After 1 pm, in the harsh sunlight of Quang Trung ward (Vinh city), Mr. Tran Van Minh, an air conditioner repairman, hurriedly ate a piece of dry food while his hands were still covered in grease. In the morning, he and his colleagues had completed the installation of 2 air conditioners for households in an apartment building in the ward. Before he could rest, his team continued to move to another apartment building to complete 2 new orders.

"This season, as long as you work hard, you will have work every day. If you work hard from morning to night, each person can earn about 1 million to 1.2 million VND/day," Minh shared.

Not only in Vinh city, in Dien Chau district, the shortage of air conditioner technicians is also happening. Mr. Nguyen Van Nam - an air conditioner repairman in Dien Ky commune said that his team has had to work almost without a break since the beginning of April, when the weather started to turn hot.

"Customers call day and night, mainly to install new air conditioners and maintain and refill gas for old ones. There are days when we don't even have time to have lunch because there are so many orders. Although it's hard, this is the peak season, the whole year only depends on the summer months, so everyone tries their best," said Mr. Nam.

According to a survey at electronics stores and repair services in Nghe An, the price of air conditioner maintenance and cleaning fluctuates around 200,000 VND/unit. Meanwhile, the cost of installing a new air conditioner ranges from 400,000 - 500,000 VND, depending on the difficulty and characteristics of the project. High-rise buildings require workers to hang from the balcony or climb ladders to install the condenser, making the job even more dangerous and exhausting.

In Do Luong district, one of the localities with a large number of customers in the summer, air conditioner sales and installation facilities are operating at full capacity. However, according to the owner of a large store here, the high demand means they can only receive a maximum of 5-6 orders per day, although the number of calls to place orders is up to 10-12.

“There are days when the sun reaches 40 degrees Celsius, and air conditioner installers work outside from morning to afternoon and are exhausted. Therefore, we also have to select orders to ensure the safety and health of our workers," said the owner of the facility.

The shortage of air conditioner technicians also occurs in many remote communes of Do Luong district, where access to services is limited. Due to the lack of human resources, many customers in these areas have to wait 2-3 days to have their air conditioners installed or repaired.

Currently, besides the honest air conditioner repairmen, there are still many cases of taking advantage of customers’ lack of knowledge to make profits. Many technicians do not hesitate to use tricks to “pick the pockets” of consumers, typically replacing poor quality electrical wires and copper pipes and then charging high prices, or using the excuse of low gas to request more gas when it is not actually necessary.

In fact, with new air conditioners used for about 5 years, the main reason for the machine's inefficient operation is often just due to dirt accumulated over time, requiring simple cleaning. However, some technicians deliberately "paint" the machine by asking for a full inspection, then listing a series of errors such as lack of gas, broken microcircuit, burnt capacitor, broken compressor... to push up the repair cost.

Therefore, before deciding to use air conditioning repair services, customers should take the time to research and compare prices from many different sources, and at the same time, prioritize choosing reputable repair facilities. This not only helps to grasp the reasonable price level, but is also an effective way to avoid falling into the "trap" of non-transparent services with signs of overcharging.

Every summer, air conditioner workers in Nghe An enter a "race" against the heat, time and energy. Despite facing hardship and danger, they still persevere in their profession because this is not only a way to make a living but also an opportunity for them to reap the rewards after months of little work./.