Answers
Straight answers to what people ask on the phone.
These are the real questions, in the words people use, answered the way Viktor answers them. One question, one page, the answer in the first two lines.
Why will you not give a repair price over the phone?
Because the same symptom has cheap causes and expensive causes, and we cannot tell them apart without opening the machine. A dishwasher that will not drain can be a blocked filter or a failed pump. Quoting blind means one of those two numbers is wrong.
Is the $85 service call credited toward the repair?
Yes. If you go ahead with the repair, the $85 goes into the cost of the work. If you decide not to repair, the $85 stays as the fee for the visit and the diagnosis.
Is it worth repairing an appliance, or should I just buy a new one?
As a rule of thumb, repair it if the fix costs less than half the price of a comparable new machine and the appliance is in the first two-thirds of its expected life. Built-in and luxury appliances are worth repairing far longer than freestanding ones, because replacing them means cabinetry work too.
My dishwasher has standing water at the bottom. What should I do before the technician comes?
Turn the dishwasher off, do not run another cycle, and bail out the standing water with a cup and a towel. Then check the filter at the bottom of the tub, because a blocked filter is the most common cause and the one you can clear yourself.
My refrigerator stopped cooling. Is that an emergency?
It is the one appliance failure worth treating as urgent, because you are losing food by the hour. Before you call, check that the condenser coils are not choked with dust and that the vents inside the fridge are not blocked by food, since both can stop cooling without anything being broken.
There is water on the floor under my washer. What do I check first?
Find out whether the water is coming from the hoses at the back, the door seal at the front, or the bottom of the machine. Shut the water supply valves off first, then look, because the fill hoses are the most common source and the easiest thing to rule out.
My dryer runs but does not heat. What is usually wrong?
On an electric dryer it is most often a blown thermal fuse, and the thermal fuse almost always blows because the vent is blocked. Replacing the fuse without clearing the vent means it blows again within weeks.
My oven will not heat. What is the usual cause?
On a gas oven it is usually the igniter, which weakens over time until it glows but no longer draws enough current to open the gas valve. On an electric oven it is usually the bake element, which often shows a visible blister or break.
Do I have to use a factory-authorized technician for Sub-Zero, Wolf, or Miele?
Only while the appliance is still under the manufacturer's own warranty. Once that warranty has expired, an independent technician can repair the same machine with the same parts, usually sooner and often for less.
Another technician already opened my appliance and left. Will you still look at it?
Yes. Tell us when you call so the technician arrives expecting it. The service call is still $85, and the diagnosis takes a little longer because we have to establish what was changed before we can trust anything.
Can you come the same day?
Sometimes, if the calendar still has a window. Same-day emergency is a different price and we say so before you commit, rather than promising it on the front page and rescheduling you later.
Do you repair microwaves?
No. A microwave is the one appliance we do not take on at the house. Everything else in the kitchen and the laundry, yes.
Longer reading is in the guides. If your question is not here, call (925) 219-6200.