Appliance Repairman

We needed our 15 year old washing machine repaired so I called this company after finding their website. We were very explicit with our expectations: if the repair cannot be kept around $250.00, then don't do it, we'll pay the $80.00 cost for the service call and then buy a new machine.

They quoted $260.00 + tax, which we thought was close enough so we signed the work order. The guy finished the repair (so we thought), had us sign the invoice and we paid by VISA (good thing as we can lodge a dispute - the guy wanted cash and actually frowned upon taking VISA).

During the payment transaction, my wife thought she'd ask about if it was good to now operate the machine (expecting the answer to of course be yes). He said no, that the repair would cost hundreds more and would require a visit by 2 technicians another day! We called the manager later in the day to complain but that went nowhere.

The thing that upsets me is that I was at work during the service call and so the task of overseeing the repair and managing the transaction was with my wife to do. When she said she needed to phone to get my opinion on a few things, the repair guy (according to my wife) actually questioned her as to why she needed to call me and why she couldn't make decisions for herself. It appears he was trying to intimidate her into committing to carrying out the job.

We're lodging a dispute through VISA and do expect to see our money back as a result, but there are better ways to spend your day than having to deal with a situation like this. I truly can't understand how they're still in business.