Alco Appliance Inc

The repairman never arrived as scheduled, despite speaking with the office to confirm date and time 2 hours prior to the scheduled appointment. When I called 30 minutes after the window elapsed, their voicemail said they "closed early". The next day, the office refused to take responsibility falsely claiming I wasn't home. When asked what evidence they had: they claimed to trust their technician and that I didn't answer my phone. Once again, I spoke with them earlier that afternoon and they never left a message. Be forewarned if you value your time and want to be treated with respect.

I had an extremely positive experience. Jason showed up on time, knew the quickest way to get the job done, and was highly professional. In addition, they were the lowest price, after calling several other companies. As a bonus, Jason helped identify the source of rust in my water, which I've lived with for 5+ years.

ALCO is the best! This is the third time I have used them (twice for a KitchenAid oven and once for a Speed Queen clothes dryer.) They are prompt, professional and never fail to fix the problem. I would not call anyone else for appliance service.

I visited the Beltsville location and John, the owner, spent a lot of time giving me information about various brands and models. He was extremely knowledgeable and had great tips that helped me decide what to buy. We have an older row house with narrow doors and John even came to the house to measure doors and stairs to make sure my preferred choices would fit. Sherwin and Roger delivered the machines and did a terrific job of making sure not to nick the door frames. They also were extremely knowledgeable, ran the machines through cycles to make sure everything was working properly, and showed me how to operate them and gave useful tips. They also cleaned up beautifully. Everyone I dealt with, including the phone receptionist, was professional, polite, and responsive. I will definitely use them for all future appliance needs and recommend them unreservedly.

Called on Monday & described problem. Diagnosis was a failed timer switch. They said they could have the part by Wednesday and would call Wednesday morning to set up a service time for that day. Received the call as stated and arranged for a 3-5pm window for that day. Service tech arrived on time and replaced the switch in about 20 minutes and put everything back in place that was moved to gain access to the dryer controls.

Suggested I purchase a new one as the bearings were bad and would cost between $200-$300 to fix

I am extremely pleased with the service I got from Alco Appliance Repair. Initially, Alco replaced the dishwasher pump, but after that didn't solve the incomplete draining problem, they came back, swapped out the new pump for the old (which they told me to save), and replaced the hose, which did solve the problem. I was very impressed and happy that Alco would take back the new pump and provide me with a refund for its cost. Both men who came to my home were pleasant to deal with and very professional. Also, even though they made three trips to my home, I only got charged a single service charge because they didn't solve the problem initially. Overall, I highly recommend Alco Appliance Repair.

My KitchenAide oven was not working correctly on the regular bake or broil cycles but the convection cycles were working fine. I thought that the computer control probably needed to be replaced so, based on good reviews from Angie's List, I called Alco Appliance. The service technician arrived promptly on the scheduled day and carefully checked all the oven functions. He determined that the control panel did not need to be replaced, the oven only needed to be recalibrated and that is what he did. The technician could have sold me a new control panel at a cost of several hundred dollars and I would have been none the wiser. Instead, the charge for recalibration was just over $100. The oven has been working perfectly for over a month now. It is wonderful to find a company with such high integrity! They have my highest recommendation.

I called and got a fairly soon appointment (within a few days). The repair technician, Jason, was very professional and friendly as well as thorough, skilled and efficient. He replaced the igniter and had to order a new thermostat because the oven was running about 100 degrees higher than what the dial was set to. He said the part would probably come in by the end of the week and he could come back and install it then. He didn't charge me for the work that day, and said we could settle up when he finishes up the work. That was on Monday and he came back on Friday and finished the work within about 10 minutes. Good experience all around and I would recommend Alco to friends and family after this experience with them.

This is a good small business with owners who actually do the work. The guy was punctual, professional, easy to work with and gave me a special deal because I was a referral. My only problem is recently he did not call me back when I asked (two separate calls) for recommendations for a washing machine. That ticked me off so I went with Home Depot!

I've used ALCO for 26 years for refrigerators, dishwasher, washer, and dryer--they have always provided superb service and expert advice.

Fantastic and easy. Referred by my condo management company. Professional and courteous in quickly fixing minor issues with some appliances. Also called when my disposal was broken, which they could not fix, but referred me to someone else to fix the disposal (their referral also was quick and professional).

The person who recommended ALCO to me told me that I won't be able to get them right away, which was true as I had to wait over a week. THis was not a problem on my end but may be for others. Otherwise it was all perfect. Jason arrived on time, identified the problem and put everything back together in no time. What's crazy is that the fridge had previously been repaired by another company only 7 month earlier. They actually put an old defrost timer in!!! Jason replaced it with a new one and the fridge is working great. I also asked Jason about the fact that my gas stove does not always light up. He took out a little tool that looked like a needle-file and cleaned out the burners. He did not charge me for this at all. Next time an appliance breaks, I will definitely call ALCO. I just have to make sure to stick to the main US brands (ALCO only repairs a limited set of brands).

