Since returning from vacation, Joe and I have been suffering through the revolt of our appliances. Replacing the refrigerator was relatively painless (thank you Lowes!) but getting the dishwasher repaired started to feel like an episode of Dateline. First, I called Better Homes appliance repair on recommendation of a friend to service the 6 year old dishwasher (from Sears) that was not draining. They sent a tech out within hours. Joe was at home and had to deal with him. Without doing any diagnostics he said it needed a new pump and the total cost would be $250. He gave him a check for the part. BHtech said hed be back next week. Since Joe thought the guy was rude to him and I am the mean and handy one in the family, I arranged to take time off work when he came back to install part. I sat in the kitchen with him while he started to work on the dishwasher. He then started giving me a series of reasons he would have to return the next day: 1) he didnt have the right screwdriver (I offered him my tools) 2) the foot on the dishwasher was corroded and would not unscrew, so he couldnt remove dishwasher unless he came back next day with new feet to install (I easily unscrewed by hand) and finally 3) bc the way Sears had installed it, it could not be removed. He then gave me our check back and told me to call Sears. I did. First Sears tech pushed buttons for 30 minutes and said must be the pump. He ordered one and set up return appt for Saturday after Thanksgiving. Thankfully a second Sears tech came out and before installing pump, asked me if any of the techs had checked the filter. I said no. He then cleaned the filter, hoses, etc. The machine drained easily and is working great now. It did not need a new pump. The total charge was $168. What I learned from this experience: 1) Google is your friend. The repair that worked is exactly what Google said it was. 2) Always watch the techs. The Bh tech was going to charge us an extra $100 for a part we did not need. He was obviously uncomfortable that I was watching him and in fact told me I was making him nervous. I can only imagine why. I have doubts that he was actually going to install a pump but seriously have no idea what he was up to.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 03:13:49 +0000