cheap plastics, the room unit was really big, had bare-minimum functions of course), so we asked the guy to write us the invoice. They sat us down and started going through all of the installation stuff... the installation ended up costing almost as much as the crappy unit!

We walked away, went to Yodobashi. Saw their lowest-priced one was 8万. I did some quick research on the way there and showed the Yodobashi guy the same unit on their website, but it was 1.5万 cheaper on the site. He said the unit in the store is the same price, but includes the basic installation price, which is why it is higher than on the website. The unit itself was made much-better than the crappy one at Biccamera, and had additional functions like adjusting the fins' angles through the remote control, temperature adjust in 0.5 degree increments, etc. Plus, it looked much nicer than the Biccamera one (wife liked this aspect). Sat down, went through the installation pricing... all-in, it ended up being just 1万円 more than the Biccamera one, and we are getting a waaaay better unit.

Lesson: don't get suckered-in by the price tag! The Biccamera deal was a true hook, line, and sinker-scam.

[TJKansai]

I had a 20yr old Daikin quit on me last month (back in February it was still working as a heater).

Called Daikin about a repair they basically laughed. Average lifespan is 10yrs. Parts are the main issue, though if I was more knowledgable I think a repair could have been an option.

Shopping for a new one, I hit Yamada, K's and Online shop. Unit prices were as expected, but the installation/removal fees seemed excessive.

Yamada: 150,000+50,000
K's: 150,000+40,000
Online: 100,000+ undertimed

Ended up going through a friend of the family. He use to work for the big shops but now does independent stuff. He also said he used to do cleaning but said that was a bit of a scam and usually unnecessary.

Our final cost:
80,000 for the unit and 30,000 for the installation.

[cocacola]

Ended up going through a friend of the family. He use to work for the big shops but now does independent stuff. He also said he used to do cleaning but said that was a bit of a scam and usually unnecessary.

Wish I "knew a guy". We all need "a guy". Good stuff. And good to know that the cleaning services are sort of a scam. Did he mention what part of the service is scammy?

Our final cost:
80,000 for the unit and 30,000 for the installation.

ooouuu, that's a good price. Hopefully, they won't charge you extra on the installation on the day-of. If there is anything special about your installation that is not "standard" (like needing to add extra pipe from a 2nd floor to ground floor), they will charge you up the yin-yang.

[Bubblegun]

I'm not sure they are a scam. Our Aircon was absolutely filthy, I swear I could have grown mushrooms on the thing. LOL.
BTW how do you clean your air con if it's not self-cleaning? Anything to save a bob or two.

[Deep Blue]

We had our air con's cleaned for the first time in a long time recently. They were disgusting and smell much better now. Zero regrets!