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Dilemma: Fix an older GE fridge or just get a new one? (1 Viewer)

H

Harry Frogfish

Footballguy
The fridge started losing temperature like the arctic.  Perishables have all been moved and taken care of, btw.

The "GE" certified guys on Google, Yelp, etc. want about 80 bucks just to come out and asses the situation.  The actual repair costs (parts and labor) come after that, which most people will just say go ahead and do it (they want/need their fridge back).

And yes, she tried cleaning the back coils and whatnot and went through all the various YouTube fixes, to no avail.

I think the 12+ year old thing might be toast and getting a new one is the call.  Otherwise, a repair is coming, with some meager warrantee, if that.

What do you guys think?  Find a new fridge for a decent price that will do the job?  Used?  Any suggestions?  Nothing too fancy/pricey, please.  

Thanks.

GE Model PDCS1NBX / PDCF1NBX

 
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Only 12 years old? To me it's probably worth $80 to fix.

On a side note comparing this to a 737 Max nose dive is not in good taste. In my opinion.

 
I'd look through this to make your decision. Seems like there are few parts that could be perfectly fine to replace at a reasonable cost. But if it's the condenser or main board it might not be worth it on a 12yr old Fridge. Modern day fridges are no where near their older counterparts in terms of longevity. Seems like the more energy efficient they become they less reliable long term.

 
ChiefD said:
Only 12 years old? To me it's probably worth $80 to fix.
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$80 is only the cost of "coming out" to assess and/or make the fix.  I am sure the fix will be well more than that.  That's the problem.  Will the fix -- with this part and that part and the labor costs that go along with it -- end up at a cost only a few hundred bucks less than a new fridge (with warrantee)?  Thus, the conundrum.  

And this is for a single Mom, mind you.  I'd like to think they won't run up the register, but I doubt it.

 
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Harry Frogfish said:
$80 is only the cost of "coming out" to assess and/or make the fix.  I am sure the fix will be well more than that.  That's the problem.  Will the fix -- with this part and that part and the labor costs that go along with it -- end up at a cost only a few hundred bucks less than a new fridge (with warrantee)?  Thus, the conundrum.  

And this is for a single Mom, I'd like to think they won't run up the register, but I doubt it.
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Right. Probably should rephrase and say $80 to see what's going on. From that point make a decision. 

 
And it depends on the repair. If it's less than $500 I'd probably fix it. Any more than that and I'd probably replace.

 
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ChiefD said:
And it depends on the repair. If it's less than $500 I'd probably fix it. Any more than that and I'd probably replace.
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Agree with this. We replaced one recently and even only halfway decent fridges are going well north of a grand, particularly given the supply chain issues going on.

 
New fridges are terrible and unreliable.   I would fix it if you can within reason.  The $500 seems within reason.  You can also pay the $80 for the diagnostic and then based on what they say look into fixing it yourself if it's not a big deal.  Regardless paying the $80 seems like the way to go at this point.    

 
I'm in a similar situation with mine. $80 to replace a 2006 GE model ice maker or get a new refrigerator that is ridiculously expensive, but shiny and some potential improved storage. Pretty sure I'm going ice maker replacement. 

 
Osaurus said:
I'm in a similar situation with mine. $80 to replace a 2006 GE model ice maker or get a new refrigerator that is ridiculously expensive, but shiny and some potential improved storage. Pretty sure I'm going ice maker replacement. 
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I replaced my ice maker awhile back.  Youtube is your friend.  Quite a few little nuances that were helped greatly by having the video to watch.  It wasn't that difficult but was kind of pain to have to take off the entire bottom drawer front (freezer on the bottom) and wiggle my way back to secure the unit in the back of the space.  

 
Gally said:
I replaced my ice maker awhile back.  Youtube is your friend.  Quite a few little nuances that were helped greatly by having the video to watch.  It wasn't that difficult but was kind of pain to have to take off the entire bottom drawer front (freezer on the bottom) and wiggle my way back to secure the unit in the back of the space.  
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Thx. Mine is in a side by side and way easy to replace as it's one whole component. I think I am going to replace it soon.

