I have not been an HVAC technician very long.
I just stopped being an apprentice about a month ago.
I was doing the night shift the other day when I got a call I was not sure I could handle. An elderly lady called and said that her pet chinchilla had escaped and it was in her air conditioner vents. I thought about referring her to animal control or, something like that, but then thought this might be a chance for me to prove myself so I took the call. The customer had HVAC vents on the floor and they ran under the house. I could hear scampering and chewing in the vents so I knew the old woman was probably right and her missing chinchilla was likely in the vents. There was nothing for me to do but to crawl under the house and start taking vents apart. The chinchilla kept getting one step ahead of me and moving into different vents as I got close. Eventually, I was able to capture the little chinchilla and return him to a very grateful owner. I then covered up the floor vent with a grate so the animal could not escape again. After that, I got to work putting the vents back up under the house. But not before cleaning them really good. I also sealed the vents well. I probably should have charged for a vent cleaning and sealing but I only charged the woman for an HVAC inspection. I just wanted to leave the ventilation system in better shape than I found it in.