KENMORE APPLIANCE REPAIR SERVICE

On Monday, I scheduled a repair for Wednesday. I gave them both my home number and my mobile. They were suppose to be there between 9 and 12. When they had not come (or given me a courtesy call before they came as promised), I called and was told that I had cancelled the appointment. When I explained that I had not cancelled anything and that I had taken the day off from work, I was told that was my problem and they could come in a couple of days if I wanted. When I pleaded for them to try to find a way, I got "sorry about that".

The people from Appliance Service Co eventually found out the problem and rectified it. Their service was good.

Originally quoted more expensive part, after working on the dryer found that another cheaper part failed. Informed me and reduced price of the service.

The first day, the repairman was scheduled for a 9AM--noon appointment; When he didn't show, I called the scheduler and the repairman showed up in the afternoon. For the follow-up visit, he said he would be there at 9 AM and came around 10:30. He seemed competent in his assessment and in the work done (although the replacement switch is very hard to turn on and off.) His repair estimate was parts and two hours labor to replace the switch. When I said I wouldn't have it done, he offered to throw in an hour's service as part of the diagnostic charge. The next day, my stopwatch said it took 13 minutes to replace the switch, not counting any paperwork such as bill paying. Of course, since this company repairs all brands, it is unlikely that a replacement part would be on their truck; therefore expect a second call and you with resulting charges once the part comes in. (That same day I had another repairman on a different appliance who had the needed part on his truck and was charged for only one visit. The difference here is I called the manufacturer's service for that appliance.)

The technician (Oswaldo/Ozzy) replaced the Lid Switch on the washer. He broke the old parts removing them and instead of replacing the entire switch assembly, which was the basis for the labour charge, he cut the wires and spliced into them. He then took the old parts even though I requested he leave them and signed the invoice with a special line stating that he left them. I paid with a check for the full amount not realizing they were gone. Later that week the company called to say they had lost the check and wanted a credit card over the phone. At that time I complained about the parts being taken by the technician and they said to just forget about the bill and that the service was free. A few days later they called again stating that they wanted full payment. I told them they would have to pay the check cancellation fee which they agreed to. I never received another invoice for the new amount. After a month or so I got a phone call threatening collections so I called back and again talked about the fact that the parts had been removed and about the labour charge based on the installation of the entire switch assembly. The manager (Henry) agreed to a discount bringing the total to $100 and an agreement that a new invoice would be delivered. Later that day the same technician came to the house and was rude when I confronted him about the missing parts and told me to "complain to the management." I paid the invoice and called the manager to complain about his attitude and the manager (Henry) exploded telling me he was going to sue me and that "things would get dark from here" and that I had "pushed him over the edge."

I was pleased, because I only had to pay for the service call. When they came out they looked everything out and were honest enough to tell me that they believed it was a problem with the electronic board. They said that they were about ninety percent sure that was the problem, but that they would not suggest swapping the board out. They suggested I watch for any more problems and give them a call if the problem persisted. I was impressed by their honesty.

I called to schedule an appointment on Saturday and they gave me a 3 hour window when the technician would show up. Joe showed up within the first hour of the window about 12:00. After he diagnosed the problem, he had to leave to go get parts and was gone for over an hour. After he came back and installed the parts, he told us that it we needed an additional part that was not in the first estimate. He finally finished around 4:00pm. When he put the dryer back, he did not reconnect the dryer exhaust and the first load made the utility room very humid.