Pacific West Mechanical

Asked by my Property Manager to clean & replace the filter in the working forced-air furnace at my rental property, Pacific West's 1st tech, without pre-authorization, charged $784.85 for replacing: the fan motor, the pulley, the fan belt, besides the filter. By the end of that same winter season, a loud squealing noise was reported to PW. PW's 2nd tech charged $181.13 for 1.5h "labour", concluding: both the motor and the blower required replacement, but recommended replacing the entire furnace (due to its age) - quoting $6,880 + taxes + unquantified other charges for related work: venting, duct, dry wall, ceiling, asbestos abatement, …
Problems with their charges: PW's 1st tech was NOT authorized to replace anything but the filter. The motor that he replaced is the same motor PW's 2nd tech, several months later, said was the source of the squealing noise, and needed replacement along with the blower - though he recommended replacing the entire furnace! My Property Manager had "automatically" paid both PW Invoices, totalling $965.98. My appeal to PW met with "responses" that showed incompetence at best, dishonesty at worst for they claimed that the 2nd tech was saying a different motor needed replacement. Fact is THERE IS ONLY 1 MOTOR! In recommending entire furnace replacement, PW cited the age of the furnace is such that they can't get parts (despite PW's 1st tech charging for 5h labour and parts including: motor, pulley, fan belt).
Getting no satisfaction, and losing all confidence in PW, I hired another contractor. He concluded the bearings were damaged, and blower wheel skewed, likely due to over-tightened fan belt; changed the 2 bearings and charged $294. Tenant: The furnace now runs smoothly and silently. This company 778 was in many ways superior than the others [i.e. Pacific West's 2 techs]