Sean McCutcheon's service vehicle and Sarasota skyline collage.

Do You Need Air Conditioning Service Or Maintenance?

One of the questions we frequently encounter is: "Do I need service or maintenance?" This can be very confusing and, to better serve our customers, we would like to clarify the difference.

Some customers call and request a "maintenance" visit when they suspect their air conditioning system is malfunctioning. This misunderstanding can be a problem if it is a busy time of year and we have many "service" calls that have to take priority over "maintenance" calls.

When it is 100 degrees and your air conditioner has stopped working the only thing you care about is cooling off so - Do you call and ask for "service" or "maintenance"?

Whenever you suspect something is wrong with your system, especially if it is clearly malfunctioning, you should call for a "service" call. Service calls are always moved to the top of the list and become our #1 priority since nobody wants to experience discomfort due to a problem with their HVAC.

The basic difference between routine "maintenance" and a "service" call is this: Maintenance is preventive and it is only performed when the air conditioning system is operating properly as to ensure continued optimal performance.

In order to properly manage our "maintenance" customers, we schedule two maintenance visits over the course of a year at slightly different times for each customer so we can get to everyone and still be able to take care of service calls and emergency work.

Since air problems usually happen during the hottest part of the summer, there is a possibility that we could temporarily have more work than the techs can handle so new maintenance visits become a lower priority and may not be able to be scheduled for days or even weeks.

If you have no issues or problems, we would schedule routine maintenance as far as four months ahead. An advantage to our customers is that when we schedule so far in advance we can keep our maintenance prices low.

If you feel that your system is not working properly or it is not working at all, you need to schedule a service call. Keeping this in mind will help our dispatchers more efficiently schedule your work and help insure our technicians are able to use their time most resourcefully.

If you are not currently a Priority Service Agreement Member with Sean McCutcheon's Air Conditioning and Heating, you may want to consider signing up.

A maintenance agreement will keep your air conditioning unit in good working condition and help you avoid expensive repair bills. A properly maintained system will also lower your energy bills. Some manufacturer's warranties require annual maintenance.

Priority Service Agreements include:

•  Two thorough 32+ point inspections per year
•  Air filter cleaning or replacement (most models)
•  Wash outdoor unit
•  15% discount on service repairs
•  Discounts on future replacements
•  Indoor unit cleaning

If you would like more information about our Service Agreements, please contact us at 941-921-7208.