Appliance repair - sorry, long story

[Tom]

I've used a local appliance repair company for 20-25 years at our S&B house and, on one occasion, on our boat. I've had "full confidence" in the current owner and his team and his father, the prior owner. I've always received great service from them, although I mentally questioned why some of their responses were to replace a number of expen$ive appliances (including 2 ovens, 2 dishwashers, a refrigerator, washer and dryer ...).

A few days ago the current owner arrived to look at one of our trash compactors. Without attempting to remove it, he decided it was trashed, could not be repaired, and there are no parts available. I listened to a long story about how the gear rod must not have been lube'd, and the thread was stripped, preventing the ram from fully coming up. It didn't sound that way when I ran it up and down, but I couldn't open the drawer. He also told me that, if I'd remove the compactor and put it in the garage or the side yard, he'd come back and, for an additional $400, he'd remove the parts for garbage. Nowadays I can't manhandle heavy appliances.

When he left, before taking the guy's advice to trash this appliance, I removed it, looked in "the back", and saw there was a simple jam from an aerosol can. It took me seconds to remove the obstruction and for the compactor to be fully functional. I was wondering why I paid a $$ 'service call' charge for an incorrect diagnosis.

I called the guy, and explained politely what I'd done. He said "oh great". Chris wondered why I didn't ask for my money back, but I didn't want to destroy the relationship as I'm sure we'll need service in the future.

Meanwhile I received a text requesting I post a review, something I rarely do except for exceptionally good service. Given the circumstances, I couldn't see how I could give them more than 1 (on a scale of 1-5), and explained why I gave the low score.

In response to this honest review, I received a call from the owner, telling me that I was "a grumpy bxxxxxd in your old age". It didn't change my honest review. Having spent a career responding to customer issues around the world, I've NEVER treated a customer with comments like this.

His wife, co-owner, came back claiming that he didn't say this, omitting most of the long story he gave me, and saying the compactor was incorrectly installed. Hm... the only removal/re-installation was done by his Dad, prior owner of the company, and he (the father) lube'd the threaded rod that he (the son) thought wasn't lube'd.

The irony of this situation is that I don't normally post reviews, and only did so in this case because they asked me to.

Now I'm left trying to figure out who I'll use next time we need appliance repair.

 

[Larry N.]

Good luck, Tom. Apparently son didn't pick up dad's fine honesty and thoroughness.

 

[WILDEBILL308]

Lookes to me like you can only do better than this group.
Bill

 

[Tom]

Lookes to me like you can only do better than this group.
Bill

Crossing my fingers, I hope so.

 

[OldWEB]

Sounds like you are pretty good at appliance repairing!
I have never used one and found my foot works good at compacting, but am amazed the person did not even attempt to open it, or even offer to remove it as it HAS to come out, 'specially if there still is trash in there.
You will always find someone that wants the work.

 

[8Muddypaws]

That's crazy! The son is lazy and has no business ethics.

There have to be some good ones out there.

 

[Tom]

That's crazy! The son is lazy and has no business ethics.

There have to be some good ones out there.

Aye Russ, I would hope so. I don't think the son is lazy per se, but ... today I talked with a friend, asking who he'd recommend for appliance repair, and he recommended this company. When I told him the story, he said that the nearby town of Brentwood had grown to the point that they have so much business they don't (need to) care.

It still blows my mind that he'd say that to me. You and I worked in an industry where we wouldn't dare say that to one of our worldwide customers.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Maybe the answer is the "extended warranty" (replacement insurance). Then there's no argument about who's paying or what happens. Once the warranty is up, then it's repair by replacement. Or do like I do and watch a couple utoob videos, order some parts off amazon and odds are you can fix it yourself. The $100 or whatever you pay just for the service call can buy a lot of parts if you don't guess right.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[8Muddypaws]

Man, ain't that the truth.

One of my workmates had to have a Mercedes. After driving it for a couple of years the sunroof jammed so he took it to the dealership. They quoted him over $5K to fix it. He took it to a 'non-Mercedes' shop and they fixed it by removing a rock or something from the track. After that he drove a Mazda.

 

[Tom]

Maybe the answer is the "extended warranty" (replacement insurance). Then there's no argument about who's paying or what happens. Once the warranty is up, then it's repair by replacement. Or do like I do and watch a couple utoob videos, order some parts off amazon and odds are you can fix it yourself. The $100 or whatever you pay just for the service call can buy a lot of parts if you don't guess right.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

Warranty or insurance would be tough, since we remodelled this kitchen and appliances ($$$,$$$) in 2000. The trash compactors are 12", the only ones made that size, and they're no longer made. So, replacement would be tough. I was prepared to sacrifice one compactor and have a cabinet guy replace one with a faux cabinet door.

