our opinions: ADVICE FROM AN EXPERT
In The
Comfort
Zone
Do you know who is on the other side of
the door? A cautionary tale
Brett Hobson
Comfort is the most
valuable home accessory.
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By BRETT HOBSON
CEO Comfort Experts
means that our background checks are completed by
Pinkerton, a security company with 165 years of experi-
ence.
As a consumer it is your right to require any HVAC
service person to at the very least be registered by
the State of Texas. The Texas Air Conditioning and
Refrigeration program regulates contractors who install,
repair, or maintain systems related to air conditioning,
refrigeration, or heating. On the website they state “The
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR)
would like to remind the owners of homes and busi-
nesses that contracting with an unlicensed individual for
air conditioning and heating repairs can be hazardous.”
I most heartily agree; however, people with a criminal
background can apply for a waiver and still receive a
license in Texas. In fact, one former technical school used
to get most of its students from the Texas prison system.
According to the recent study by the advocacy group
Families Against Mandatory Minimums, educational
opportunities within the federal prison system suffer from a
glaring lack of trained instructors and a scarcity of classes.
“No one ever fails any class,” said an inmate. “Everyone
receives a certificate, whether you attend every class,
study for hours, or just come in at the beginning, sign in,
and leave. The certificates really don’t mean anything
when you do it that way.”
The survey found that nearly all continuing educa-
tion classes are led by fellow prisoners with little teaching
experience. Just who you want to let inside your home
— someone with little or no technical skill and a criminal
record.
At our company, we hire for character and train for
technical skills. Let the buyer beware before you answer
the door and ask that service person inside your home.
Make sure you’ve done the due diligence necessary to
keep your family and your home safe.
Call us Today.
We are the comfort company.
817.335.3166
1412 Greenwood Rd Weatherford, TX 76088
www.comfortexpertsinc.com
TACLA20501C
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t was an ordinary enough service call. A woman called
for an air conditioner technician to fix her system, and at
the end of the call she paid him in cash. The man noticed
that the cash was cold. He returned later to rob and then
murder her because he knew she kept her money in the
freezer. When you call for a service person to come to
your home, do you really know who is on the other side
of the door?
In this day and age, unfortunately, you need to be
vigilant in who you allow inside your home. I don’t know
about other companies, but I know that we wouldn’t
allow anyone inside your home that we wouldn’t allow
inside of ours. We have a very extensive interview process
which means that we choose one of less than 100 people
we interview in our twice-weekly mass interview sessions.
Just to give you some idea of the care we take before
we allow someone in your home, they are first inter-
viewed as a group to see how they conduct themselves
with something as simple as a group introduction. Then,
if a question arises from one of the many, they can ask
those in private. They then interview with two peer team
members, two people who go out every day and service
our customers’ air-conditioning and heating systems. We
then meet management and the team members who are
doing the initial interviews to discuss the pool of appli-
cants to see who we want to continue to talk with. The
potential employee then interviews with a member of
senior management one-on-one. After this round, the pool
is much smaller and we meet again as a team to discuss
each and every one who was interviewed during the
second round.
After a candidate survives the interview process, we
do a six-step background check that includes not only
criminal background, but driving record, previous employ-
ment, a drug test, employment history and education. We
are also part of the Google Guaranteed Program, which
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