How Much Does it Cost?

One of the most common calls we get at Apex is the “how much” call. It’s understandable; in fact, it’s expected! I know that I never make a large purchase without first asking the price.

If you’re like me, you just want the best deal. You understand that the cheapest price is not always the best value, and you also understand that the highest price doesn’t always mean the best quality.

I want to share a story. My father began his working life as an auto mechanic. As long as I can remember, he could fix almost anything that the rest of us could break. I was a curious kid, so I was usually hanging over his shoulder as he wired new lights for the garage, or fixed a broken appliance. At my house, when something went wrong with the toilet, we didn’t call a plumber. Dad just headed down to his toolbox, got what he needed and went to work.

Dad’s toolbox was a source of fascination for me. It was also a good place to get in trouble; since I was forbidden to touch anything, naturally I did anyway.  As I got older it became clear that I had inherited Dad’s knack for repairing broken things. Eventually my father loosened his grip on his beloved tools, and I was happy to have them at my disposal to fix toys, bicycles and, later, my first car.

One day, Dad said to me in his blunt manner, “Son, you’re not going to live here forever, and sooner or later you’re going to have to buy your own tools. If you start now, you’ll build up a collection and eventually have everything you need.” This was disappointing because I rather enjoyed using his tools for free. He went on, “Here’s the thing, don’t buy junk! If you buy the good stuff right off the bat, you’ll have it forever, and it will save you money in the long run.”

I didn’t always take my dad’s advice, but for some reason this sunk in. Ever since I was a kid, when it comes time to buy a tool that I’ll need to rely on, I buy the absolute best I can afford, and I only buy it once. I’ve deviated from this plan on occasion, with consistently poor results. It always costs more in the end.

I understand that not everyone needs to own good tools, but if you live in Northeast Wisconsin, you need to own a furnace, and almost certainly will need to have it repaired from time to time.

There are companies in this area who charge less for a service call, and companies who charge more. The problem with the question “how much is a service call?” is that it’s loaded to the hilt. The best question would be “what exactly will be the amortized cost of this service, over the life of my furnace, adjusted for inflation?” I’m being facetious, of course, because no one could possibly answer that question, but that would be the ideal piece of information to have in order to make the best possible decision.

We work very hard to provide value that is beyond compare. Like my dad’s tools, we feel that our work should be built to last. We may not always be the cheapest company, but we have unwavering confidence that your decision to do business with us will result in the lowest cost over time.

A low service fee may look good on the front end, but it’s a small part of the total bill. It could be a clever trick to get a foot in the door, or maybe their service just isn’t worth that much to begin with. When you deal with Apex, you can rest assured that you will receive more than you paid for – that’s our promise.

To use another Dad-ism, “If you think it’s expensive to do it right, you should see what it costs to do it twice!”
-Jason