Angi leads killing my HVAC business with their BS fees

Man, I'm so pissed at these lead gen sites like Angi and Thumbtack. Been in the Chicago area my whole career doing residential HVAC installs, and now every time I chase a lead for a Trane XR system replacement, they hit me with these insane fees that eat half my profit. Just quoted a zone 5 mini split job for a customer who found me through there, and after the $89 lead cost plus their cut, I'm barely breaking even on the R-410a recharge. Someone in HVAC Techs Network group was ranting about the same crap last week, saying it's all a scam for emergency AC repairs in summer. Switched to Google Business Profile last month but the traffic's slower without the paid leads. How are you all dealing with this without going broke? FML, this industry's getting screwed by these middlemen.

Hit 250k last year by ditching all that and focusing on referrals from past ductwork jobs. No fees, all repeat business.

LOL my buddy bid on an Angi lead for a furnace tune-up, showed up and the customer's cat had knocked over the thermostat. Wasted 2 hours driving for nothing.

SharkBite for HVAC? Nah, stick to proper brazing on those linesets. Anything else is asking for leaks in zone 6 installs.

Watched that HVAC School podcast episode on lead gen, Bryan Orr said ditch the aggregators and build your own site with SEO.

FieldEdge raised their prices again last quarter, now it's $150/month just for basic scheduling on HVAC jobs. Can't afford that on top of lead fees.

Ditch FieldEdge, go with Housecall Pro. Integrates quoting for mini splits perfectly and only $49/month to start.

For commercial HVAC bids, always add a 15% contingency for refrigerant surprises. Saved my ass on a recent Carrier Infinity upgrade.

You using OptimoRoute for dispatching? Cut my travel time 30% on service calls around here.

How do you handle the follow-up with Angi leads that ghost you after the quote?

Never trust a DIY mini split install from those YouTube vids. Saw one where the guy skipped the vacuum and now it's iced up.

These PE firms buying up HVAC shops are the real villains, jacking up lead prices to squeeze independents like us.

Same here, been fighting the same battle with Thumbtack for boiler services. It's exhausting.

What's your cutoff for paying for a lead? Mine's $50 max, anything more I walk.

Proud of my setup now, got 80% of jobs from NextDoor posts about heat pump efficiency in cold snaps.

Try running Facebook ads targeted at 'AC repair near me' in your area. ROI's been 3x for me on Trane installs.

I feel you on the fees, brother. It's like they're printing money off our sweat.

Boss had me chase a lead at midnight for a frozen evaporator coil, turned out to be a $20 thermostat fix. Laughable.