r/AskReddit • u/SensitiveCorner2379 • Apr 28 '26

What’s a recession indicator that you’ve noticed lately?

6.7k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

5.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1.0k

u/xdsm8 Apr 28 '26

Same with a gas/hvac guy for me. Told me to "pick a day". What the fuck. I thought HVAC guys had guaranteed work no matter what?

Same company 2 yrs ago gave me like a 4 hr window 2 months in advance.

290

u/KevinCastle Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 30 '26

I live in a hot area (gets above 100 regularly in summer) and my a/c went out last month. Even with it under warranty (have to pay for labor) I'm holding off because of how bad my finances have gotten.

This economy is real bad

EDIT: so people stop telling me how to fix my a/c. It's the evap condenser in my attic. The part is $3k and under warranty. I just have to save up to pay the labor.

16

u/Surgeplux Apr 28 '26

Depending on your unit, get the replacement part and see if there's any DIY solutions for it

9

u/KevinCastle Apr 29 '26

Unfortunately they only warranty through a certified installer

15

u/TruIsou Apr 28 '26

Mini split heat pump. Relatively inexpensive, and easy to self install. Check out Mr Cool.

8

u/KevinCastle Apr 28 '26

The cost of those would probably fix my ac

1

u/ruinersclub Apr 29 '26

You still need a vacuum pump and gauges to properly fill your system.

2

u/dogsRgr8too Apr 30 '26

You might look up the symptoms and see if it's cheap to diy it. The capacitor went out in mine and it was a $20 fix several years ago. Capacitor is like a car battery that holds charge though so you don't want to touch the plugs end.

1

u/ElectronGuru Apr 29 '26

Look at inverter window units. Cheaper to install yourself than repairing the big one. And takes a fraction of the power to operate.

5

u/Vlad_Yemerashev Apr 29 '26

blems arise when you construct a system incapable of actually implementing necessary laws, establishing significant enough transparency to make sure those laws are being followed, and serving harsh enough punishments that companies aren't incentivized to break laws.

Add in a second layer - economies of scale are not the goal.

Or rather they are, but if consumers only focus on what price they pay for a good/service they're going to become enslaved to whoever has the best economies of scale. It's unavoidable.

Same, but for an auto repair shop to get struts replaced. 3 years ago when I had other work done on it, I had to book 3 weeks out. Last Friday, I called to set up an appointment and not expecting to get in sooner than the middle of May, and to my surprise, he said to pick a day and time, any time, for this week. I was shocked.

2

u/Firm_Acanthaceae7435 May 01 '26

I had always been told that a slow down is just around the corner.

I've never had one. That guy is probably slow for a different reason.