HVAC drain service - $197

[Michael S.]

My tenant's air conditioning cut out recently, so I had a company do a service call. End result is $197 for the technician to pour some hot water and bleach down the drain line. The drain had gotten stopped up, which cut off the unit.

How would those of you who are more experienced handle this? I live 5 hours away so I cannot make repairs like these myself. The house is in SC, and it is an elderly couple, so lack of air conditioning can be a serious issue. I had a company do a semi-annual servicing on the unit back in February, yet this clog apparently developed over the course of the last few months. That, or the company doing the servicing didn't do a thorough job.

Also, this probably didn't happen because of any negligence from the tennant. It is just a little fustrating because this basically killed a month's worth of cash flow, and yet the repair was pretty darn simple. Any suggestions on how to prevent this or save money in the future? I considered having my handy-man go by, but if it's out of his league then I have to pay him in addition to the HVAC company.

[Rocky V.]

AC tune-up should have included blowing out condensate line and this would have helped with the issue.  I would find another company for service calls and tune-ups.  The price of $197 is very steep for a job that takes mins to perform.  I have a residential service company in DFW and typically charge about $100 for this service.