New appliances are very expensive, as most of you already know. So, if the appliance is still on the upside of its useful lifespan, fixing is generally better than buying another appliance. This, of course, means you are going to have to hire an appliance repairman. This is not something you should just do randomly, either. Nor should you necessarily look for the guy with the lowest prices. We have some tips we put together to help you with this process to hire the best man and the most cost-effective man (or woman) for the job.
You are going to have to do a little research to come up with the right person. You can look through the troubleshooting guide that will come with the appliance to narrow down the possible issues. Once you have done that, call up the appliance repair center for the manufacturer to get an idea of how much the fix will cost. This is your baseline to work off when calling other appliance repairmen in the area.
The Search
Now that you have your baseline, it is time to start doing your search. Start pouring over reviews for local repairmen and dig through the reviews. They are not always in order, so make your you check reviews over the last two years and give them more weight than reviews that were left 10 years ago. You want to know how a particular business has been performing recently, not when they first started out.
Once you check the reviews, start gathering estimates and find out what exceptions there are to the estimate. You want no surprises when it comes time to pay the bill. You are also going to want to make sure the work by the repairman is guaranteed. If you have him out on Monday and the same issue occurs on Wednesday, you should not be paying them to come back out and fix it again.
The final step is to check for references and credentials. Does the business have the proper licenses and certifications needed or the job? Do they have reference that you can check, preferably someone you know whose appliances they have worked on before?
The final thing we will recommend is to ask the repairman if they have a referral program. You would be surprised to know that some companies will reward you for any referrals they receive. This can be in the form of a gift card, cash reimbursement, or a discount off services you need in the future. Even if the say no, it did not cost you anything to ask!
