Yep, cancelled appts are a pain in the butt, esp twice. Strange that they don't have a contact number you could call to let them know Tues is not good for you. A lesson for the repairman to learn on Tues would be to leave a note on your door saying "Sorry we missed you but you need to give us a way to contact you when you move the appt date". Hope he shows up at 8am Tues so you can leave on time.

Yes, waiting for parts/technicians to show can be a PITB. Sorry.

You will be glad you got it fixed, but a mental note to never use Sears Repair unless you cannot find anyone else, lol.

Good suggestion from vgkg. I didn’t realize Sears still had a repair service. Ridiculous they can’t provide contact info!

I didn't try the # to see if you can get a real person, but here is one number:

I used to have warranties on appliances, and wait for people to show up. Sears, I'm betting, uses that same type of business model. Big company, staff to answer the phone through a long annoying phone tree, dispatchers, people you speak to who can't see what you spoke about with someone previously, and eventually a technician who arrives who may or may not be able to fix your machine properly and you'll never see that person again.

This is 100% solvable. All you need to do is find yourself a FANTASTIC appliance repair person who is local, a sole person with no staff, who answers and texts on their own mobile device, who has no answering service, and who communicates and sometimes diagnoses over the phone.

I have a plumber like that, an electrician like that, an appliance repair person like that, a handyman like that, and you can find these people too, where you live.

No more 3 hour windows for arrival. I encourage people to pull themselves away from these large profitable companies with their layers of staff and software, and just find "a guy". (or a gal). You will save money, and more importantly, your sanity and faith in repair-people.

Think about it:

a repair-person who can't manage their own independent business, maybe because they're still learning, maybe because they don't have that all-important independent-minded problem-solving technique, maybe they don't have the people-skills, or ability to manage their finances...they get a job paying low wages for a big company, and they are NOT the cream of the crop. Plus that business-model builds in inefficiencies, and lots of inconveniences and poor communication for the consumer. But the business model makes a lot of money for the corporation! And charging more to the consumer in order to pay salaries for alllllll the layers of people.

However, a sole proprietor can do ALL of these things themself. And earn a really good living like this. By being honest with people, having integrity and standing behind their work, by communicating, by actually fixing the problems, and getting really, really good at their profession.

I have a guy but there are certain brands he won't work on. I don't know why...Samsung is one. I don't know about Bosch...it was a brand I looked at to buy when I bought my last machine but there were no factory authorized services (for warranty work) available in my community. So maybe availability of parts to small independent repair people is a problem so they won't even try to repair. I do love being able to call him directly and schedule with him, tho (for my Kitchenaid appliances).

Mrs. S - I have that self employed service person who appears to make a very good living. He has a daughter in her first year of college who has gone out of state, so you know his monthly household expenses can't be low. He is prompt, personable, and goes well out of his way for a family with a refrigerator problem or even someone with small children and a washing machine needing work...

He has quit doing all warranty service. He told me the paperwork involved to then wait 6 months to be paid for warranty services just wasn't worth it to him. He has plenty of other work to keep him busy and financially sound. I have three appliances right now still under warranty. I almost can't wait until they are old enough I no longer need to call for warranty repair and wait for someone from another city to keep an appointment, help me with any repairs. And believe me, brand new does not equal problem free any more.....

lily, I'm confused. Why can't you contact them using the same means (whether phone or email) you used to first contact them?

Oly- Samsung appliances have lots of continuing issues. That’s probably why. If an icemaker ( for instance) keeps breaking, eventually the customer might get frustrated blaming the repairman for shoddy work.

So, the drama continues. I left a scathing review on their FB page and their home site and guess what? My new best friend (NOT) AI Richard texted my husband if he would like to have a service person come tomorrow afternoon between 1-5. Here we go... Deja vu all over again. I know this is a first-world issue but it still pisses me off.

Elmer...The phone number apparently works if you first call and request a service person. From then on you get AI Richards automated voice. You cannot talk to a real person but apparently Richard read my two reviews which were one star.

Can you use a different phone or block your caller ID - by dialing *67 first, then area code and number. .

You peft TWO one star reviews before the work was even done?!

I understand that you’re dristrated with the delay, but this doesn’t seem like a productive way to work towards a happy outcome.

Food, maybe it was a dumb thing to do but I explained in my one-star review what the problem was. Not the job the worker did, but how they screwed us around. I will leave the stars after the work is done. But I did get their attention. I noticed most people liked their repairperson.

Elmer, I will try that if there is another no-show tomorrow.

It's frustrating to not be able to get a real person to come to your house. As I said, two plumbers we have had in the past, one last month, don't do work like this. Next time I'll ask on the local FB page for recommendations.

Facebook is far from being a reliable source of recommendations. Why would you consider service provider recommendations from people you don't know to be truthful, knowledgeable and reasonable?

Stick to what you hear from friends and neighbors whose views and assessments you can respect because people like that would feel some responsibility to not give recommendations that could reflect badly back on them.

I have found leaving complaints on FB pages to be very effective at getting issues resolved or at least having contact. Somehow they are able to say "please message us about the problem you are having" and when I do, voila- relief. ( credit issued, commitment honored, etc)

I would also get recommendations on our local FB page for various work needed. I do generally still research online but FB is as good a source as any in my eyes.

