A&E FACTORY SERVICE

We have a Kenmore gas water heater that was installed in 2005, and we have problems with the pilot light not staying lit on an annual basis. For this reason, we have an extended service warranty. In the past the Sears tech has replaced the burner assembly and other parts. This time Sears sent Ozzie from A&E Factory Service. He was fantastic--checked everything very carefully, listened to my complaints about the water heater itself, and seems to have fixed the problem without the usual "wait a week for the part to be mailed to our home" routine that we've had in past years. He was friendly, professional, and answered all of my questions. He even called back later that afternoon to make sure that the pilot light remained lit.

I asked a friend to recommend a company that could fix appliances and she told me about A&E. I called them and set up an appointment for them to come out and repair my cooktop and ice maker. They told me they would charge me $60 to make a call but that the repair or labor costs would come out of that charge. I gave them the model and serial numbers and told them what the problem was. They told me they would send out someone between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. At 9 a.m. a very nice man arrived and looked at the cooktop. He took the cooktop apart and scrutinized the problem till around lunch time. He ordered a part and said he would be back at 2:30 to install it. I asked him about the ice maker and he said a different repairman would come out for that appliance. A courier arrived at my house and dropped off the part. He looked like he had just gotten out of prison. I called A&E to see where the other repairman was and was told he would be there shortly. At 2:30 the repairman returned and after he installed the new element he told me it was the switch that was broken, not the element. He called someone and they told him the part was no longer available. He charged me $65 and left. I called A&E again to see where the icemaker repairman was and was told he would be there by 4 p.m. Then at 5:00 p.m. the second repairman arrived. He was very courteous. He unhooked my icemaker and went out to his truck to get a new one. He came back and said that he did not have the correct one on his truck. He then charged me again and at 6:30 p.m. he left. I called the company and told them I was unhappy with their service and was told that they had reviewed the information they had and would not refund all or any of my money. I am very dissatified because I gave the model and serial numbers of the appliances and they could have checked to see that they had proper parts on their trucks before they made their calls to my house. I also was expecting one repairman not two. I had repairmen in my house that day from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. When I asked A&E how long they had been in business the voice on the other end would not tell me. I also asked if they were owned by Sears and he would not say anything but, "we have a close working relationship". Why weren't they forthcoming? Why didn't they tell me they would be sending two different repairment 8 hours apart? Why did they tell me that my trip charge would be applied to the parts or labor charges? When I gave them all of the details about my appliances why did they not have the proper parts to repair them? Why won't they divulge who they are owned by? Why did they promise to be at my house by noon and not show up till 5 p.m. I believe this is a scam. They had no intention of repairing my appliances. They only make appointments, come out and diagnose them incorrectly and then charge the customer. I am very dissatisfied with A&E Factory Service. I am out $135 and neither of my appliances work properly.

They took their own sweet time to get out here. The man was in training and didn't have a clue what he was doing. He removed my water filter and did not have a replacement. When he left, he left the water filter out. He did not trip the wire that would have shut off the flow of water through the filter causing it to leak. I had a huge mess on my hands that they took no responsibility for it.

Melvin was prompt, called before he came, explained the costs of part and labor, and had the repair completed by the end of the day.

On time. Very professional.

Parts all arrived by Wednesday, Oct 28th, & I tried to get them to come back before another weekend of using Igloo ice chests for our food. The best that they could do was to move it to Monday, Nov 2nd. Okay, I can deal with waiting until then, but I should have known that they must over-schedule their techs when he arrived at the end of the four hour repair window. Next time I will trust my gut feeling. I now type this at 2:20 pm and still no response from their tech even though I have called A&E's 800# three times starting at 11:40. The first cust service rep said that they were "almost finished with what they were working on & were only about 20 minutes away." The second rep said (at 12:40) "that they would send a message for the tech to call my cell phone for an accurate ETA." I spoke to a third rep & asked for a discount on the labor since they were over an hour late. When she said "no" I then told her that I was going to keep the parts and look up a service provider on Angie's List. She actually said that would be okay. So that is what I plan to do. Arrgh!

Guy showed up on time in spiffy van, checked dryer, pulled up live-time price/inventory on laptop, and got the job done--all in about 25 minutes. Super professional and, actually, quite impressive.

I had a re-authorization that this issue was under warranty. When the tech came, he had to verify again that it was under warranty. The guy was very professional. He ordered parts and they were delivered to me. He was able to come back and repair the a/c with the correctly ordered parts I had received. The tech was fast and through. His name was Paul.

I always ask for Ray Mills. He is knowledgeable and experienced. He will actually do the work and do what needs to be done.

The guy was here literally for half an hour and removed two baby socks from the drain. The bill was $170 for labor! Seriously?

It was a very pleasant experience.

Arrived as promised. Very professional, did not leave a mess and explained the process as he made the repair.