 
Gally is right. Not only are new fridges terrible, they're also unobtainable in the color and fit you want. My brother has been waiting on six months for his, my parents are waiting about a year before the make and model they want is available. 

It's been a problem within my family. You should probably fix the fridge. 

 
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I'd certainly try diagnosing yourself 1st.   You might be able to do a little trial and error with some amazon parts that can be returned if their counterpart is not the issue. 

 
Buy new being that it’s over 10 years old, imo. That’s about my cut-off for most appliances if they need repairs. 

 
Amazon cost is about $150 for the part.  Just have to make sure it's the right one.

So she's looking at $450, after some haggling, but that's his bottom line, after the $80 visit.

So all told, the difference is about $300 to get it done today in less than an hour.  Her son, a mechanic, can do that tomorrow.  Perishables are at a friend's home, btw, so no problem there.

I'm not discounting the time and experience and warranty (1 year), but might as well DIY.  Just wondering if a new one isn't worth it at this point.

BTW, the fridge tech said steer clear of Samsung, LG and whatever American fridge company Samsung bought (forget the name), lol.

Thanks for the help!

 
Harry Frogfish said:
Amazon cost is about $150 for the part.  Just have to make sure it's the right one.

So she's looking at $450, after some haggling, but that's his bottom line, after the $80 visit.

So all told, the difference is about $300 to get it done today in less than an hour.  Her son, a mechanic, can do that tomorrow.  Perishables are at a friend's home, btw, so no problem there.

I'm not discounting the time and experience and warranty (1 year)
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Yes you are. 
 

As a guy who works in the trades this irritates me to no end. And you would be on a Do Not Service list at our company. Is it within your right to do it? Sure.

But it’s weak sauce.

 
Harry Frogfish said:
Amazon cost is about $150 for the part.  Just have to make sure it's the right one.

So she's looking at $450, after some haggling, but that's his bottom line, after the $80 visit.

So all told, the difference is about $300 to get it done today in less than an hour.  Her son, a mechanic, can do that tomorrow.  Perishables are at a friend's home, btw, so no problem there.

I'm not discounting the time and experience and warranty (1 year), but might as well DIY.  Just wondering if a new one isn't worth it at this point.

BTW, the fridge tech said steer clear of Samsung, LG and whatever American fridge company Samsung bought (forget the name), lol.

Thanks for the help!
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$300 to have somebody do it tomorrow? Yeah, I probably would have gone with that. You're going to watch a Youtube video, think it'll take an hour, it'll take three... just be done with it. 

 
FBG26 said:
$300 to have somebody do it tomorrow? Yeah, I probably would have gone with that. You're going to watch a Youtube video, think it'll take an hour, it'll take three... just be done with it. 
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$300 was to have it done today and be done with it.

Saving $300 to hopefully get the right part, have it done tomorrow, and hope that it goes well.

 
FBG26 said:
$300 to have somebody do it tomorrow? Yeah, I probably would have gone with that. You're going to watch a Youtube video, think it'll take an hour, it'll take three... just be done with it. 
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It's done.  I called and he came back and finished the job in no time.

I should've clarified some things.  I'm not there and it's not my home.  Prior contractors and handymen have taken this single mom to the bank before, thus my precaution.

So yes, instead of "saving" 300 bucks, he knocked it out in like 1/2 an hour, as expected, but did shave 15% off the bill so all's well.

Thanks for everybody's input -- I wasn't going to post such a trivial issue here in the first place, but then became curious what the response would be -- and once again, this place delivered, it's great.

The one thing I'm disappointed about, is no Ron Swanson reply.  Waited all day for him to come by.

 
ChiefD said:
Yes you are. 
 

As a guy who works in the trades this irritates me to no end. And you would be on a Do Not Service list at our company. Is it within your right to do it? Sure.

But it’s weak sauce.
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I'm not sure I get this.  They paid $80 for the diagnosis.  Are you saying that if they decided to get the diagnosis, then they should be compelled to also pay for the fix?  

I guess I could see that if the diagnosis were free, but if you put a separate charge on separate services, I don't see why you should punish the customer for choosing one but not the other.

