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Steve Spinosa
Serving the Sacramento Region
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(916) 363-4363
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Contact Fix it Rite Heating Air Conditioning |
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Fix it Rite Heating Air Conditioning
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By Bob Cox
Chilling Out With Steve and Natalie Spinoso
Four years ago I came up with a terrific idea to get ahead financially: House flipping. I had watched practically every program on the home and garden T.V. Network and thought to myself, "That looks like fun! I'm going to go for it!" Our goal was to be in and out of the home in 30 days. Well, there's an old saying in the contracting business that says, "Take the amount of time and money you think it will take to get the job done,then double it!"
Much to my chagrin, that old saying kept coming true, over and over again. By the third month, as we were finally wrapping up the job, the heat of summer hit us where it hurts the most. Most of the work left to do was on the inside and we had the air conditioning cranked up all day to stay comfortable. Then, on a scorching day in July, the cool air stopped blowing and the temperature inside our house climbed past 90 degrees. We all thought the A/C unit was fried and that we would have to sink another $5,000 into the job.
Fortunately, Diana remembered that her good friend and massage client Natalie co-owned a heating and air conditioning repair company with her husband Steve, so she gave her a call. I braced myself for a long and expensive investment. As it turned out, it was one of the brightest moments of our house flipping experience. Steve showed up the next morning and by the end of the day, we were back in business, with air blowing so cold, it would've made an Eskimo feel right at home. Best of all, he fixed the unit for a fraction of the cost of a new system.
Four years later, we're still in the home we tried to flip and we continue to enjoy the cool comfort our air conditioning brings us. As a matter of fact, Diana, who I think is part polar bear and part snowman (I think her dad's name was Frosty), is always cranking up the air whenever she can. So, I'm extremely grateful that Steve was honest and competent enough to help us get out of that "hot mess" and keep our cool. A few weeks ago, Diana and I eagerly accepted an invitation to Steve and Natalie's home. Not only did we enjoy a terrific evening with our friends, we also learned a lot about all the hard work they put into making their business a thriving success. Here's how our conversation went.
GFI: When did you go into business for yourself?
Steve: We started this business 22 years ago and we do heating, air conditioning, refrigeration and all other major appliances. I did this quite honestly to spend more time with my family. I'm ex-military, in the Air Force stationed at McClellan. My kids were growing up at the time and I was away a lot. I missed a good portion of my son Alex's early years being in the military, so we wanted to do something where we could still afford to send our kids to good schools and be able to spend time with each other. I really enjoy what I do though, I love working on machines. I like seeing different things every day and dealing with new challenges. I love tools and I get play with all sorts of tools (laughing).
GFI: What drew you into this particular field?
Steve: My parents divorced when I was 16 and I moved in with my grandmother in Florida. She couldn't afford to have somebody come in and fix things for the apartments that she owned, so I taught myself to fix things. I have always been very mechanical and when I was growing up, my mom taught me how to fix all sorts of things. I learned how to work on appliances and I taught myself heating and air conditioning. I put myself through college and during that time I worked 2 jobs. One of them was in a hospital in Gainesville repairing equipment. When I went into the military, I was in long range radar working electronics there and at the same time supplementing our income because being in the military back then you were poor. So, to supplement our income, I started doing repair for a used appliance shop over in North Highlands. From there, I started running an ad in the Sacramento Bee and doing repairs for major appliances on the side. Eventually, I decided to get out of the military and I figured the best way I could think of to give us time together as a family was to open up our own place. I got my contractor's license in heating and air and have been doing it ever since.
GFI: I've heard your installations are very unique. How are they different?
Steve: I consider my installations a work of art. The way I do my duct work is different than 99% of my competitors because I design for each house and the way people live. So basically, people tell me how their house feels and I make the changes that they want. There is nothing better to me than going in, diagnosing the problem and having the parts on the truck to take care of it (95% of my repairs are done on one trip). Most companies can't do that. My customers expect me to come in and tell them that it's going to be really expensive and that I'll see them tomorrow or next week, but I get the parts off my truck that same day and whatever they needed fixed is working within the hour. I do have a 5 hour window, but I'm willing to call you a half hour before so you can come home from work for lunch and not have to sit around for hours waiting for me. While we still have to do the window period, I try to make it more convenient for my customers. We realize their time is valuable.
