You might want to post the type of appliance, make and model # and what problem you are experiencing with it. Someone here may be able to help you! Also there are appliance parts stores on line, and many times they can be a lot of help in determining the problem and what part/parts are needed. Some of the parts are DIY, not that hard to change, but be sure to disconnect said appliance from power and follow proper safety precautions when changing out the part. Example: An oven was self cleaned, (as I recall), and after cleaning, the user could not open the door, (Thanksgiving just around the corner as I recall). We were able to help the poster open the door and save a service call~~~that more than likely would not have happened before Thanksgiving anyway! Obviously you are looking for a way to minimize the expense of the repair~~~~~well here's one way! Unfortunately, the first call is usually to "Diagnose a problem", the guy doesn't have any parts in his truck to fix the problem, even if He knows what the problem is~~~and He should know!!!!!! Yours is most likely not the first appliance with the same exact problem needing the same exact part/parts! It's just a way for the appliance service company to make more money while delaying your repair! Example, (not Appliance, but applicable). I call a plumbing company, I tell them I need a new flange for one of the toilets, and be sure to bring one. Guy comes out, looks at toilet, says, "U need a new Flange, I will hafta order one~~~~that will be $135.00 Please". I said "Kiss my What", "I told the girl that took the order what the problem was and what part was needed"! I sent him packing without the $135 and called another company, (actually a friend of mine). Problem was taken care of on his first and only service call!! Anyway , I hope I gave you the idea of how they operate, and ways to "Beat them at their own game"!!!! Gary

Fenworth, here's my rant about relying on Consumer Reports reliability ratings. While it is true that it's all we have, the methodology is deeply flawed, and the high-end brands have such a statistically low number of responses as to be random noise. You really have to take the Consumer Reports reliability and repair records with a huge grain of salt. It's the magazine's greatest weakness, I think. The data is entirely gathered by subscriber polls. There is no distinction for repairs needed because of 1) installation issues, 2) users need help, 3) so-called "infant mortality" when an appliance might fail early on, 4) shipping and handling damage, 5) common wear and tear, 6) design flaws, 7) other issues such as a power surge or natural disaster, 8) abuse, and 9) whatever else I can't think of at the moment. In addition to this, it should be also noted that expensive low market share products fair worse too. They simply don't have a large enough sample to be fair or accurate of a brand. This is why luxury appliances fair poorly in their eyes. All the poll asks if if your appliance has needed a service call. Period. I like CR, it's a fine magazine and I use their info when I make many purchases. But the reliability and repair ratings are the weakest part of the whole organization.

Robo dialers can sense when the phone has been answered. It can filter many voicemail and answering machines and on those, most will mark the number as working and put it back into the queue for future use/sale. Picking up the phone tells them it's an active number. And of course when you talk to them, it's marked as verified working which increases the value of the number for resale. What has been surprisingly effective for me is using the SIT tone (special information tone) and a recording of "the number you have reached has been disconnected..." on blocked calls. I tried it once before on my answering machine but a few legitimate calls it confused people so I quit using it on there. I should add that there are a few legitimate places who will put you on a DNC list, but that still doesn't excuse waking me from a nice nap or interrupting me when busy. Keep in mind that people often bring on these calls to themselves by calling 800 numbers of less-than-reputable places, giving numbers for contests and the like. So to get control, you have to control who gets the number(s). That won't help for wardialers, that just dial number after number (and not from a list), but will help for others. Hit the music! Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be telemarketers...

I'm going to reiterate that Home Depot is not winning any customer loyalty from me!! It's the only hardware option I have nearby locally. Usually buy from them due to path of least resistance. So far my bad experiences have been: limited in store merchandise options that I like, shopping online to check availability before going to the store and then finding out that the online availability was not correct, ordering things from them and they never show up. This is not a reflection of the local employees, they are nice and good, but the corporation is not up to snuff IMHO. We are putting Home Depot on our "avoid if possible" list. Switching to the Menards next town down the road, and they also do contact less pick up and everyone in the store wears masks, and they also do home delivery. Just seems more "put together" overall and so far we've found things we like there, like a kitchen faucet, bathroom light fixtures . . . We still go to Home Depot for quick things we need mid-project, and I do find plants there I like sometimes, but we drive down to Menards at least once a month. If the pandemic wasn't still ongoing we'd go to Lowe's 45 min. away but we're limiting shopping trips both for economic and social distancing reasons. We have such a backlog of stuff at home to deal with we don't really need to go shopping anyway, this is not something we are doing just because of the pandemic, it suits where we are at now with our lives, wanting to focus on interacting with what we have now, not bringing more into the house . . . Edited to add that I had to wait 20 min. at HD to get a refund for the merchandise that never showed up. It was hardware cloth fencing. The whole time yahoos without masks going in and out and a ventilation system blowing on me with recirculated who knows what. My eyes were itching the whole rest of the day. Next visit I guess I will also have to wear protective eye coverings. Afterwards, the customer service person said they had the fencing in the store, and offered to give me a discount. I questioned her because I said the whole reason I had ordered the fencing is they didn't have it in the store. She again said, "We have it in the store." I went to that aisle because I also needed plant stakes and they were in the same aisle so what the heck. Had to walk through the whole store. And lo and behold, NO, they did not have the fencing and neither did they have the stakes. So quite a wasted trip, wasted time and in these days, wasted risk due to poor customer service. Quite the opposite of my last trip to Menards. I was going for contact-less pick-up but I didn't print my receipt because I thought I would be able to pull it up on my phone. Could not get cell service once at the store, but the folks at customer service printed it out for me. Meanwhile, everyone in store wearing masks, good ventilation, and they were offering you masks if you didn't bring one. Polite, efficient service and delivering in-person what they promised on their Web site.