MADINAH, 29 July 2005 — The heat wave that gripped Madinah over the past two weeks brought a stream of people to air conditioner stores and maintenance shops. The temperature this summer soared to a record high of over 50 degrees in the afternoons. The temperature at night was between 40 and 47 degrees.
At this time of the year, air conditioner maintenance shops increase their charges as their businesses pick up after a long slack period during winter.
Salem Al-Raddadi, owner of a number of air conditioner maintenance shops, said that Madinah heat substantially boosted his business. He said that when heat increases people come to his shop either to get their air conditioners fixed or buy used ones from him.
“When people suffer due to heat I make money. I remember having more than 12 customers in one hour each wanting his air conditioner fixed first — most air conditioners do not function properly when there is intense heat. My earning rose to over SR2,500 per day at one time during the heat compared to between SR100 to SR300 per day in a normal season. Most people come here to get their air conditioners cleaned or have those fixed because most air conditioners start malfunctioning due to excessive heat.”
Mumtaz Khan, a Pakistani working in an air conditioner maintenance shop attribute malfunctioning to lack of regular maintenance and cleaning.
“We fix 10 to 15 air conditioners per day,” he said. “We make a lot of money these days. Ever since heat increased in Madinah, there has been a stream of people visiting our shop or asking us to visit their homes to fix their air conditioners.” Arab News talked to some customers at an air conditioner maintenance shop. One of them, Abu Khaled, said he had come to the maintenance shop to get two air conditioners fixed. Although, he said, he did not trust maintenance shops because sometimes the repairs done are not good enough to last long, he had no choice but to get the machines fixed. He said he was not in a position to buy two new air conditioners.
