Why is repairing your appliance such a nightmare?
Appliance Repair Quotes
from local appliance repairmen
I'm sure I'm not the only person who's thought that I'd just prefer to buy a new appliance than go through the rigmarole of getting the old one fixed. Appliance repair is a classic area where the consumer is held hostage by confusing processes and lack of information, plus poorly balanced economics.
First - is it under warranty or not?
Usually for me this involves scrabbling through millions of badly filed receipts to find out when I bought it. Often, the warranty has ended a short time before it broke - do they time these things like this? Is it a conspiracy?
If your appliance is under warranty
If it is, you need to phone a specific place and make your request for service. Often business hours only, part time weekend hours and long queues to speak to a human. Usually you'll be put through a patronising set of questions to identify whether the appliance is in fact broken and it's not just the user (ie YOU!) who's being silly about it. I'm sure that many people are in fact the cause of the error, but I'm not convinced these services have gotten the balance between customer service and business efficiency quite right.
If you get through the gatekeeper with their questions, you get a reference number and an estimation of when the service technician will be there to fix it. This can be immediate or not, depending on what kind of service you purchased when you chose your brand. No matter how much pleading you do, nothing will get this date moved forward, because customer service in this situation is often viewed in the same way as returns are - a big hassle that costs the company money. (Rational people know that it's an opportunity to make these your customers for life by correcting the service failure as speedily as possible!).
The technician will arrive, sometimes on time, sometimes not, and with varying results. Cue more patronising questions (especially of course when they can't figure out what's wrong). Sometimes they'll fix it immediately, sometimes they'll have to wait for a part. Wait for a part? Shouldn't they be fully stocked with all parts potentially needed for this job, given that the technician knew what kind of appliance it was before they arrived?
Although sometimes this process is painless, often it's not. So many things can go wrong, it's almost impossible to have a good experience. Have any of you had an amazing customer service experience getting an appliance fixed under warranty? I'd love to be proved wrong, so email info@servicecentral.com.au, please!
If your appliance isn't under warranty
Sometimes this can be a bit of a relief, because at least you know when you're paying money in return for a defined service you have some control over the outcome. But finding the right qualified technician to fix your specific appliance can also be a bit of a nightmare. Why?
- Appliance repair companies don't all service the same brands. Often they receive training from the manufacturers, and so companies will often only service the appliances that are sold in volume.
- Appliance repair businesses run on very quick but high volume jobs, and so every day new jobs are needed to fill the pipeline of work - but it fills up fast. No one's going to wait around for 2 days with a broken fridge so if you're finding an appliance repair company the traditional way you can contact a large amount of businesses before you get one that's not too busy.
- It's sometimes not immediately apparent that the appliance is fixed, especially if you called a technician for a problem that only occurs occasionally. So, you need something else to bargain with other than just withholding payment like so many people do.
Luckily, Service Central works perfectly for appliance repair. You list your job and we send it out to all registered businesses. Only businesses that are able to do the work in your specified timeframe will respond, and then you have online feedback from other customers to recommend the technicians work. Plus, if you put the brand and model into you r job listing, you'll also reduce the likelihood of a business that doesn't service your particular brand from responding. Sometimes even I am amazed at how perfect a solution Service Central is, even if I am a little biased.
If, at the end of the day, you decide to get a new appliance and turf the old one, remember you can also list a job to get the old appliance taken away. Choosing to get a new one is often the most expensive solution but money can save you a lot of potential hassle too!
Appliance Repair Quotes
from local appliance repairmen
