SCHMIDT'S HOME APPLIANCE

Good service.

We contacted them after a problem with our dishwasher. The technician arrived early and before I could get to the house, he entered the house anyway (I left a note on the door saying I would soon return), despite our large, barking dog. Not a good practice, for several reasons. Our old dishwasher was going to cost more to repair than it was worth. In the showroom, we felt as if we were being (subtlety) pushed toward the more expensive units. We opted for a less expensive one, anyway. When it arrived and the technician came to install it, he told us that he couldn't get it into the cabinet and the cabinet would need modification. He also gave us the name of a and quot;friendand quot; who could do it. He also, rather under his breath, but still where we could hear it, complained about us buying a and quot;cheapand quot; unit. Instead, we contacted a handy man we have used several times, who installed the unit in 30 minutes with no modifications. Then, three months later we get another bill from them for the original diagnostic call. In all fairness to them, I wrote them a letter with the late billing and told them of my displeasure. I got a call from one of the owners who explained that they had some other complaints and had stopped using the second tech. They also tore up the check for the diagnostic call, which was a reasonable thing to do. The bottom line, though, is that we ended up paying Schmidt's over $700 to obtain and install a $500 dishwasher, plus the $100 to our handyman to install what Schmidt's did not install, despite paying them for delivery AND installation. We are all for and quot;buying localand quot; and do so whenever possible, but the bottom line is that doing so in this case, cost us about 40% more than what Home Depot would have charged for the same unit. While we realize that many local brick and mortar stores are at a disadvantage compared to outfits like HD, Lowe's, etc., they need to (1) instill better decision-making with their technicians, (2) treat the customer's decisions with respect, (3) do their best (not the minimum) to perform, and (4) be at least close to competitive in their pricing. I do appreciate that they promptly and appropriately dealt with my complaint and that might be enough for me to at least consider them again for future needs, but I admit I will be skeptical.

IT TURNED OUT THAT REPLACING THE PARTS TO GET THE FREEZER WORKING WAS GOING TO BE VERY COSTLY AND WE DECIDED TO REPLACE THE WHOLE UNIT. THEY WERE VERY HELPFUL IN HELPING US REACH THAT DECISION.