This story began on our I-Team when a producer’s home refrigerator started behaving. She called the manufacturer of the device and paid $130 for a technician to come out and diagnose the problem.
The technician told her she needed a new rubber seal on her freezer door. The fix only took a few minutes. Then he handed her the bill: $215.
“I was shocked. This is on top of the $130 I had already paid. I knew the seal was only $50. That meant if he charged me for 15 minutes of work, the hourly rate was $600. What crazy seemed,” she said.
The California Bureau of Household Goods and Services is complaining about large appliances abroad. They shared some rights consumers have by law when an appliance repair technician comes to your home.
A written estimate is required
First, the technician must provide a written estimate for the job before beginning the repair work. Our producer didn’t understand that.
“That estimate will be a breakdown of what they think the repair will require,” said Justin Paddock of the Bureau of Household Goods and Services.
This estimate should include items such as the cost of parts and labor. The tech doesn’t have to break down the cost of labor, but Paddock said the tech should explain how it’s calculated.
“That can be a little open to interpretation. But if, strictly speaking, I only see labor costs and nothing else, I would pursue that as a possible breach of our regulations,” he said.
invoice breakdown
When the repair is complete, the technician will need to issue you with an invoice which should include the company’s registration number with the state and a list of all the charges you have paid. It wasn’t in the papers from our manufacturer.
If you have a technician who is not following these rules you can file a complaint with Paddock’s office and they will investigate.
“I can look at three years of their records. And if I see three years of that, that would be a problem,” he said.
Tip to save money
When our producer was finally surprised by her bill, the technician offered her a 25 percent discount, which she accepted. The manufacturer of the refrigerator later told her that some technicians were authorized to offer discounts. So try to negotiate the cost for the next repair.
www.nbclosangeles.com
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/broken-appliance-repairs/3125230/