Given the opportunities for abuse and scamming in the appliance repair business, I checked Angie's List and reviews for a trustworthy local outfit (Alco is 5 minutes north of my home in College Park MD. I was not disappointed. I dealt by phone and e-mail with Jason and Josh, both of whom were sharp, knowledgeable, pleasant and bent over backwards to accommodate my schedule. My initial appointment was for January 25 (a SATURDAY!) to have the dryer looked at. I'd provided Alco with the make/model/serial #, and they were able to tell from that info that the machine was likely quite fixable. This morning (Thursday, Jan. 23rd) Josh called from the Alco office to say there had been a service call cancellation for this afternoon, and if I'd like, Jason could stop by this afternoon between 2 and 4. I grabbed the chance readily, and Jason showed up at 3:30. In minutes, Jason had diagnosed the no-heat problem (a burned-out igniter, rather like a tiny version of glow plugs found in Diesel car engines), and also suggested that since the dryer was sitting there open in front of us, a new drum belt (the current belt being the original one) wouldn't be a bad idea. I agreed 100%, and in another few minutes a new belt was turning the dryer drum. Total cost: $121.04 for the service call and the two replacement parts (igniter and belt). Need I say more? A new, low-end gas dryer from a big-box store would have run 5 times that price, and probably not last as long as this aging but U.S.-made Kenmore (it was made for Sears by Whirlpool back then). Guess where my next appliance repair call will be directed?! THANK YOU, ALCO, JASON AND JOSH! *****

Provider was pleasant and specific on the phone. Service was scheduled promptly, and provider came during service window. Problem was easily diagnosed and repaired in one visit with the correct part. Provider asks for detailed information on your appliance's model number when scheduling repair visit, so that they can bring necessary parts. Repairman was quick, efficient, and tidy. Alco saved us from having to buy a new fridge or waiting a week or two for the correct part. We would definitely use them again.

This would be all A's except for some confusion about the date of the service call that required rescheduling. Technician arrived within window provided, diagnosed and repaired problem in about 20 min and got our over working again. Polite and professional service. I have used Alco a number of times before with good results. If you need immediate help they may not be able to handle you, but if it can wait a few days its worth it.

John at Alco Appliance came as scheduled, diagnosed that the fan in the defrost section of the freezer was not operating properly. He replaced the fan, cleaned the freezer and the coils under the fridge, all to our satisfaction. He was courteous and professional, and his rates were reasonable.

Fantastic. I thought the loud scraping noises were coming from some kind of gears turning the tumbler, but the service provider correctly assessed it as a simple-to-fix problem of stuff in the drain. Two coins emerged and he was done. We tested it, but apparently not enough--the next time I used it, it leaked on the floor. I called back, and he came back two days later and adjusted the drainage pipe and it was all done. Everyone I spoke to was polite and competent. I'm completely happy. Even though things went a bit wrong at the end, they came back and fixed it up without any complaints or hesitation. I would recommend these guys to anyone who needs appliance repair.

John, the repairman who came to my house, was wonderful. Very personable and knowledgeable. This company does not replace compressors themselves - say it's a specialized job. But they work with a subcontractor who subsequently came to do the replacement. Alco saved me the cost of the compressor even though I no longer had the paperwork. They were able to do it under warranty even though I had no papers and didn't buy it from them. They have earned their top notch reputation.

The freezer continues to have a large frozen slab of ice in the freezer. Called the company back scheduled another service call, they didn't show up then called to say that they didn't think it was anything else that they could do to fix the freezer, so they advised that we either replace the entire fridge or just not use the freezer. I asked for a refund and am still awaiting an answer.

I told him all the problems with the dishwasher over the phone. After explaining, he was honest with me and told me to not repair it, would be too difficult and expensive and it wouldn't be worth it.

As usual, I was very satisfied with the quality of service. For years I've been using Alco to keep my old appliances working. I've dealt with owner John and technician Herman; both are extremely honest, professional and full of good advice and recommendations. I've had at least three different repairs over the years to a sturdy old Kenmore dryer (circa 1977) I inherited that consisted of replacing the door latch and the heating element. Today the drum belt had to be replaced. After the repair John even looked into my complaint about my Kenmore refrigerator (yep, circa 1977) not freezing properly. He suspected the problem to be dust that collected on the coils which he vacuumed and assured me that should do the trick. The service is A+ and very cost effective. I have nothing but respect for these guys.

I called to make an appoinment because the refrigerator was not cooling. The repairman arrived as scheduled. Based on the problems I was having with my refrigerator, he was able to diagnosis the problem. He defrosted the freezer and replaced a small regulator unit. The refrigerator has not had any other problems since the repair. I was pleased with the service.

This was an overall decent experience because now my washing machine works and before it didn't. However, the first attempt to repair it didn't actually fix the problem, requiring a second trip that I was still charged for and that caused me to have to leave work early for a second afternoon. The man does seem to be an expert on these machines and I would still trust him to be able to fix another appliance in the future. I would still recommend him for his work, despite the downsides of this experience.

When I called they set up a date for the service but couldn't provide a time. They said to call at 10am the day of service and they would provide a time. This could be problematic for some, but I was able to be home the whole day. When I called at 10am and received a time estimate, they were true to that time which I appreciated. The technician who came to out house got right to work. Even though there were three toddlers running around, he didn't seem at all phased. He asked me to test his work before he left, and I was delighted that the oven was working again. Cost was a little more than I expected but not unreasonable, especially for next day service. Shortly after the repair, the oven was still working, but it was taking a while to ignite, and would ignite with a blast which made me nervous. I called Alco 2 weeks later after the problem worsened, and they sent the same technician back. He made some adjustments and fixed the delay and blast. I was preparing to have to fight to not pay for the return visit, but they did not even request or suggest a return service fee of any sort. Would definitely recommend and use again.