 
I know this is done and over with but I wanted to try to (briefly as I can) walk through my recent experience with the fridge going out issue.  So, our Kenmore Elite French door/side by side, freezer on the bottom stopped working last year (about this time actually.) And I youtube'd it, played parts darts and threw $200 worth of parts at it with no luck unfortunately.  It was one of those deals where the online experts said it's either part A, part B or a new compressor.  So, in the end, I needed a new compressor and I decided to not get a new compressor and instead get a new fridge for several reasons, the main one being, we really wanted a counter depth fridge because the old one stuck out too far and collided with the island when you opened both doors.

We ordered a fridge, I think I posted it on here but I believe it took 3-4 months for it to arrive which really sucked.  Fortunately, our 30 year old garage fridge was able to handle it in the interim but, it did get really old walking out to walk out to the garage for cold stuff.  Not a crisis by any means just inconvenient.  My point is, if you're even just "thinking" about getting a new fridge these days and you want something specific, I would plan far ahead unless you're buying scratch and dent or floor model, stock is pretty low these days.

 
Sullie said:
I know this is done and over with but I wanted to try to (briefly as I can) walk through my recent experience with the fridge going out issue.  So, our Kenmore Elite French door/side by side, freezer on the bottom stopped working last year (about this time actually.) And I youtube'd it, played parts darts and threw $200 worth of parts at it with no luck unfortunately.  It was one of those deals where the online experts said it's either part A, part B or a new compressor.  So, in the end, I needed a new compressor and I decided to not get a new compressor and instead get a new fridge for several reasons, the main one being, we really wanted a counter depth fridge because the old one stuck out too far and collided with the island when you opened both doors.

We ordered a fridge, I think I posted it on here but I believe it took 3-4 months for it to arrive which really sucked.  Fortunately, our 30 year old garage fridge was able to handle it in the interim but, it did get really old walking out to walk out to the garage for cold stuff.  Not a crisis by any means just inconvenient.  My point is, if you're even just "thinking" about getting a new fridge these days and you want something specific, I would plan far ahead unless you're buying scratch and dent or floor model, stock is pretty low these days.
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Getting our new fridge tomorrow.  Our current one died in......August  :(

Yeah, using a smaller drink fridge or going to the laundry room for the "extra" fridge has gotten really old.  It's going to be nice to actually have one in the kitchen again.  First world problems, but yeah.

 
Harry Frogfish said:
Amazon cost is about $150 for the part.  Just have to make sure it's the right one.

So she's looking at $450, after some haggling, but that's his bottom line, after the $80 visit.

So all told, the difference is about $300 to get it done today in less than an hour.  Her son, a mechanic, can do that tomorrow.  Perishables are at a friend's home, btw, so no problem there.

I'm not discounting the time and experience and warranty (1 year), but might as well DIY.  Just wondering if a new one isn't worth it at this point.

BTW, the fridge tech said steer clear of Samsung, LG and whatever American fridge company Samsung bought (forget the name), lol.

Thanks for the help!
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I think LG is better but they had a compressor design issue. Our fridge is probably a few years old now and we got the compressor replaced under warranty not long after we got it. Thank goodness for the last fridge we moved to the garage. The tech knew exactly what it was and the new one has been fine the past couple years. I’d assume the new ones are better now but our tech was very well aware of the issues for any LG fridge that was as old as mine or older.

 
gianmarco said:
Getting our new fridge tomorrow.  Our current one died in......August  :(

Yeah, using a smaller drink fridge or going to the laundry room for the "extra" fridge has gotten really old.  It's going to be nice to actually have one in the kitchen again.  First world problems, but yeah.
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Holy crap!  I feel you man.  Not to go on and on, and as you say "first world problems, I know, I know."  But the thing that kinda pissed me off with ours is that we shopped all over God's green earth and because of space/size restrictions in our current kitchen setup, we couldn't just slap anything in there because we have cabinets to the left and right of our fridge plus one above and our stupid, worthless island directly in front of it.  So, I carefully measured everything and the result of those measurements left us with a finite number of fridges that would fit in the space we have.

