A Furnace Story

A month ago, John and I decided that it was in Joy's best interest to be on the Home Service Plus Plan.  I told her that it would be our Christmas gift to her (laugh).  In that, I had scheduled a maintenance check on her furnace for Nov. 30th.  Being familiar with Joy's karma at the moment, it seemed necessary to get a clean bill of health for her furnace.

8:15am Centerpoint Energy walks into the house. 8:25, the representative was out in his truck calling into his supervisor. He came back into the house, and red-tagged Joy's furnace, deeming it to dangerous to operate. I arrived at the house after Joy's text arrived on my phone telling me not to come - as the furnace is now off.  Joy was informed that the earliest she could get a new furnace was early next week (Monday, December 5).

I went home, made some calls as another friend sent over her handy man to assess the situation.  A new furnace - this was to equal thousands of dollars.

I remembered having a conversation with a friend who worked with Community Action.  I called them, left messages, sat on hold, etc.  By day's end, I had spoken to a person who had Joy's file in front of her -- as Joy qualified for Energy Assistance, they had a file on her.  She promised to put it on the desk of her supervisor to look at in the morning.  In the mean time, I ran over two space heaters, one for a bedroom and one to keep the house Water Well pipes  from freezing over night.

Thursday morning, I call first thing - trying not to be in the long line of those who also need attention.  The same game - on hold, messages left, and by mid afternoon, I spoke to the supervisor who in turn wanted to get a hold of Joy.  Joy rarely answers her phone - so i immediately texted her, "Pick up phone when it rings." 

Jennifer told Joy that Friday, she will have someone out there to assess the furnace.  Friday morning 8:30, a man came in and immediately walked out.  He could not work on the furnace, but would let Joy know of the plan later in the afternoon.

9:00 - a team from a furnace company came, knocked on the door, went downstairs and began to dismantle Joy's furnace.  by 10:30, they were bringing a new one in.  Both Joy and I were baffled by how this communication came about.  Joy called Jennifer, who's voicemail said she would be in meetings all day, and talked to the furnace guys - no one could say where the communication came from.

Joy finally talked to Jennifer who told her that all receipts will be invoiced directly through Community Action and Joy will not have to pay a dime for her new Energy Efficient furnace from Centraire.  at 4pm, Friday, Joy texted me to say that it was 62 degrees and feeling like a heatwave.

So, that is my furnace story.  Something that was supposed to take 6 days to even begin was all said and done with in a matter of 48 hours. 

Thanks for listening