 

[CharlesinGA]

The Youtube creator of this video https://www.youtube.com/@HandsomeOrHandy is really good at what he does and likes to help people and save them money. I go on binges of watching YT Shorts and these videos pop up frequently. Some of the fixes are amazing.

I do all of my own repairs to appliances I replaced the water heater (and now 20 years later its probably due again) I have repaired the washing machine a couple of times, minor stuff and its the same with with the RV.

The Whirlpool Gold fridge I bought years ago was on the scratch and dent line. I had it delivered and while it worked, the inside wasn't cooling down properly. I finally figured out that the fan, in the back of the freezer, was not running. I removed the back panel inside the freezer and gave the fan a flip with my finger and it started running. Too much grease in it. That is how it wound up on the scratch and dent line, someone had already run it as the inside felt damp, but no one tried to fix it, so they just sold it cheap.

Certainly find yourself a new appliance repair business, the one you used doesn't care about his business, or he would care about you.

Charles

 

[jackiemac]

If the standard response is to replace your item then it doesn't sound like they've ever been good at "repairs".

 

[Onyrlef]

Many service providers have discovered there’s more money to be made hustling than providing honest service. Problem is they’re right. Last experience for me was an A/C service tech who after five minutes looking at an updraft gas furnace described the part I needed then went to his truck to call his office. Meantime I googled the part, it cost $50,00 and required 10 minutes to unplug the old and replace. The tech came back in and said it would cost &900.00 + the service call of $180.00. I paid his svc. call and sent him on his way. For them, I’m sure it was just another day at the office.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

I'm not sure there are many appliances with a design, much less operational life of over 20 years. Even if you find a "lights on" appliance repair guy I'd have to wonder if you could even get some of the parts for vintage stuff. Last year I fixed my 1987 (almond color) refrigerator, needed a new defrost timer but had to order it and wait a couple weeks. I've fixed my electric dryer so many times I keep a stock of spare parts. From a practical perspective, once things get that old no honest repair person will touch it, much like an old RV. Even if it's repairable, the next failure could be days away, becoming a cost and customer satisfaction problem. But the issue of finding both honest and competent repair and trades people is the trick, good luck with that. I'm guessing for appliance repair the brunt of the revenue is warranty and service contract work, with time and material jobs being too expensive for most to pay out of pocket. That leaves the putzing around patch up jobs for old stuff up to the owner. Then it comes down to deciding to burn a saturday playing mr. fixit or give up and get a new one (with a warranty).

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Henry J Fate]

a good service company would have offered compensation for the faulty diagnosis. this assumes that they value their customers which is very questionable after this episode.

it is always helpful, to you and others, to end bad service arrangements. absolutely the correct decision in this case. even though you could have not posted a review and still moved on, it will not make any difference other than you feeling a little crappy about it.

 

[Tom]

If the standard response is to replace your item then it doesn't sound like they've ever been good at "repairs".

They've done a number of repairs over the years but, while writing my comment, I recalled cases where they said "replace".

 

[Tom]

a good service company would have offered compensation for the faulty diagnosis. this assumes that they value their customers which is very questionable after this episode.

After I called the guy to (politely) explain what I found, my other half said she was surprised I didn't even hint at a refund. I explained that I didn't want to cause an issue, as we'll be sure to need help in future. But the owner's follow-up call and comment made me realize there is no relationship to maintain.

 

[Tom]

The Youtube creator of this video https://www.youtube.com/@HandsomeOrHandy is really good at what he does and likes to help people and save them money. I go on binges of watching YT Shorts and these videos pop up frequently. Some of the fixes are amazing.

I do all of my own repairs to appliances I replaced the water heater (and now 20 years later its probably due again) I have repaired the washing machine a couple of times, minor stuff and its the same with with the RV.

I've done a number of my own repairs over the years, including dryer issues. Nowadays I have difficulty manhandling large &/or heavy appliances.

Certainly find yourself a new appliance repair business, the one you used doesn't care about his business, or he would care about you.

Aye, that's where I'm at mentally.

 

[Tom]

I'm not sure there are many appliances with a design, much less operational life of over 20 years.

No disagreement. Our (my) mistake when we remodeled the kitchen was to choose some non-standard appliances and have the custom cabinet guys design around them. The compactors are 12" v the standard 15". So a replacement would require some cabinet work. Previously we had two Fisher Paykel dish drawers, installed one each side of the kitchen sink. Looked great but, when these folks couldn't/wouldn't repair them any more, I bought a regular size Bosch dishwasher and had a cabinet guy "fill in the hole".

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

That photo brings back memories, Tom. I recall how impressive your kitchen looked with the twin dishwashers and slim compacters, all perfectly fitted into the cabinet design. When we returned home that fall, we had to embark on a major kitchen upgrade of our own, even if mostly cosmetic!