Even before the HVAC technician went into the basement to look at the furnace, he was asking about payment.
He wanted to know if we were paying in cash or with a check.
I told him it depended on how much the bill was. We may need to pay with a credit card if the bill was too high. He shook his head and said he didn’t take credit cards. He had no way to process them. I shrugged and told him to fix the furnace and then we would discuss it. While he was downstairs, I called the HVAC company. I had seen the man’s ID badge, but I couldn’t remember his name. I looked on the paperwork he left on the counter, and there was his ID badge number, and his name. I told the person who answered the phone what the HVAC technician had told us about taking credit cards. She put me on hold and the person who answered told me he was the owner of the HVAC company. He asked me the man’s name and what he looked like. He told me not to pay him anything, and he would be at my house in half an hour. About the time the HVAC technician came upstairs, the owner of the HVAC company was coming in the house. The HVAC technician saw the owner, and he sat down. He said this was to be his last HVAC repair, and he didn’t care what anyone said. He had quit two days before coming to our house. I wondered if he planned on keeping our money.