So, immediately, we narrowed it down fridges w/the dimensions.  We went to Home Depot, they had the fridge we wanted, right color, perfect size, we fell in love with it they said "oh, you're in luck, we have that in stock at our warehouse, it will be here in a week."  We thought "hot damn, we got lucky"  We pay for it and immediately after I paid for it "oh crap, I made a mistake, we don't have that in stock, it's going to be at least 90+ days. . .do you still want this fridge?"  :)  

I didn't even get upset because I was fully expecting to have to wait but it was just kind of a let down but whatever, not the end of the world.  So the fridge gets in and it's a bit less than 2-inches too tall. .  I let it stick out in the middle of the kitchen for a day or so and after two days I taped off the trim around the cabinet, made a nice straight line, and then proceeded to butcher the hell out of that trim with my oscillating saw.  Looks like an angry, hungry beaver gnawed away it but at that point, I just wanted it done and over with. . . it's in there nice and snug and fully flush with the counter top, if you're tall (6'3" like me) you can see it. . . fortunately everyone else is much shorter so they don't see it! :)  

 
Sullie said:
Holy crap!  I feel you man.  Not to go on and on, and as you say "first world problems, I know, I know."  But the thing that kinda pissed me off with ours is that we shopped all over God's green earth and because of space/size restrictions in our current kitchen setup, we couldn't just slap anything in there because we have cabinets to the left and right of our fridge plus one above and our stupid, worthless island directly in front of it.  So, I carefully measured everything and the result of those measurements left us with a finite number of fridges that would fit in the space we have.

So, immediately, we narrowed it down fridges w/the dimensions.  We went to Home Depot, they had the fridge we wanted, right color, perfect size, we fell in love with it they said "oh, you're in luck, we have that in stock at our warehouse, it will be here in a week."  We thought "hot damn, we got lucky"  We pay for it and immediately after I paid for it "oh crap, I made a mistake, we don't have that in stock, it's going to be at least 90+ days. . .do you still want this fridge?"  :)  

I didn't even get upset because I was fully expecting to have to wait but it was just kind of a let down but whatever, not the end of the world.  So the fridge gets in and it's a bit less than 2-inches too tall. .  I let it stick out in the middle of the kitchen for a day or so and after two days I taped off the trim around the cabinet, made a nice straight line, and then proceeded to butcher the hell out of that trim with my oscillating saw.  Looks like an angry, hungry beaver gnawed away it but at that point, I just wanted it done and over with. . . it's in there nice and snug and fully flush with the counter top, if you're tall (6'3" like me) you can see it. . . fortunately everyone else is much shorter so they don't see it! :)  
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Heh.  Yeah, that sounds similar.

The house we moved into has an oversize built in fridge.  So, like you, only a finite number of choices.  We had it between a couple options, then the manager of the store we bought from said we could get their demo floor model in the showroom (significant discount and it's not cheap to start).  We're like "absolutely".  But.....you can't get it until we get one to replace it.  We're looking at a late January arrival.  Ok, fine, it's still better than ordering it ourselves and they are likely to get it before us anyway.  Well, January turns into mid March (3/15) sometime in the middle of December because of supply chain, yada yada.  I asked about a new one at that point and expected arrivals ordering then were almost July!!!

And, to top it off, the fridge comes in a week late (they get deliveries once per week and it didn't make the 3/15 delivery truck) and they call to set up delivery/install.  First available --  3 weeks out.  :wall:   I even tried to call 3 weeks before the expected arrival to set it up in case it was something like this and they were like "oh, no, we can't do it until it comes in". 

I might sleep next to this fridge for the next few nights just because.

 
jhib said:
I'm not sure I get this.  They paid $80 for the diagnosis.  Are you saying that if they decided to get the diagnosis, then they should be compelled to also pay for the fix?  

I guess I could see that if the diagnosis were free, but if you put a separate charge on separate services, I don't see why you should punish the customer for choosing one but not the other.
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Yeah, I do.

