Adventures in Home Ownership: Appliance Repair
Yesterday as I was home with my recovering pup (got neutered, poor guy!), I noticed the light was out in my refrigerator. Me being me, I assumed the light blew out and went on with my day. A few hours later, I went to get some ice and realized the ice maker wasn't working. I flipped fuses. I tweeted for advice (resulting in "check fuses" advice.) Nada.
So, I'm new to this home ownership thing. Normally, this is where I'd calmly call the landlord and let them handle it. Instead, I turned to Angie's List. I love Angie's List in theory, but I hadn't used it yet. I still find it a little overwhelming. It's kind of like Yelp, but specifically for home repair recommendations. When I searched for "appliance repair - large" near me, I got 22 recommendations. Each had great ratings and lots of positive reviews. I started by looking at the one nearest to me - he had raves for being honest and fast. (Yay!)... but didn't service Bosch. Next up, I checked the Bosch website for service recommendations and found 3 matches with Angie's List.
Which brings me to Wuerstlin's Appliance Repair, based in Highland, MD. They had 27 positive reviews from previous customers and also, if my refrigerator was under warranty, could provide the service gratis. They scheduled me for a morning consultation with their tech specialist, Brian. My window was 9:00am -12:00pm. He called at 9:15am and told me he'd be there in 30 minutes... and was. He was professional, nice (even to Ike) and immediately diagnosed my problem... as... a... wait for it... hidden power off switch that I had somehow accidentally pressed. Classic, Tammy.
The good news is, Brian didn't mock me or make me feel stupid (I'm not sure I wouldn't have been able to resist a smirk.) He emptied my melting ice trays and showed me where to find my serial number. He then called it in to the office to let me know if it was still under warranty for future knowledge (it wasn't, but hey, now I know.)
While I had to pay for the travel and consultation, $129.00 wasn't too shabby for getting the refrigerator up and running when I thought it might be a $500 motor repair. In addition, if anything else goes wrong over the next 3 months, the will come out and waive that fee.
Ah, ya learn something new every day...
So, I'm new to this home ownership thing. Normally, this is where I'd calmly call the landlord and let them handle it. Instead, I turned to Angie's List. I love Angie's List in theory, but I hadn't used it yet. I still find it a little overwhelming. It's kind of like Yelp, but specifically for home repair recommendations. When I searched for "appliance repair - large" near me, I got 22 recommendations. Each had great ratings and lots of positive reviews. I started by looking at the one nearest to me - he had raves for being honest and fast. (Yay!)... but didn't service Bosch. Next up, I checked the Bosch website for service recommendations and found 3 matches with Angie's List.
Which brings me to Wuerstlin's Appliance Repair, based in Highland, MD. They had 27 positive reviews from previous customers and also, if my refrigerator was under warranty, could provide the service gratis. They scheduled me for a morning consultation with their tech specialist, Brian. My window was 9:00am -12:00pm. He called at 9:15am and told me he'd be there in 30 minutes... and was. He was professional, nice (even to Ike) and immediately diagnosed my problem... as... a... wait for it... hidden power off switch that I had somehow accidentally pressed. Classic, Tammy.
The good news is, Brian didn't mock me or make me feel stupid (I'm not sure I wouldn't have been able to resist a smirk.) He emptied my melting ice trays and showed me where to find my serial number. He then called it in to the office to let me know if it was still under warranty for future knowledge (it wasn't, but hey, now I know.)
While I had to pay for the travel and consultation, $129.00 wasn't too shabby for getting the refrigerator up and running when I thought it might be a $500 motor repair. In addition, if anything else goes wrong over the next 3 months, the will come out and waive that fee.
Ah, ya learn something new every day...