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r/ProHVACR

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Is this normal distributor politics in HVAC?

Anybody else deal with distributor territory politics like this in HVAC?

I started my own HVAC company after leaving a large residential outfit late last October. Since then we've cleared a little over $100k in revenue and have been growing fast.

About 2 months in I got set up through Trane Supply out of Springfield, MO with a credit line and dealer account. Started building a relationship, quoting equipment, moving toward becoming a legit Trane dealer.

Then out of nowhere I get a call saying my account, credit line, and access are all terminated because another distributor (O'Connor) claimed I was in “their territory.”

Apparently Springfield never should have opened the account in the first place because Southwest MO belongs to O'Connor distribution.

Now I’m basically told:

I can only get RunTru

or buy through existing dealers

or go elsewhere entirely

What blows my mind is I wasn’t trying to “backdoor” anything. Their own Trane sales rep set the account up.

Is this just normal HVAC industry politics?

Do distributors really protect territories and existing large-volume dealers this aggressively?

For the guys who own companies:

how common is this?

did you diversify brands because of situations like this?

is becoming heavily dependent on one manufacturer/distributor relationship a mistake?

I’m honestly curious because this was a pretty brutal wake-up call about how much control distributors can have over independent contractors.

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u/Mundane-Play-4947 — 1 day ago
▲ 0 r/ProHVACR

This is why quality matters! 🛠️ Look at that carbon buildup

​Let’s be serious about this: The installation manual says you MUST purge with nitrogen for a reason. It’s a no-brainer. Is the compressor going to blow up the second you leave the driveway? No, it most certainly will not .... But that’s not the point. ​When you’re brazing with oxyacetylene tanks and without nitrogen, you’re creating cupric oxide (that black soot) inside the lines.

On a modern VRF system, you’re dealing with EEVs (Electronic Expansion Valves) that have incredibly tight tolerances. Those flakes don't just disappear; they clog screens, contaminate the POE oil, and lead to "unexplained" service calls down the road. ​If you want the system to reach its 15-year life expectancy, follow the manual to the letter.

Or simply use a product like Stay Brite #8 on the lines. It's simple and gets the job done, even with liabilities. Don’t be the reason a VRF system fails prematurely just to save 5 minutes on a setup. 🛠️❄️

u/johnny_hvac — 4 days ago
▲ 0 r/ProHVACR

The dispatch puzzle nobody solves well

Was talking to a shop owner this week who pulled up the GPS on his trucks from the day before. Two of his guys drove past each other going opposite directions at least three times. One heading north for a tune-up while the other was heading south for a replacement lead. If they had just swapped those two calls, he said they would have saved an hour of windshield time between them. And the replacement lead went to the junior tech while the senior closer was doing tune-ups across town. His dispatcher assigns based on who's available, not who's closest or who's the best fit for the call. And he doesn't blame anyone because they are juggling multiple trucks and the phone doesn't stop, right?

How does your dispatch manage & coordinate this work flow?

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u/theslowleak1 — 12 days ago