Here's the thing. When a company sends a guy out for $80 they aren't making any money. That $80 pays for his drive time (whether it takes him 5 minutes to get there or 45), and the time to diagnose and then price out the repair. Most service calls are going to be anywhere from an hour to an hour and half (sometimes more) for that $80. That money also has to pay for the vehicle, insurance, the salary of the person taking the original call, and all other overhead costs. In a lot of cases a company loses money on the $80 diagnostic fee.

So you ask, why not charge $100? You can't. Nobody would pay it. They will just call around all day until someone will do it cheaper and lose money on the diagnostic.

There is also no such thing as a free diagnostic with repair. They are just rolling that $80 into the repair cost.

Now, does a customer that gets a diagnosis for said $80 free to do whatever they want? Sure. But we believe as a company that our technician's skill and experience count for something, and that's way more than $80. And we like to make money. Profit does matter when running a business.

Our company (heating and cooling) would not go to that house again because they don't respect our services enough to care about our company. (and this is not directed at the OP - they fixed it with that company).

 
ChiefD said:
Yeah, I do.

Here's the thing. When a company sends a guy out for $80 they aren't making any money. That $80 pays for his drive time (whether it takes him 5 minutes to get there or 45), and the time to diagnose and then price out the repair. Most service calls are going to be anywhere from an hour to an hour and half (sometimes more) for that $80. That money also has to pay for the vehicle, insurance, the salary of the person taking the original call, and all other overhead costs. In a lot of cases a company loses money on the $80 diagnostic fee.

So you ask, why not charge $100? You can't. Nobody would pay it. They will just call around all day until someone will do it cheaper and lose money on the diagnostic.

There is also no such thing as a free diagnostic with repair. They are just rolling that $80 into the repair cost.

Now, does a customer that gets a diagnosis for said $80 free to do whatever they want? Sure. But we believe as a company that our technician's skill and experience count for something, and that's way more than $80. And we like to make money. Profit does matter when running a business.

Our company (heating and cooling) would not go to that house again because they don't respect our services enough to care about our company. (and this is not directed at the OP - they fixed it with that company).
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Interesting perspective. Thanks.

I get that it's a business decision to cut ties with a customer that has given some evidence that they aren't going to make you any money.  But I guess I'm mostly confused by the implication that the hypothetical customer's decision is "weak sauce" and by the attachment of negative intent and disrespect to their decision.  The reasons they have for not having your company fix it are usually as much of a business decision as your company's decisions, and they might not be the same in every situation with the same customer.  One time, they may realize it's something they can fix themselves. Another time, they might decide the new issue is over their head and they want to use you to fix it. And of course they might not have it fixed at all, instead just purchasing new.  I would assume the company's $80 charge takes those kind of "risks" in to account, as well as the risk of never even getting the call in the first place as you mentioned if the diagnosis charge is too high.

To give you an idea of where I'm coming from with my own experience, the heating, cooling, and plumbing guy I use has what seems like an entirely different outlook.  When he came out for my furnace that quit one day, he spent the time to diagnose and figured out it was a board that needed replacing. He told me he could do it, but showed me how easy it would be to replace and even walked me through ordering the part myself from the site he recommended.  And that's basically his typical m.o. with me.  There are some things I know I won't even attempt, in which case he's the guy I give my business to without a second thought. Others where he charges (fairly) for his time, but advises me when I can save some bucks doing the fix myself, and certainly doesn't take offense by that idea.  I guess I'm lucky to have found him. 

 
I had called like Sears repair one time, similar deal was like $80 for a visit.  Think I paid him like $350 to replace a $50 solenoid on the ice maker door that took him about 15 minutes 

Found a good local repair guy that is much more reasonable, but I’ve pretty much moved on to self diagnosing.  It can take a little bit of time but if you e got a multimeter you can pretty much run down the list of common issues until you find the problem.  I also have a well stocked appliance repair warehouse that’s like 30 minutes away that I can hit up tor parts and not have to wait for shipping 

have saved quite a bit on washer and dryer repair, new heating coil for electric stove too

 
Gally said:
New fridges are terrible and unreliable.   I would fix it if you can within reason.  The $500 seems within reason.  You can also pay the $80 for the diagnostic and then based on what they say look into fixing it yourself if it's not a big deal.  Regardless paying the $80 seems like the way to go at this point.    
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This.  I have had repair guys out several times the last few years for a Whirlpool.  I have had extensive conversations with them about brands, warranty, etc.  Basically, all brands are made like crap now.  They recommend the common brands because even though they break, it's easier to get parts/labor.  He also recommended that I fix an older one in my garage, that the ice machine isn't working.  He said that 15yo fridge is still better than new ones.bband always buy the extended warranty for anything water touches.  So Dryer, microwave, and oven not necessary.

