Finding the Perfect Appliance Repair Technician
Even the best appliances will eventually require repair and maintenance due to years of wear and tear. Instead of buying new appliances, rest assured that appliance repair technicians are skilled, easy to find, and best of all, affordable.
Appliance Repair Types
Appliance repair centres are often equipped to deal with a wide range of appliance repairs. These include large appliances, such as stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, dryers, water heaters, and ovens. In addition, many offer small appliance services for microwaves, air conditioners, and garbage disposals.
Certain companies may offer ice maker, ice machine, warming drawer, and BBQ repair as well.
Common refrigerator repairs include compressor fan problems, icemaker issues, and fan motors.
Common washer issues include failing to drain, wobbling, leaking, under filling, and mechanical failures.
Common dryer issues involve igniters, flame sensors, gas valves, and thermal fuses.
Finally, some examples of common oven issues include broken burners, indicator lights problems, poor heating, bad temperature, faulty baking/broiling, and stuck oven door.
Choosing an Appliance Repair Technician
A broken appliance can severely affect one’s quality of life. A broken oven results in the lack of home cooked meals for your loved ones. A broken washing machine can spell long hours spent at the laundromat. Luckily, choosing an appliance repair technician is now easier than ever. Various business review websites, such as Yelp and the Better Business Bureau offer customers an easy way to verify a technician’s reputation. Negative reviews may be a warning sign; it is best to keep looking. Ensure that the technician is licensed and registered in your state or province. In addition, hiring a fully insured company is the best way to protect one’s assets.
Discussing the repair in detail and obtaining a written agreement will prevent any future misunderstandings or problems as well. Research the companies you are thinking of hiring. Consider their years of experience, read website reviews, read pamphlets and brochures. Speak with the technicians beforehand, if possible. Consider their expertise and your level of comfort with them. Do they offer great customer service? Do you feel confident that they can safely and accurately repair your appliance? Choosing a local company is also recommended, as many technicians charge based on distance to your location. They will also be able to respond to emergency situations much more promptly.
Finally, the best way to find the perfect technician is also the simplest – asking friends, neighbours, and coworkers for their personal recommendations. Word of mouth recommendations will often be genuine as well. These will be technicians that your community has used in the past and trusts. Feel free to shop around and compare prices. Various appliance repair technicians are available; find one that is the perfect fit for you.
Appliance Repair Costs
Appliance repair costs vary and are determined by geographical location, type of appliance, and speed of service required. Some companies offer their services on minimum service fee. This includes the cost of travelling to the site and diagnosing the problem. On average, domestic appliance service are about $100 USD and $110 for weekend and out of area services. This will be applied to the charge of the actual repair itself.
Often times, appliance service calls for microwaves, front-load washers, fireplaces, and high-end model appliances begin at $110 USD. Stacked washer and dryer models often begin at $125 USD. Other companies offer services hourly based on labour, with rates beginning at $75 – $85 USD, and increasing to $100-$200 USD.
Cost of appliance parts will also affect the total cost of repair services. Gas-powered appliance, such as heaters, stoves, refrigerators, and fireplaces are generally more expensive to fix than electrical ones. This is because fire and carbon monoxide leaks are possibilities during the repair of these appliances. In addition, parts for old appliances may be difficult to find. This will increase the cost of service.
Similarly, inaccessible and hard to reach appliances will often cost a bit more as well.
Dryers are approximately $180 USD and range from $100 to $400 USD, and dryer belts are approximately $200 USD. Washing machines and refrigerators range from $180 to $400 USD, and oven ranges are between $50 to $100 USD. Smaller repairs, such as microwaves, dishwashers, and garbage disposals range from $150 – $200 USD, depending on the parts needed.
With service calls, most companies offer expert service, factory trained technicians, 90-day service charge warranties, and 1-year labour warranties. Some companies will work with appliances under warranty as well.
My refrigerator hasn’t been cooling as efficiently as it used to, so I want to get it repaired soon before it causes my food to spoil and the unit to fail. Thank you for reminding us apart from labor fees, the cost of repair services will also depend on the cost of the appliance parts, especially if they’re old and have components that are hard to find. I’ll be sure to take note of this while I look for an appliance repair technician to hire for my fridge soon.
It made sense when you said that you could ask your friends, neighbors, and coworkers for recommendations to find the perfect technician. My mother has a commercial refrigerator given by a friend to her. She had it placed in her outdoor kitchen. She mentioned that for days now, it has not been working properly. Most of the food that she kept there keeps spoiling, so she is looking to have it repaired. Thanks for sharing this.