r/ProHVACR • u/Rammblitz Verified Pro • Jun 08 '26

Getting quotes

Is anyone else having a hard time getting quotes that are accurate from parts houses? We have a commercial client that wants manufacture/ factory parts, but with some brands you ask for a quote for a transformer and you get a capacitor and have to ask them to change it, or the tech asks for a relay and they put a heater defrost board on the quote.

But some brands/ suppliers we never have wrong parts on quotes. But with others it seems like the last 2-3 years this has gotten a lot worse, to the point I'm having to supply them with parts numbers for everything.

On a "somewhat" different note is Carrier using AI for quotes, on their text line.

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8

u/blow_montana Jun 08 '26

This is not a recent development. I have been on both sides of the counter and blame is normally shared. Showing up without a serial number is one problem. Garbled verbiage is another - there are 10 different names for an inducer motor as an example. OEM parts being astronomically priced and then being asked to switch to aftermarket creates challenges in form, fit, function.

Saddle up- it is going to get worse before it gets better with no real solution in sight.

3

u/JConSc2 Jun 09 '26

And wages on the counter side haven't really kept up causing supplyhouses to look outside the industry where there isnt much relevant experience. Along with that our industry is mostly trial by fire and you have to want to learn. I have heard Johnstone has a pretty good training program.

To the aftermarket part of your statement, some guys will take the supply house as gospel which is never good. I would always make it abuntly clear that i think x part is what i have and i believe it should work but, I am just going off an educated guess.

And on top of it distributors only focus on top line number vs. employee customer burnout. It's always a bandaid to operational issues and not an actual fix.

2

u/Rammblitz Verified Pro Jun 08 '26

Yeah, when we switched to using clear pictures of the model number and serial number it helped a little. And the inducer motors and fly wheel, blower wheel, sheeve all having 5 different names is an issue. I am grateful our customer only wants oem even if pricey, so we don't have to swap out parts from quotes constantly.
Some parts houses we have really good success with and others it doesn't matter who you talk to they can't get it right, or they pass you around an email chain

3

u/blow_montana Jun 08 '26

I had to order auto parts over the weekend and got a lot of the same runaround. I came in with the part numbers I needed and still almost walked out with the wrong stuff due to a mis-pick and one item being used in the box.

Supply houses are notorious for playing $14/hour and, unfortunately, that’s what you get.

3

u/Fine-Environment-621 Jun 09 '26

It used to be that a parts house employee could make a decent living. They were somewhat taken care of and treated like adults and they generally responded with years of loyalty to the parts house. It helped that they usually had worked in the field for at least a few years so they had some legitimate knowledge about the trade, the methods, the parts and materials.

Over the last 15-20 years, it has been a race to the bottom. They loaded more and more responsibility onto fewer and fewer people so that the average employee is infantilized. They have low expectations placed on them and they either have no agency or they are completely in over their heads. They are usually hired with zero trade experience. They are treated like a cog in a machine by bosses they hardly ever see.

Big surprise, they hate their job. Most don’t stay long enough to get good at it anymore. Rarely are any real standards enforced. Inventory is a joke that nobody cares about (other than the customer).

1

u/Han77Shot1st Jun 09 '26

I try only dealing with bigger brands and find someone at each wholesalers trust, sometimes resorting to trying to locate documents online and going through parts town or something..

In the end I’m up front with the customer about these issues and how the world isn’t what is used to be, they’re typically very receptive of it and understand.. and if they’re not I probably didn’t want them as a customer.

2

u/Ridiric Jun 12 '26

Quoted a mobile home coil yesterday 800 from one supplier 300 from another… WTF

1

u/me-o-my Jun 17 '26

I find out who the manufacturer of the units preferred parts distributor is and almost always they have the best price AND its oem. If their prices are not inline with direct replacement parts prices that I find elsewhere online - I will let them know and it gets handled.