 
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So IIRC, there are only three things to check for... Here is a good link

1- Fan motor (you can hear it running)

2 -Capacitor relay 

3 -Compressor

Long story short - IMO -The compressor is the one thing you don't want to have to replace. If that's bad you may as well buy a new fridge. The other two parts are cheap and even if you dont know how to or care to test them, they should cost you under $100 each so its worth a try. IIRC I replaced my capacitor in mine several years ago. It cost me like $30 and took about 10 minutes. 

GL!

 
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Fixed my 10 yr old Samsung fridge myself about a month ago. It had ice build up behind the condenser panel causing the fan to stop/break.

Replacement part cost about $90.

I am not handy at all but with YouTube you can pretty much fix anything these days.

Happy I didn’t have to buy a new fridge for 2-3k.

 
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ChiefD said:
Yeah, I do.

Here's the thing. When a company sends a guy out for $80 they aren't making any money. That $80 pays for his drive time (whether it takes him 5 minutes to get there or 45), and the time to diagnose and then price out the repair. Most service calls are going to be anywhere from an hour to an hour and half (sometimes more) for that $80. That money also has to pay for the vehicle, insurance, the salary of the person taking the original call, and all other overhead costs. In a lot of cases a company loses money on the $80 diagnostic fee.

So you ask, why not charge $100? You can't. Nobody would pay it. They will just call around all day until someone will do it cheaper and lose money on the diagnostic.

There is also no such thing as a free diagnostic with repair. They are just rolling that $80 into the repair cost.

Now, does a customer that gets a diagnosis for said $80 free to do whatever they want? Sure. But we believe as a company that our technician's skill and experience count for something, and that's way more than $80. And we like to make money. Profit does matter when running a business.

Our company (heating and cooling) would not go to that house again because they don't respect our services enough to care about our company. (and this is not directed at the OP - they fixed it with that company).
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I have a ton of respect for the trades.  My livelihood depends on them.

But, what do you do if there's a service call and the customer just decides that the repair cost isn't worth it and wants to replace with new?  They pay the $80 and then shop around for a new appliance.  Do they also get the black mark?

 
The Z Machine said:
I have a ton of respect for the trades.  My livelihood depends on them.

But, what do you do if there's a service call and the customer just decides that the repair cost isn't worth it and wants to replace with new?  They pay the $80 and then shop around for a new appliance.  Do they also get the black mark?
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Nah, because we understand that aspect of the situation.  

 
Had this delivered to my future MIL today. Her old one was 15 years old, seemed a bit inefficient & the handle broke off months ago.

She lost her husband a few months ago. Nice to do something nice for her. Been doing a lot of small projects around her house (new garage door opener, new screens, tearing out wallpaper/repainting.) This was a necessary replacement & she’s thrilled.

 
BobbyLayne said:
Had this delivered to my future MIL today. Her old one was 15 years old, seemed a bit inefficient & the handle broke off months ago.

She lost her husband a few months ago. Nice to do something nice for her. Been doing a lot of small projects around her house (new garage door opener, new screens, tearing out wallpaper/repainting.) This was a necessary replacement & she’s thrilled.
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thats great.

we just got a similar model in our home.  ours has a middle drawer.   Its a really cool fridge. 2 ice makers and makes that nice looking craft ice.  

 
jhib said:
Interesting perspective. Thanks.

