Warning: Don't hire unbonded techs for mini-split installs - zone 5 nightmare

Up here in zone 5 Minnesota, winters hit hard and I learned the expensive way about hiring cheap help for a Trane mini-split job last fall. I brought on this guy off Craigslist thinking he'd save me time on a 18k BTU unit install, charged the client $4500 flat but the tech botched the refrigerant lines and now it's leaking R-410a everywhere. Had to eat the redo costs myself since he ghosted after payday, and the client was pissed about the downtime in our cold snap. PSA from a mid-level guy: always verify EPA certs and bonding before letting anyone touch superheat or subcool on your quotes. Saw a similar rant in HVAC Techs Network group last week, don't repeat my mistake. FML.

What exactly did he mess up on the lines?

Screw those Craigslist hacks, they're killing our rep as an industry. Every time one of em screws up a Trane job it makes us all look bad.

Man I had a similar thing happen on a Carrier install, lost a whole week chasing down the leak. Shoulda vetted better.

Hired a bonded crew last year and finally slept easy. Hit 6 figures without the drama.

SharkBite fittings for HVAC lines? Nah, fight me, they're a hack's dream but code says no in most spots.

Dude I feel you, Minnesota cold makes every install a gamble with green help.

Same here, zone 5 woes with apprentices who cant handle the frost.

Got burned on a Rheem quote last summer, tech overcharged and fried the compressor. Clients dont care whos fault it is.

Insurance companies are the real villains, jacking rates because of these idiots we hire.

Boss had me cover a shift for a no-show tech, ended up diagnosing a frozen coil at 3am. Total crap-show.

Client calls at midnight: 'My heat pumps frozen, your guy never showed!' Laughed so hard I almost dropped my gauges.

Check Housecall Pro for vetting subs, integrates with EPA cert lookups. Saved me on a few installs.

Watched a Bryan Orr video on hiring right, he nails it: test em on a small job first before big quotes.