Charlie:
Welcome to Comfort on Porpoise, sponsored by Dolphin Cooling and Heating who have been providing 24/7 Comfort on Porpoise since 1998.
Lauren:
Hi everyone, it’s Lauren. And today I have a very special guest with me. She’s one of our own, her name is Janine Mennig, but around here we call her J9. She’s been with Dolphin Cooling since we purchased the company back in 2016 and she started with us as our dispatcher and handled our customer service. And since then she’s been promoted and moved to outside sales. And she’s done a fantastic job with that over the last year. So J9, welcome to the show today. Thank you for being with me.
Janine:
Thank you, Lauren, I appreciate that.
Lauren:
So I was hoping from your experience having been with us for about five years now, you could share from your perspective since you’ve spent a lot of time talking with customers, getting face-to-face with customers and businesses alike, what are a few common things you hear from people that maybe is an untruth about air conditioning or just something that people typically don’t realize the importance of?
Janine:
First of all, starting off going into dispatching. When I came into dispatching, I didn’t know anything. I’ve learned quite a bit for myself. I didn’t know anything about AC, so I didn’t do anything besides change the filter when I first started off. When I moved into my place, I started off putting bleach down every month. I thought that was the greatest thing to do. I thought I’d kill all the bacteria, which I did find out is a big no-no. You do not put bleach down. It eats at your PVC piping. So everybody out there, don’t put bleach down. It does eat at the PVC piping. So I did that for a few years until I came to Dolphin. I learned from the technicians. I learned from the techs you use vinegar. First you wash it down with the hot water, then put down the vinegar. And change your filter monthly. So that’s a big must. People are surprised to hear that, not to use the bleach. And when we ask about maintenance everybody says they didn’t do maintenance. They say their unit is just fine. Of course, down the road, they end up calling you because they got water all over the place. Algae is a big thing down here. And your drain is gonna end up backed up sooner or later. They think once a year is enough. Well down here, it gets built up. So two times a year, we highly suggest maintenance down here.
Lauren:
So are you finding that oftentimes with people when you’re explaining that to them they seem a little bit shocked?
Janine:
Yes. Very shocked. They think they’re fine, but they end up with it backed up in there. When the tech comes out, he does show the customer what is coming out of their drain lines and they’re actually disgusted by it. What they have that comes out of there, and there’s quite a bit in there.
Lauren:
What does it look like, by the way?
Janine:
It looks like snot.
Lauren:
Just what everyone wants to find in their drain line.
Janine:
That is what’s coming out of there. So really two times a year is what we prefer. We tell everybody we have a couple of plans and there are people that do not want to push it, but will leave it at the yearly plan. And what happens with the maintenance is we put tablets down in there and a month from now, we could be back. What happens is the tablets will loosen up the algae that’s in there in the drain lines. And it can still back up your drain lines. Even now they’ll say, well, you’re there. But once we put the tablets in there, it does loosen up the other stuff that’s going through your drain.
Lauren:
So that does help. So if people are on our Plan One, which is semi-annual (twice a year), Plan Two (quarterly maintenance service). The fact is that we’re putting those algae pan tabs inside the drain lines for the systems. So typically if that’s being done regularly, have you noticed through your experience that customers are not calling nearly as frequently with no coils or backed up drain pan?
Janine:
Definitely. Yes. Most definitely.
Lauren:
So I know that through the whole time you’ve been with us, you’re a hustler. And so you also actually are a manager over at the dock downtown, correct?
Janine:
Yes, I am.
Lauren:
And recently we actually got to finally partner with them through you. We started supplying them with service. So what, what did you end up offering to them through us?
Janine:
They’ve had the same AC company and after 28 years they moved over to us. They’re confident with us and we take care of their AC. They’ve got a couple of offices. They have AC there because it is open-air there. They have AC units, mini splits and the restroom is in their offices. And we also take care of their walk-in coolers there and actually they have got about 38 pieces of equipment in there. So we’ve taken care of their refrigerant there in their coolers, the reach-ins, and things like that. So we’re doing maintenance on all the equipment for the refrigerant or for the restaurant also.
Lauren:
Fantastic. Great work J9. Well, before we wrap this up, is there anything else that you would like to share through your experience or any other knowledge that you’d like to impart on our listeners today?
Janine:
Well, let’s say if you’re going with the older units, anything older than about 10 to 12 years old, you can start looking for a new one. Or if you start having problems during that, put money into a new unit. I know a lot of people like to hang on to them. I know the older units really are the front of the best units because they do run forever. But about 10 to 12 years, I wouldn’t be adding money to those because once you put your money into a motor in a month from now, you might be putting money into a compressor. So 10 to 12 years, you should start looking or at least get prices on another unit.
Lauren:
That’s a good tip. Now, why do you say that 10 to 12-year cutoff? Just for people who might be listening that don’t realize about warranty.
Janine:
Because the warranty is only good for 10 years.
Lauren:
And that’s the whole factory part warranty, right?
Janine:
The part warranty is only good for 10 years and also make sure if you get a unit that they are registered because if they’re not, they’re only good for five years. Make sure the company registers your unit because if not, your new unit won’t be warrantied for five years.
Lauren:
That’s a good bit of information. And I’m sure you can share from all the units that you’ve sold, you always make a point to register.
Janine:
Yes, we always make sure they are registered. The company makes sure, and we also send a copy of the registration to the customer so they know it is warrantied by us, that it’s done.
Lauren:
Fantastic. Now real quick, with regard to that warranty, that’s specific to residential, right? With commercial, it’s different?
Janine:
For a commercial you only have a one-year warranty and that’s for all commercial. It doesn’t matter what kind of store it is. All commercial is only a one-year warranty on parts and labor.
Lauren:
Okay, fantastic. And again, that’s the manufacturer warranty.
Janine:
Yes, it is.
Lauren:
Okay. Well, J9 thanks so much for being here today. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to all of our listeners and impart some of your wisdom and knowledge and things that you’ve learned over the last few years.
Janine:
Thank you for having me. I enjoyed it.
Charlie McDermott:
Thanks for listening to Comfort on Porpoise to learn more about our sponsor Dolphin Cooling and Heating visit www.dolphincooling.com or call 239-596-9044. That’s 239-596-9044.