I think my technician screwed me. Looking for advice.

First of all, I appreciate any input you guys have. The situation has me feeling a bit dumb. So, I’ll start off with some back story. Last night I noticed my house was a little warm. I went to my Thermostat and played around with it. - Thermostat was on and reading temp. - Would not Cool when I attempted. - Would not Heat when I attempted. - The fan would not turn on either.

With this little bit of data, I went to bed and decided that I would take a look at the actual HVAC in the morning. In the morning, I cut the power to my HVAC through the breaker and did the following: - Checked my Air Filter (clean and had been replaced 1 month ago) - Ensured the condensate line was clean and clear. - Pulled the panel to reveal all electrical components and looked for any obvious damage (I could not find any).

At this point, I took my multimeter and tested continuity on the HVAC’s transformer and noticed some numbers were a bit low and others were high. If I remember correctly, it was receiving 23ish and putting out sub-1. Again, the power was cut off and I am no professional. At this point, I call my father and FaceTime him and ask for his input. I showed him everything and paid close attention to all electrical portions for his opinion. Him and I discussed and came to the conclusion that the components visually looked in good condition. We believed it would be better to call a professional rather than buying parts and replacing it bit by bit and hoping I got it right. So, I put everything back together exactly how it was prior to me opening it up.

Eventually, a technician came to my home to run a diagnostic for me. He went straight to my thermostat and pulled it off the wall. He told me that since there is specific wiring going to my thermostat, that it did not need batteries. So, he removed the batteries and replaced the thermostat. It did not come on and he said that it was NOT receiving power. He opened the HVAC closet and stated he could hear the power running to the system. (I could hear it as well. I also heard this before I cut the power during my morning check.) He cut the power and started opening everything up and I offered him a cold water, made some small talk, and left him to do his work. He goes in and out of the house a couple times and starts asking me what I do for a living and asking about my prior service in the military. He then asks me to sit down with him and show me some pictures. Right away, he shows me a picture of the transformer and it is FRIED. I took mental note and let him continue talking. He mentioned that something got “hot” and fried the transformer which caused the motor to blow along with the UV light as well and it was going to cost me $3,900 to fix IF he could find the parts.

Upon hearing this, I told him that I looked at all of the components and paid close attention to that specific part. I also mentioned that it was NOT damaged in the slightest (visually speaking) when I had looked at it. His response was, “that’s crazy.” I told him that I cannot afford that fix right now and that I would have to look at my options. I paid for the diagnostic and he went on his way.

He left and I immediately opened up my HVAC. He did NOT put the panels back on the electrical components and my eyes were amazed at the damage. No way did my father or I miss that when I checked. There was also this orange residue on top of the transformer that was not there prior to the technician checking.

I’m so mad at myself for not having pictures before I had the technician come over. I trusted this guy and feel like he is trying to kill me with these costs. Do you think there was foul play?? Do you think all the parts he said are broken are truly broken now?? What should I do??

TLDR: HVAC wasn’t working. I checked it out and found no obvious issues. Technician comes over and shows very obvious damage to part I specifically checked. What do I do?