Update: Husband received a text from the AI , "Richard" saying John would be our guy and would come at 4:45. We'll see and I plan on going places the first hours of the afternoon. John was the guy who diagnosed and we liked him.

Totally agree with salonva. FB Local is the perfect place to get advice. I live smack between two towns I go to both places. I don't know these people personally but they have used these businesses in the past and they may give raving reviews and then some may not. I disregard businesses that answer but highly recommended by multiples get my attention and the opposite is true. NextDoor is another site I use.

I find it astounding that anyone would have a preference for service provider recommendations from total strangers or would even consider using same, over getting such information from people who are known.

You've said you've lived in your old house for many decades. Surely you know dozens of people around you and their hundreds of experiences with tradesmen. If you prefer anonymous recommendations, many of which could be paid for or simply bogus, that's your choice.

Elmer, in the case of looking for a landscaper or auto mechanic or even plumber, stuff that everyone uses, I’d find value in asking people I know. But appliance repair? I don’t think that’s common for people to have first hand experience with these days. When my dishwasher died I replaced it. Same for microwave and ovens. I don’t think I’m an exception here. More likely I’m an exception because I repeatedly call for service on my fridge and freezer to keep them limping along, only because they’d be very expensive and involved to replace.

Even if Lily finds someone who had used a service, how valuable are their one or two anecdotal repairs? And how qualified are most people to discern whether their single repair was handled honestly or if they were taken for a ride?

Online reviews are definitely subject to having fake content, but if viewed with caution you should be able to figure out concerning trends.

The way I have found my awesome, trusty, tried and true service-people, is by reading Nextdoor recommendations. My service-providers are all just one guy, and none of them have any Yelp presence, nor do they advertise. 100% of their business is word of mouth. Why would they advertise or deal with Yelp when they have a full schedule with just the word of mouth recommendations?

On Nextdoor, you or anyone can peruse recommendations, and look at the reviews that say more than just the person's name and number. Look for reviews that say things that appeal to you, such as "very reasonable, prompt, great communication, long-time customer, goes out of their way to help" and/or gives an example of what service was provided.

I'm so scrupulous about keeping phone numbers of service-people that I might someday need, that MANY friends ask me for my own recommendations (more word of mouth). It's not that hard.

" Even if Lily finds someone who had used a service, how valuable are their one or two anecdotal repairs? "

I'd say that such information has some credibility whereas something of unknown provenance from an unknown or even fictitious person has none at all. And as for public ratings on internet sites, her going ballistic and posting reviews because of a scheduling change that may have had a valid reason to happen, is a perfect and ironic example of possibly dubious information from a person unknown and or anonymous that's useless information for someone looking for a tradesman. Who's to know what's right or reasonable in such one-off encounters?

I try to make thoughtful choices. In the absence of finding a recommendation from a personally known source, I do just fine resorting to sources for a starting point for my own investigation like other tradesmen I know, looking for factory authorized service people on manufacture's sites, and the like.

No one answer is the right one but I think random advice from random people shouldn't be elevated to being more than what it is - a stab in the dark and often wrong.

Update: We made trips to Aldi and Traders because the time of our visit was between 6-7!!! I even thought that maybe I could go to the trail. Traders was jammed and I was talking to one of the guys I know who works there and not hurrying because it was before 3. Husband checked his phone and said John was on his way!!!Fortunately, Traders is 1/2 miles away and even though we hit all the red lights, we managed to get home five minutes before he came. Whew! He's a good guy, very personable and knowledgeable so he will get five stars, but the whole system gets a minus star from me. We easily could have missed him since the text said three hours from when he actually came.

Ok well I’m glad it’s taken care of. Curious if you could quote the part that was actually ordered, from your bill. You switchedfrom ”water valve” to ”water intake valve” between threads but didn’t speak up during the discussion of valve type in the original thread.

Sorry, it was the water intake valve.

Glad it worked out for the repair. Hopefully, you'll get a few more years out of your machine!

I'm kind of laughing at the ironic twist that this thread has taken....on a forum where strangers all give each other advice, asked for or not; the person who gives the most unasked for advice states that "random advice from random people shouldn't be elevated to being more than what it is - a stab in the dark and often wrong."

Well said!

I'm not sure if you're joking or not. Do you really not understand the simple difference between a person accepting recommendations from random total strangers (and likely phonies) of who- knows-what motivations to use specific service providers, with on the other hand suggestions about ways to go about getting credible and accountable suggestions from known persons and general information about providers to follow up on oneself?

Oh, I recognize random total strangers (and likely phonies) of who knows what motivation!

Q: When my dishwasher died I replaced it. Same for microwave and ovens. I don’t think I’m an exception here.

Agreed. I replace appliances. For my rentals, I find used, good-as-new deals @ the Habitat Restore. They test everything out...then put low-ball prices on everything! A few weeks ago I needed a gas dryer. Most appliance stores don't even stock those, you have to special order them. I found a Maytag $100, put it in the same day I got the call. If I'd called a repairman, they charge a $150 trip fee just to come out to your home.