I have a TAPPAN gas oven that was having issues with heating. After checking a number of company ratings listed on the HomeStars site, "Repair Care" rated very high. So I checked their website and learned that they provide repair services for a number of cities throughout Canada, including where I live here in Edmonton.
I called Repair Care who were able to schedule a technician to visit my place same day after I got home from work. Plus points for that. But what they failed to tell me is that the technician they scheduled was not actually from Repair Care but from another company. And when the technician came, there was no company logo on his uniform either. I had no clue that he was from another company until seeing the name on the invoice copy after the he left; "Paramount Appliance Repair." Had I known this, I would NEVER have booked with Repair Care. Paramount Appliance Repair’s ratings on HomeStars are absolutely horrible which is why I avoided calling them in the first place.
I understand now why their ratings are so low. First, the technician seemed disorganized and smelled of alcohol and body odour. After having a look at my oven, he told me I the igniter switch needed to be replaced and warned me that the needed replacement part for my oven would be hard to find. He did, however, just so happen to have a universal Ignitor Kit in his van that he thought might work.
After going to get it from his van and sizing it up with the worn ignitor, he said it would work but because it was a special universal ignitor, the cost was $150.00 and labour to install would be $150.00. He added that my oven is a very rare brand and that he is one of only a few techs who are qualified to work on them and that he’d have to make some modifications to the universal ignitor to make it fit and work properly.
What does one do? I didn't know enough and was relying on the HomeStar customer reviews I read that “Repair Care” is a good company. So I agreed to his quote and ended up paying $300.00 plus $15.00 GST. After some trial and error, where he kept loosing screws and pieces and even asked me if I saw where he put them in one instance, he had the oven working in about 20 minutes.
After he left, it seemed a little strange that he referred to the unit as "TANPAN" on a couple of occasions and even wrote on the invoice "TANPAN Stove." My gas stove and oven is a “TAPPAN” model; not “TANPAN.”
This prompted me to go on line to see if maybe “TANPAN” is a subsidiary of “TAPPAN” or vice versa. He claimed to be one of only a few people knowledgeable enough to service this kind of model. Perhaps he had an inside scoop on this brand I knew nothing about that resulted in his using a name variation.
Not only did I learn that:
a. there is no “TANPAN” company that makes ovens
But also:
b. that “TAPPAN” is a mainstream line of ovens and stoves
c. that my oven, along with the ignitor part, aren’t so rare after all.
Worst yet was finding out that:
d. this technician over-charged me about $100.00 for the igniter kit. I kept the box of the replacement kit he brought from his van. It is a Whirlpool Ignitor Kit 12400035. And when looking up this exact kit on line,
e. This kit is available on many sites ranging in price from as low as $33.00 CAD up to about $57.00 CAD. He charged me $150.00.
f. Boy! Did I get suckered!
Bottom line. If you are contacting Repair Care to schedule an appointment to get something fixed, be sure to ask them what exact company their technician will be coming from. And before you agree, make sure you do your homework on that company.
March 28, 2016:
I have read Repair Care's reply to my review. With regards to your comment, "On the day of your appointment, the RepairCare technician that was scheduled to service your Tappan gas stove was ill and we didn't want to let you down by rescheduling," let me make this clear. I was adamant that there was no rush on the repair. I told the person on the phone that I was perfectly okay to wait a number of days if necessary. When checking the tech schedule, his reply was that a RepairCare technician was available for the same day at the time I requested. Therefore, I agreed to the appointment time UNDER THE IMPRESSION IT WAS A REPAIR CARE TECHNICIAN, even though now I don't believe you have actual Repair Care Technicians in the Edmonton area. Nonetheless, based on your request to call Alek @ 587-400-2584, I will. However, if you are so caring and concerned, why hasn't anyone for your company attempted to contact me with regards to this issue? And why have you made no mention in your comments reply about what the actual cost should have been? If you hired someone from another company, surely you should have the specs in hand. And be rest assured, once I contact Alek, I will provide another follow up comment on this site.
