Service calls to fix appliances - $183 to change therm

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My mother has a Maytag dryer that is 4 years old. The cycling therm went. The repair man came over and charged $183##). That's $75 just to come over, $40 for the part, & $68 for the labor. It took exactly 7 minutes to change the part. I would rather pay $500 for a new dryer than pay that. Problem is, I'm not home and that same part I could have got it for around $35 shipped. What a joke, feel for the ones who get taken to the cleaners^<<^
 

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Sounds about right, drive time, gas, insurance, his time and beni's.. overhead telephone, advertising, tools ...

Last time my washer went I kicked it a few times, didn't work..
bought a nice front loader energy effecient barely used on craigslist for $100, refused to call anyone to the house....
 
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Agree, Total ripoff !

Called fios the other day to ask for another Phone Jack in my Home Office
they said No problem, $175 !
There's a line about 15 feet away that they can run it from...

Told them to forget it, I'll do it myself ^^:)
 

Rx God
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The best appliances are the free/ super cheap ones on Craigslist when somebody remodels.

Give me something that's been working fine for 10+ years over new junk anyday !

I've got a freezer that is probably older than me ( 47) best appliance I own.
 

Rx Dragon Puller
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The best appliances are the free/ super cheap ones on Craigslist when somebody remodels.

Give me something that's been working fine for 10+ years over new junk anyday !

I've got a freezer that is probably older than me ( 47) best appliance I own.

Its true , stuff built nowadays isnt built to last
 

Rx God
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buy something like a NEW refridgerator, dishwasher, washing machine, etc.

You're lucky if lasts 3 weeks before it has to exchanged for a new one from Sears or wherever.

4-5 fridges in a month or two before you get a good one is average.

old appliances are GOLD !

I sure as HELL don't the guys bringing in a new fridge, it will be gone in a week.
 

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Can you imagine responding to service calls involving overweight semi-coherent home-moms all day? $180.00 X10 per hour sounds about right.
 

Rx God
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Can you imagine responding to service calls involving overweight semi-coherent home-moms all day? $180.00 X10 per hour sounds about right.


So an appliance repairman deserves like $1800 a day ?

Of course the guy gets more like $20-30 /hour and the rest goes to the company he works for.

Well you have to consider the travel time and such.

How far would you drive to pick up a $100 bill waiting for you.

Not a trick question, you just go to an address and get a $100 bill handed to you ?

I'd say at 50 miles ( each way) driving an F-150 thats about the limit. It would take me two hours of time , and $20 in gas plus wear and tear . That would be better with an old economy car like a Civic

That $100 is basically an average/ semi-decent job at $12.50/ hour, but you don't even have to work your shift ! just show up and collect $100 and leave.
 

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My mother has a Maytag dryer that is 4 years old. The cycling therm went. The repair man came over and charged $183##). That's $75 just to come over, $40 for the part, & $68 for the labor. It took exactly 7 minutes to change the part. I would rather pay $500 for a new dryer than pay that. Problem is, I'm not home and that same part I could have got it for around $35 shipped. What a joke, feel for the ones who get taken to the cleaners^<<^

Well late last night, the same thing happened again with the dryer. I will be calling this morning, and I will not spend another cent on this side. Problem is, the dryer gets hot, but the clothes are taking 2 - 2.5 hours to dry compared to 1 hour like it has been doing the past 4 years. The exhaust is clear and free flowing. Have no idea what could be causing this.
 
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Well late last night, the same thing happened again with the dryer. I will be calling this morning, and I will not spend another cent on this side. Problem is, the dryer gets hot, but the clothes are taking 2 - 2.5 hours to dry compared to 1 hour like it has been doing the past 4 years. The exhaust is clear and free flowing. Have no idea what could be causing this.


You know you will get the, Well we Fixed the "First" problem... Now you have a New Problem ! :ohno:
 

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You know you will get the, Well we Fixed the "First" problem... Now you have a New Problem ! :ohno:

I will be calling him at 9, I will NOT pay another cent. On top of the $3500 over the past few years (all new appliances from him), it will be fixed FOC (free of charge).
 

