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The 4 air conditioner units in our 4-room HDB are reaching their 10-year mark soon. While we are not heavy users of air conditioners, we knew it was time to have them serviced and checked professionally, as we did not want to risk having the air conditioners break down with the unbearable heat in Singapore lately. The last DIY aircon maintenance happened about 2 years back when we cleaned and washed the filters all on our own.
Just last month, the air conditioner in our living room ran into some issues. The flaps on the front were left open even after the air conditioner was turned off. It was not an extremely pressing matter, but we thought that it needed to be addressed regardless. Since it was our first time engaging an aircon servicing provider, we wanted to ensure that it was going to be reliable and affordable. We went ahead and booked a session via the Coolfix app, a newly launched on-demand aircon servicing platform by Natural Cool, an established company with over 30 years of experience.
Coolfix Aircon Servicing
On-demand Aircon Servicing
Advertised as the first on-demand aircon servicing platform, Coolfix aims to match you with an aircon service provider within a 30-minute wait time. This works similarly to how Grab finds an available transport for you within a 3-minute or so waiting period. How will Coolfix be able to do that?
They work with over 150 aircon service companies and contractors with more than 600 vehicles on standby. Additionally, there is also a 30-days workmanship warranty upon the completion of the aircon servicing request, which covers only the labour cost.
Coolfix aircon servicing prices on their mobile app.
Coolfix Aircon Subscription Packages
Aside from aircon servicing, Coolfix also offers aircon subscription packages with Midea and Gree brands, starting from $77 per month over 48 months for a System 2 package, including 2 aircon units and a compressor. 8 times of aircon servicing comes with any aircon subscription package, on top of free installation and disposal of your old aircon units.
Aircon subscription package is a new product offering and not widely offered by the other big-brand retailers. However, aircon subscription packages are not exclusive to Coolfix only, as there is another service provider in the market if you were to do a quick Google search.
The cost of purchasing a regular System 4 aircon for a 4-room HDB, as compared to signing up for a System 4 aircon subscription package with Coolfix is not vastly different, except for the lesser cash required for upfront payment, as well as the complimentary aircon servicing provided by the subscription package.
Coolfix aircon servicing mobile app home page screengrab.
Coolfix App: First Impressions
After registering for an account on the Coolfix app, you will be able to book your aircon servicing right away, which was exactly what we did. There are 2 buttons on the main home screen of the Coolfix app, namely “Aircon Servicing“ and “My Rewards”.
On the “Aircon Servicing” screen, you will fill up the information required for the service request, including entering the address and booking date and time, as well as the specifications of the aircon. Photos and remarks can also be included for the assigned technician to have an understanding of your aircon situation. There are 7 aircon service options to choose from the standard servicing, to aircon not working.
Unlike the typical user interface and experience with the other home cleaning apps which I am used to, Coolfix app is less intuitive and appears to be rather basic.
Screengrab of my failed aircon servicing booking on the Coolfix mobile app.
Coolfix App: Failed Booking Experiences
My first attempt at booking an aircon servicing appointment encountered some hiccups. There were some issues with the booking system which required an app update that could only be fixed 2 weeks later.
After the Coolfix app was updated, I experienced another round of anticipation that led to unfortunate disappointments. As usual, I filled up the service request promptly, with hopes of booking an aircon servicing appointment 2 days later to align it with my WFH day on a Friday.
It was a regular Wednesday morning on 24 July 2024, and I was trying hard to sit back and relax while going about booking an aircon servicing appointment on the Coolfix app. I hopelessly watched the 30-minute request countdown timer go off each time, with no luck and success in getting my aircon servicing request getting accepted. After trying 2 times at 11 am and 3 pm respectively, I decided that was enough heartbreaks for the day.
All I received was “Job Request Expired” pop-up notifications, and I was left hanging high and dry after an hour of waiting in total. I wondered if my requests for an aircon servicing appointment on 26 Jul 2024 at 10 am and 27 Jul 2024 at 9 am were unreasonable, or if the Coolfix app is even working in the first place. I had so many questions in my head, but was unable to get any answers, as I navigated around the Coolfix app aimlessly. I was even thinking if I should simply call to get my aircon servicing appointment booked, but held off that thought to keep this review true.
Screengrab of my online chat with the appointed aircon servicing contractor on the Coolfix mobile app.
Coolfix App: Successful Booking Experience
Since I was desperately trying to get my aircon units serviced, I decided to give the Coolfix app another try 2 days later on 26 Jul 2024, but this time it was for a 30 Jul 2024 at 10am appointment instead. This was a counter-intuitive move for a user with the 4 day advanced booking lead time, as opposed to the on-demand aircon servicing promise.
The third time was a charm, as the aircon servicing request got accepted on a condition. The aircon service technician requested to change the appointment day and time to fit into his schedule.
This is entirely fair for the technician, but how about from the perspective of a user? He proposed 2 entirely new options for me to choose 29 Jul 2024 from 3 pm to 5 pm or 31 Jul 2024 from 1 pm to 3 pm. It is quite a bewildering experience, as both of the days provided are not as intended initially on 30 Jul 2024 at 10 am.
