My refrigerator had been leaking water every once in a while for the past several months. One morning I realized it had blown a fuse overnight, and then it stopped cooling and emitting a chemical odor.
I called Gary based on the reviews on Home Stars, and his service was excellent. He answered the phone right away, and was at my place within a few hours. My low rating is based purely on the price for the work (or rather, lack of work) done. He quoted me about $100-150 for the labour, plus parts, when we spoke on the phone, and that didn't seem too outrageous for a city repairman.
Unfortunately, when he got to my place, he looked at my fridge for a few minutes (less than 5), and then told me I had to replace it - that there was no freon, so it was not cooling. I know nothing about appliance repairs, so I don't know if that is something fixable or not, but to charge me $86 + taxes to tell me that, the service is overpriced. I should have gone with the local company here who had a service charge of $60.
After Gary left, I put two and two together myself, and figured the fridge was leaking the freon, so I disconnected the power (as the smell was extremely pungent). Gary had never encountered the smell before (and didn't seem sure if it was freon or not), which seemed strange to me for a repairman with over 30 years experience.
Instead of getting a second opinion, I decided to cut my losses (food and service cost) and buy a new fridge. A word of advice to those shopping around: Ask what the cost will be if the repairman is unable to fix your appliance. Bad news is always easier to take when expectations have been properly set.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $97.00