I'll be in the Bar..With my head on the Bar
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I will be calling him at 9, I will NOT pay another cent. On top of the $3500 over the past few years (all new appliances from him), it will be fixed FOC (free of charge).

Cant wait to hear how that conversation goes. anyways its almost 50/50 that either your air is not moving properly....i know u said u ckd the vents but that maytag has a terrible lint screen and lets lots of stuff go by. i find socks and things in the blower wheel all the time, thus restricting the airflow.
But that should have caused you to blow an overheating fuse not a cycle t-stat.. That blower wheel is also cheap thin plastic and is well known for stripping out and then only turning half as fast as it should......but again that should blow a fuse at some point.

The next problem would be a broken htg element. it breaks but 1 end touches metal so it heats to that point......if ur man is honest and did change the stat and not a fuse (which is kinda wat i suspect) then the element needs to be pulled and visually inspected for a break......an Ohmmeter may not show it broken....
 

I'll be in the Bar..With my head on the Bar
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And just to explain the pricing. Sounds like she callled 1 of the factory service guys. They all charge a fee to pull up in the driveway then labor after that. Usually 1 hr minimum too. so u get the $75 to show up and the $66 to fix it no matter what the prob is. She probably got them from the yellow pages.....ever run an ad there? we're talking $1200 a month easily.......that part you can have shipped for cheap......he had it on his truck and in ur machine before you could have gotten an email off to the other guys. Thats the service u pay for. expenses out the ass in that buisness not to mention everything has gone chinese and computerized till nobody knows how to fix anything. It takes me sometimes 3 days of research to figure out a problem with some of todays refrigerators, then i may order the part 3 times before i get 1 that works....
Appliance repair is not a "handymans" job anymore, it takes a higher level of education than i have for todays units for sure..... But on a good note, you wont have to worry about it much longer....you wont be able to afford appliances much less be able to pay to use them...
 

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Cant wait to hear how that conversation goes. anyways its almost 50/50 that either your air is not moving properly....i know u said u ckd the vents but that maytag has a terrible lint screen and lets lots of stuff go by. i find socks and things in the blower wheel all the time, thus restricting the airflow.
But that should have caused you to blow an overheating fuse not a cycle t-stat.. That blower wheel is also cheap thin plastic and is well known for stripping out and then only turning half as fast as it should......but again that should blow a fuse at some point.

The next problem would be a broken htg element. it breaks but 1 end touches metal so it heats to that point......if ur man is honest and did change the stat and not a fuse (which is kinda wat i suspect) then the element needs to be pulled and visually inspected for a break......an Ohmmeter may not show it broken....

I called him this morning and he will be calling me back. Thanks so much for your input, maybe the bin is not turning what it should be.
 

Whatever
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Inform yourselves people. They charge what they do because people pay it. Unfortunate. I changed my heating element on furnace, after 10 minutes on net researching, and saved about $175. Plug it in was all and buy the part online at cost.
 

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Omg

Might have found the problem:ohno:. The exhaust that goes outside was blowing out with no problem, but I checked it again today and it seems that my mother cleaned it out two weeks ago and when she pushed up on the plastic covering, the lip stuck to the inner lip of the plastic output. I will do a load of clothes tonight and see if my problem is resolved, hope that's the case. If that's the case, I will request at least the labor and parts charge for something I did not need (thermostat)~~:<<.
 

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Solved

Might have found the problem:ohno:. The exhaust that goes outside was blowing out with no problem, but I checked it again today and it seems that my mother cleaned it out two weeks ago and when she pushed up on the plastic covering, the lip stuck to the inner lip of the plastic output. I will do a load of clothes tonight and see if my problem is resolved, hope that's the case. If that's the case, I will request at least the labor and parts charge for something I did not need (thermostat)~~:<<.

That's what it was:103631605. It was sticking just enough to cause this problem, I will call tomorrow for some type of refund. We will see
 

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