Yet, thanks to my flexible work arrangement, I was able to fit the agreed 29 Jul 2024 4 pm appointment into my schedule regardless.
Coolfix App: Integrated Communication
Similar to my other experiences with the service app, what I appreciate the most is the integrated communication feature within the Coolfix app. There is no need for an extra step and hassle to share and exchange contact numbers, as the app provides a platform to communicate where necessary, with the call and text functions.
Since the Coolfix app is rather new, the aircon technician was perhaps more used to the traditional process of calling 30 minutes before arrival and requested my contact number via chat anyway.
Coolfix air conditioner servicing equipment.
Coolfix Aircon Servicing Experience
On 29 Jul 2024, the day of the actual aircon servicing, I received the Coolfix app notification that the technician was on his way at about 3.30 pm. There was no map and tracking location feature available on the Coolfix app, unlike Grab or Urban Company where a visual indication gives the user an idea of where and when to expect the service provider to arrive.
No complaints about the punctuality, since the aircon technician arrived promptly at the agreed time at 4 pm with a trolley to fit his bag of tools, a ladder, and a vacuum machine. In my last experience many years back, 2 people came to service the 2 window aircon units over at my parent’s place, so it was interesting to see just 1 aircon technician attending to all 4 aircon units in my 4-room HDB.
He suggested starting from the bedrooms first before working on the living room, and I agreed to go with his recommendations. The aircon in my master bedroom was the first to be serviced. He took off the casing and washed the filters in the bathroom while letting the vacuum do its magic. I wasn’t eyeballing much while the aircon technician was in the bedroom since I was working in the living room.
After completing the aircon units in the bedrooms, he worked on the one in the living room. I was curious to see that there was no aircon jacket used during the service to contain the dust and dirt. When I raised this question to the technician, he mentioned that it was because he could take down the filter and wash it in the bathroom
As mentioned earlier, I asked the technician about the faulty aircon flaps. He looked at it and meddled around before telling me that something was burnt on the inside, but it did not affect the usability of the aircon.
I briefly shared with the aircon technician that the aircon units were not serviced for over 2 years, and was wondering if they were super dirty. To my surprise, he pointed out that our aircon units are in fact quite clean. This is partly because our small family of 3 is not big aircon users, and would only turn on the living room aircon for a couple of hours whenever we have guests over the weekend. The aircon in our master bedroom is only turned on every other night, only when the heat is too unbearable.
Coolfix air conditioner servicing technician at work.
Coolfix Aircon Servicing Contractors
The aircon technician was wearing a shirt with the words “A&T Air-con Services” at the back, so I asked him about it. He explained that they are like the contractors taking on various aircon servicing jobs, from Coolfix to Prism aircon too.
When he was in the middle of cleaning the aircon, his phone was ringing away, and finally got to attend to the call after he was done with whatever he was doing. He mentioned that it was a call asking to book an aircon servicing appointment.
Since the Coolfix app was something new, I wanted to hear his opinion and experiences on it. I started by sharing my experience as a user saying that I have had my job request expiring a couple of times before being able to have it accepted successfully. The aircon servicing technician also encountered a similar experience when he wanted to accept a job, but it was empty when he managed to click in.
Screengrab of a 30-minute aircon servicing job request on the Coolfix mobile app.
Coolfix Aircon 30-Minute Service Request
The problem lies with the fixed 30-minute service request wait time, as it is too short for the aircon technician to respond in time. With each aircon servicing taking an hour or more, the technicians would not be able to attend to new service requests when they are in the middle of an appointment. On the other hand, a 30-minute waiting time for the users gives a false hope and impression that the service request would somehow magically be accepted.
I wanted to find out how each service request gets assigned and if there is some sort of Coolfix admin or backend system that manages them based on the availability or location of each aircon technician.
The official clarification from Coolfix is that they will only intervene by contacting their team to accept the request if there is no available contractor within 5 minutes.
Coolfix Aircon Servicing Prices
The Coolfix aircon servicing prices start at $60 for 1 unit and $76 for 2 units. A regular 4-room HDB with 4 aircon units in the living room and 3 bedrooms will cost $152. It is not the cheapest aircon servicing, as you can see in the round-up article on the 10 best aircon servicing and repair providers. On Urban Company, you can do a foamjet aircon servicing of 4 aircon units at $92 instead.
Coolfix Aircon Servicing Overall Review
After the aircon servicing appointment was completed, I had to do a thorough vacuum and mopping up of my home, since the floors felt dusty and there was visible debris too. I would be interested to try out a foamjet aircon servicing next to see if there will be any difference in the before and after experience since it is also a more affordable alternative.
However, if my aircon units encountered any malfunctioning issues, I would still like to turn to Coolfix for a proper and professional repair at a reasonable cost, as the interaction and aircon servicing session felt more genuine when speaking with a local.