I learned an expensive lesson this week in home appliance repairs. Our dryer broke on Thursday, Jan.19th and I was desperate to get it fixed (maybe I like doing laundry too much). I googled ‘dryer repair’ and several companies popped up. I picked Appliance Repair Guys, the one that fit all the criteria, had a nice website, fixed LG appliances and had an online form to book service- all seemed good.
I did not check for any customer reviews (I could have googled “appliance repair guys, reviews” and found several including HomeStars, Better Business Bureau and even a Toronto Star article).
When the repair man arrived, he worked for maybe 30 minutes turning off power and opening only the lid and front display panel. He charged us $280 for this, after I signed the contract agreeing to “service” for $280. My definition of “service” is to fix the problem, so I signed and told him to go ahead. In the end, I was charged $280 only to diagnose the cause of the problem. He called this ‘service’, but the dryer was still broken.
He went on to quote $540 for the part and said it would take 2 weeks. I was so upset and started to research new dryers. I went to bed panicked and out $300 for nothing. I woke up and decided to call LG, call around for cheaper parts and do more research. LG offered to only charge me $120 for the part (not the $540 that ARG were going to charge), they also waived the labour fee (a minimal flat rate of $98) because I had been duped by someone else! He also was getting the part within ONE day. My dryer was fixed in one hour by a lovely LG repair man. He reviewed the invoice from the ARG technician and told me that there is no way he could have done the motor service and voltage service without taking apart the machine (which he did not do). He also said that it was illegal for any non-LG authorized company to not only do the repair on an LG but even order the part.
I called the Appliance Repair Guys to tell them how I believe I had been scammed and they have offered me $35 refund in exchange for a signed waiver to keep quiet. I chose to decline this ridiculous offer to help save someone else from being scammed.
Lessons learned-
- Call the manufacturer first- if they can’t fix it, they will have a list of authorized and legitimate repair services
- Always google reviews because the Appliance Repair Guys have an article written about their scams from 2014, several horrible reviews and clearly haven’t changed their practices.
- Do less laundry!!!
Want to learn more?
Better Business Bureau link (link to his other business name Service 4 Appliances)
Toronto Star Article– (Author, Ellen Roseman has contacted me and said they won’t reply to her so she can’t write again)
Disclaimer: The manager tried to contact me after I tweeted my dissatisfaction. I emailed to say that I will not be signing any waiver, so that I can prevent someone else from being scammed by this company.