I just got charged $889 to install a new motor and capacitor. Plus $89 to add frion.
Was it the indoor fan motor for the furnace/air handler or the outdoor condenser motor? It sounds like the tech felt bad about overcharging you for the fan motor and gave you a deal on the Freon. He probably didn't add much Freon. There are no $889 fan motors (not for a 1200 sq ft townhome), there are only customers willing to overpay for a $350 motor. You said it was an AC motor. DC motors are more expensive.
You should specify what size unit and what size motor, where was it? Was it easy to get to or hard.Was this a question or are you just letting off steam? Every one on here just blurts out questions that do not contain enough real information to answer. The only thing I will say is if this a residential home and there were no other issues and the unit was not variable speed. You got jacked,,, sorry If this was a newer variable speed unit he got jacked...And you got a good price. Give more info..
Some motors are cheap, some aren't! I've found that with electrical motors you really don't want the cheap one as it'll cost even more to replace it again and again. Could be that the a/c tech was selling you a motor that was first bought by the a/c manufacturer, then bought by the a/c techs service company, then finally bought by you, each company in the chain marked it up. The motor might say 'Trane' (for example) but be made by Baldor from Ft Smith, Ark. Also you mentioned 'freon', well not just anybody can handle that stuff, Federal Law, only a certified HVAC tech can even buy it
I had the exact same thing done to mine except no Freon. The condenser fan motor and capacitor cost $450 installed. It was a 1/5 hp motor for a Carrier 3ton unit. It was an emergency call because it went out on a Friday afternoon and I was leaving town and did not want to leave my cat at home with no ac and 100 degrees outside. The man came and fixed it within an hour of my call. I though 450 was a lot to pay but I did not really care because they came so quick and got it fixed.
Just a motor and you're getting shafted. But by the description you got not a new motor but a new compressor, in which case that's not out of line, depending on how large your system is, how hard it was to get to, etc. Depending on size and brand, you can pay over $1000 just for the compressor, and that's before you get around to installing it. I don't think what you got charged is too much if it was the compressor.
