dishwasher repair - beware!

carolinmarino

Hi, I'm in Nth. Co. Dublin, my dishwasher wasn't letting the water in so I called an independent repair guy. He said he could repair it for €350 with a new computer board but advised replacing it for €500, at least, and gave some very good reasons for buying new from him at top end of market for €700. It cost €60 for the call out charge.

It didn't make sense as the dishwasher was never used although it's about 6 years old. So I had another technician take a look from a reputable company that estimated €120 for the new board and €60 call out charge. Nothing wrong at all with the machine - he reckoned it was only an air lock! Another €60, this time well spent.

The first guy is known apparently in the trade for advising customers to buy new from him and not to repair the existing one, often having a new one handy in the van. He gains both a new sale and installation and the "old" machine which he takes away and can possibly use to repair and sell on.

I'd advise going to a reputable repair company for dishwasher repairs and look for a second opinion if the cost of repair given is almost the price of a new machine. Also check out how much a new dishwasher actually costs in the shops before agreeing to buy a new one from a repair guy. In this case, the cost of a new machine in the shops was approx. half of the quote given.

athtrasna

Why on earth would you buy a dishwasher from a repair guy I would buy from a shop and shop around, not hand over such a large sum of money to "an independent repair guy"

carolinmarino

Well, as I didn't, I can only guess that some people take the opportunity to put an end to their dishwasher problems, there and then, and run with the offer made. It's all very convenient and the repair guy has a sensible and convincing speil, well rehearsed and takes time to explain his arguments fully.

The company technician says it has been happening for a long time and that this guy operates on a "one call only" basis. That is, he calls only once, tries to maximise the visit as profitably as possible and does not count on repeat customers.

paultf

Unfortunately I had the same experience but worse, I partly fell for it:

www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=80068644

My "con job" was along the same lines. This so-called "Applicance Doctor" had a "repaired, 2nd hand" machine in the van all ready for me to buy.

I foolishly let him take my washing machine and dishwasher away for repair but copped on to him after a while.

I think he is working with a local (and dodgy) electrical store. It must be a common type of "con job": convince the customer that the machine is too expensive to fix, have a spare machine in the van and talk constantly about how a particular electrical store is great for 2nd hand machines.

The amount of lies he told me was unreal to such an extent he tripped himself up.

I was so annoyed that I allowed it go that far. Where I live I didn't have much of a choice when it came to reliable repair people. I was stuck and picked the wrong repair person.

At the time I wanted to complain or maybe go further with it but I was advised I had no chance.

gugleguy

athtrasna wrote: »

Why on earth would you buy a dishwasher from a repair guy I would buy from a shop and shop around, not hand over such a large sum of money to "an independent repair guy"

"impartial and balanced repairguy"