GFI: Is there anything else that you do that's really different from other companies?
Steve: I charge by the quarter hour. Most companies, like when you take your car into the dealership, charge you a flat rate. Whatever the book says, that's what they charge. I remember I was getting my car fixed and it was there for 15 minutes but they charged me for 3 hours of labor because that's what the book said. They told me that was simply what they charged. We refuse to do that. We charge by the quarter hour and for time actually spent on the job. Most companies are doing the same thing as the dealerships by charging flat rates. Some companies will charge to go pick up parts as well. If we don't stock the parts on the truck, we don't charge you travel time to go pick it up and we don't charge for a second service call when I come back. We charge for one service call, labor, and the parts to do the job.
Natalie: He is really honest. If he is able to get the job done quickly, then that's what he does. He isn't there to give them a sales pitch, especially on something that they don't even need. I think people really appreciate that.
Steve: I just did a job recently where a woman called me up and asked if I did tune ups on air conditioning. I told that I did and also told her that I was a contractor and she got real quiet, but I told her that I wasn't going to sell her equipment if she didn't need it. After that, the floodgates opened and she told me that she had another company in last year and all they did was try to sell her equipment the entire time. Many companies offer cheap prices for "tune-ups" as a way to get their foot in the door in order to up sell you to a new system. As it turned out, her vents were closed and her coil was dirty. I cleaned the coil, opened all the vents and pulled the screens out. Just the other day, she called me up and said "Oh my god, it's so cold in here!" That same company that tried to sell her all the equipment said that she was going to need a whole new system. She sweat all last summer when it turned out that all she needed was a couple things and the unit was good to go.
GFI: So, something that would have cost her thousands of dollars ended up only costing her what, a couple hundred bucks?
Steve: Yep, it was $180!
Natalie: Here's another thing. Everybody wants to be green and more energy efficient now. Being energy efficient is fine, but the cost for the parts on those machines is astronomical! Not only that, they don't have the longevity of a regular machine. It just makes a lot more sense financially to go with a more traditional machine.
Steve: Think about your parents and how often they changed their refrigerators. We have really become a disposable society and manufacturers have followed suit and are making disposable products. When you don't even stay in your house longer than 5-7 years and you don't keep your appliances, why are they going to build something that is going last 30 years? Like Natalie was saying, they have gone with the energy star machines now but what they don't tell you is that they put sub-sized compressors in them, which shortens the life. Now it will cool the food, but it's like the difference between pulling a boat with a Ugo or an F-350. The F-350 is going to cost more but it's going to pull that boat forever, whereas the Ugo is going to cost you less but it's going to die. It's the same with these new high efficiency systems. We do tons of repairs on them because they don't last. There is a fine line though. You have to realize that if you have an air conditioner that's breaking down every year and you're putting $300-$400 into it each time, then it may be time to replace. When I say $300-$400, I mean really getting your money's worth. I had a customer call me up and told me the prices another company was charging for parts. They were at least $100 more than what I charge for the same parts! Her bill ended up being $900 and if we had done the same job, it would have been less than $300! I can sleep at night knowing that I do a good job for a good price and I am going to treat you with respect.
Natalie: And if he can't repair it for some reason, he's not going to lie to you and tinker with it for hours.
Steve: When in 22 years have I not fixed something?
Natalie: Well I'm just saying.
Steve: It's never happened (laughing)! I've had times where I haven't been feeling something and had to come back another day with a fresh mind and new approach, but I have never been unable to fix something.
GFI: What's a typical complaint from customers who've worked with other companies before using your service?
Steve: What other people have told us is how a technician came out and replaced a whole series of parts because he couldn't figure out what exactly the problem was. We call that a "Shotgun Repair". The technician will replace many parts hoping that one of those will repair the problem. At that point you have two choices. You can either go with the repair and over pay or tell him no and he makes his service call for nothing.
GFI: Natalie, what's your role in the business?
Natalie: I do all the bookwork and data entry for all his calls. I make sure all the money is right and everybody is satisfied. I also run and get parts when needed and bring them to Steve.
Steve: This woman has been on a rooftop with me when we first started in 110 degree heat! She has been through the blood and sweat of it from the very beginning.
Editor's Notes:
To learn more about Fix-it-Rite, call (916) 363-4363,
Email fixitrite@citlink.net
or visit their website at
http://www.fix-itrite.com/
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