I get that it's a business decision to cut ties with a customer that has given some evidence that they aren't going to make you any money.  But I guess I'm mostly confused by the implication that the hypothetical customer's decision is "weak sauce" and by the attachment of negative intent and disrespect to their decision.  The reasons they have for not having your company fix it are usually as much of a business decision as your company's decisions, and they might not be the same in every situation with the same customer.  One time, they may realize it's something they can fix themselves. Another time, they might decide the new issue is over their head and they want to use you to fix it. And of course they might not have it fixed at all, instead just purchasing new.  I would assume the company's $80 charge takes those kind of "risks" in to account, as well as the risk of never even getting the call in the first place as you mentioned if the diagnosis charge is too high.

To give you an idea of where I'm coming from with my own experience, the heating, cooling, and plumbing guy I use has what seems like an entirely different outlook.  When he came out for my furnace that quit one day, he spent the time to diagnose and figured out it was a board that needed replacing. He told me he could do it, but showed me how easy it would be to replace and even walked me through ordering the part myself from the site he recommended.  And that's basically his typical m.o. with me.  There are some things I know I won't even attempt, in which case he's the guy I give my business to without a second thought. Others where he charges (fairly) for his time, but advises me when I can save some bucks doing the fix myself, and certainly doesn't take offense by that idea.  I guess I'm lucky to have found him. 
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I nearly posted the EXACT same thing Friday night. Like...all of that.

 
ChiefD said:
Yeah, I do.

Here's the thing. When a company sends a guy out for $80 they aren't making any money. That $80 pays for his drive time (whether it takes him 5 minutes to get there or 45), and the time to diagnose and then price out the repair. Most service calls are going to be anywhere from an hour to an hour and half (sometimes more) for that $80. That money also has to pay for the vehicle, insurance, the salary of the person taking the original call, and all other overhead costs. In a lot of cases a company loses money on the $80 diagnostic fee.

So you ask, why not charge $100? You can't. Nobody would pay it. They will just call around all day until someone will do it cheaper and lose money on the diagnostic.

There is also no such thing as a free diagnostic with repair. They are just rolling that $80 into the repair cost.

Now, does a customer that gets a diagnosis for said $80 free to do whatever they want? Sure. But we believe as a company that our technician's skill and experience count for something, and that's way more than $80. And we like to make money. Profit does matter when running a business.

Our company (heating and cooling) would not go to that house again because they don't respect our services enough to care about our company. (and this is not directed at the OP - they fixed it with that company).
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I agree with all of this. I always try and be fair with business’. I would not do what you describe unless I think the employee was not competent. 
 

ETA - On the flip side- I will pay extra or tip well when I have used companies who are good. I want them coming back when I need them .

 
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VandyMan said:
So...if I decide to fix it myself I should tell the repair guy I'm going to just buy a new one?
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Nah, you can tell him you are going to fix it yourself. He still gets his hourly wage to come out and he will move on to the next call.

Look - I know I'm overly sensitive to this topic because I'm in this every day. I can't tell you how many times our techs have had to deal with this. And me as well since I have to take the phone calls and move the schedule around to fit people in and such.  Only to really not get the business at the end. It's frustrating.

Service companies make money on repairs. It's that simple.  

 
ChiefD said:
Nah, you can tell him you are going to fix it yourself. He still gets his hourly wage to come out and he will move on to the next call.

Look - I know I'm overly sensitive to this topic because I'm in this every day. I can't tell you how many times our techs have had to deal with this. And me as well since I have to take the phone calls and move the schedule around to fit people in and such.  Only to really not get the business at the end. It's frustrating.

Service companies make money on repairs. It's that simple.  
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I understand the frustration. One other thing I was going to post Friday is that this might be more common in appliance repair calls than heating/cooling. I suspect a higher percentage of folks would be willing to take a crack at it themselves with appliances than heating/cooling.

 
Between youtube, facebook groups and the ability to get cheap parts sometimes next day with amazon, that appliance would be in pieces by the time I got around to calling a technician.   

 
rockaction said:
Gally is right. Not only are new fridges terrible, they're also unobtainable in the color and fit you want. My brother has been waiting on six months for his, my parents are waiting about a year before the make and model they want is available. 

It's been a problem within my family. You should probably fix the fridge. 
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Are fridge issues hereditary in your family?  :lol:

 
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