Appliance . net - Topic: Servicer Question

servicetech on Servicer Question

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 14:54:33 +0000

Forgot to repost on this-- I ended up acceping what they had paid, wrote the customer a letter stating that, I felt they still owed me money and I would not be doing any more repair work for them until all monies had been paid. As of this date have not got any more money or work from them. Heard from a different service company [That I know very well] had refused to do work for them because of them owing me, and they told them that. Still do not feel I ever did anything wrong or dis-honest in my dealing with them.

subzerorepair on Servicer Question

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:35:44 +0000

I'm searching for appliance servives. Where can I find one?

servicetech on Servicer Question

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:39:51 +0000

I was hoping for some more comments on this---I might add to the origanal post,[20 years of service], my normal charge for this job is around $500-$600.

20 years of service on Servicer Question

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:08:15 +0000

I've never been an appliance tech, but i spent 20plus years as a computer tech, so I can relate. When you are doing investigative troubleshooting and problem solving, it isn't always possible to identify the underlying problem in a time that the consumer is happy with. On his side you can understand his reluctance to pay for multiple visits. In your defence, you walked through all of the reasonable diagnostics and identified and solved the problem.

Really the customer should pay the full bill, you were hired to solve a problem and you did so. Whether it took one visit or two. But customers aren't always reasonable. Surprising given your long history with this customer.

I would suggest a possible compromise: Let the customer know that you can hear their concerns are willing to work with them. You can see why they woudn't want to pay for two service calls. BUT, if you had found the leaks on the first visit, that would have been a 275 dollar service call not a 100 dollar service call. So I would offer to write off the labor of the first call, but charge the full labor cost for the second call where you did the actual repair work.

i can sympathize with him not wanting to pay extra because it took two visits, but he shouldn't get a discount either. he should pay for what the repair would have cost.

just my two cents.

John on Servicer Question

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:33:54 +0000

Your problem seems legit, but I've heard of guys who rip people off by setting things up so they need to come back over and over again. Sometimes they don't even fix anything the first time. I know you were honest, but I'm just saying...

NightOwl on Servicer Question

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:08:48 +0000

Mostly we hear about consumer concerns here at appliance.net. It's enlightening to hear the other side of the story. Seeing your answers here in the forums, it's clear you really know your stuff; those must have been tiny holes. I can understand your frustration with the situation, you put in a lot of time. I hope it all works out well - please let us know.

servicetech on Servicer Question

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:45:29 +0000

I have been running service around 34 years and something happen that I would like some feedback on. I ran a call for a customer [I have ran many calls for this customer in the past, never had them question me before] this call was for a down refrigerator, no cool, I checked the unit over and found it was out of freon, I accessed the freon lines and recharged the system. I checked the unit and could not find a leak anywhere. I explained to the customer what I had done and charged them $100, I was on this call for about 3 hours, my normal call rate is $60 service call- trip plus 30 minutes labor, then $60 per hour, I also explained that sometimes leaks are very small and sometimes I can't find them, I have done this very same thing in the past many times. The unit went for another 4 months then started to not hold temperature. The customer called again, I ran to there house and sure enough it was low on gas again. I rechecked the unit and this time I found 2 leaks, one on the coil inside the freezer and one on the tubing going down the back of the unit, was there 2 hours [This is a built-in refg]. I ordered the parts, returned and installed the parts, recharged the system, I was there 4 hours. I then billed the customer for the parts, around $300, and another $275 for labor. The customer informed me that they were not paying my labor bill only for the parts. I have about 9 hours in this call and have only received $100 for my time. I tried to explain the time to them and they say I should have found it on my first call. I'm wondering if anybody would give me there opinion on if I was out of line. At this time I have not cashed the parts check, I'm thinking more action may be in line. Thank you for any and all comments.