If your fridge is giving you issues or your stove has stopped heating up, you will most likely need to hire the services of a professional repair technician. Meanwhile, household repair jobs like replacing a rubber gasket on the kitchen sink can be tackled without professional assistance. For major appliance breakdowns, however, calling in the professionals is typically the best bet. So, how do you avoid getting overcharged for appliance repair services?
1. Select The Right Service Provider
Good appliance repair services begin with great companies. To find the best companies in your area, start by asking your friends, work colleagues and neighbors if they have any recommendations. Ask them what type of work they got done by the company and if they were happy with the cost. Also, ask about the technician’s skills and the quality of the repair work carried out. If your social circles don’t have any recommendations, you can look online to find reviews of local appliance repair companies and independent contractors. Be sure to check out trusted websites, for example, Angie’s List, which has local listings with accompanying average client ratings, to help you avoid problem companies or contractors.
Once you have selected an appliance repair professional to hire, start making email inquiries. Ask questions about the cost of basic service call-outs. The majority of companies have a minimum call-out fee of at least $50, with many companies charging $100 just to visit your property and check out the problem. It’s important to be aware that you will need to pay that fee even if the professional does not have the skills or parts to fix the problem right away.
2. Typically Appliance Repair Costs
There really isn’t any set standards when it comes to appliance repair costs, so companies have the agency to charge whatever they want for repair work. If you are lucky enough to find an independent contractor via local listings or your social circles, you might be able to negotiate significant savings. Keep in mind that cheaper contractors, however, often don’t offer the safeguards of established licensed, bonded companies.
Independent contractors typically have set hourly rates and may roll call-out fees into the quote for repair costs if they find a problem they can fix right away. You should always ask for an itemized bill which shows the break down of costs for parts, labor, services fees and any local taxes. Hourly rates can range from around $200 to $300. Those figures might seem high, but remember that many repairs take less than 30 minutes to complete. Be cautious of companies that charge cut-rates for service, especially if they have requested cash payments only. When you pay for a service via a credit card, the company accepts some level of liability in the event they fail to carry out the work requested to your satisfaction. This is because your credit card provider can reverse your payment.
3. Minimizing Appliance Repair Costs
There is a range of ways to reduce the amount you need to spend on appliance repair services. To begin with, you should learn how to know when it’s more cost-effective to replace rather than repair an appliance. Most large appliances have an average lifespan of eight to ten years. So if an appliance is reaching the end of its life, a replacement might be a better option than paying for repair work for a model that has a high probability of breaking down again.
You can also save money on appliance repair services by providing as many details as possible to the appliance technician. This means knowing the symptoms of the fault and the make and model number of the appliance. With that information, an experienced contractor may be able to make a likely diagnosis before they visit your property and bring the parts needed for the repair with them. This means you can save on labor costs, call-out costs and diagnosis time costs.
Reaching companies and contractors before you hire them is essential to reducing the cost of appliance repair. Take care to avoid companies that can’t provide solid estimates after you have submitted detailed information about the issues you are experiencing with your appliances.