Price Gouging at A & E Factory
Complaint
Elizabeth Butler
Country: United States
A & E Factory Service,a nationwide provider for Kitchenaid appliances, should not be recommended by its suppliers. I called them to have two panels replaced on my side-by-side KithenAid refrigerator. They quoted me a price of $65 for the service call and told that I will be charged for the workman time extra. The service man came and had the panels replaced in 5 minutes. He billed me for $200! I was shocked to see this price. I think they should be obligated to give a more realistic price quote before the service.
Comments
I agree that none of you set the prices. The corporation does. I agree that your basic fee is a "service charge" or "trip charge" that is additional to any repairs, I just make sure I find out about all those charges ahead of time. I agree that you don't control customer service, time windows, part ordering, etc.
I will take time off work to wait for YOU (while you get paid to work). I will be friendly and courteous when you show up, answer any of your questions, help you move any appliances that are in your way, etc.
I will try to make your job as easy as possible since I do know it is difficult, thankless, and underpaid. Finally I will pay the amount you tell me, try to make a lighthearted remark of how it would have been cheaper to buy another appliance, and thank you for coming out, wishing you well on the rest of your day.
But after 2 of your visits (and missing a third when you called in sick), my appliance STILL does NOT work. Does that mean you won't get paid for the other two times? Oh no, that's right, you still got your check. THIS is why we complain. And as some of you mentioned, some of us DO NOT have a choice to deal with your company, it is the company refered to us by the manufacturer. So I apologize if with this referral, we are expecting a company that values our time, techs that will know the equipment, and will be able to do the work as quickly and efficiently as possible. One of you even goes so far as to say "it is only a fridge." REALLY??? You mean that place where we store the food for our FAMILY, PAID some hard-earned money for, and probably paid Shipping and installation for as well? Then YOU try going without a fridge. All we are asking for is SERVICE for the money, not bitter remarks that belittle or disrespect us. That is what we have wives for!
I looked on the web, found a case with the exact same problem. Seemed to be something with the automatic defroster not working, either heater, sensor or control board. They suggested some complicated troubleshooting, testing of the board, etc. I have a BS in Electrical Engineering, could have done the recommendations but I told myself I'm not taking the fridge apart so that if the Tech gets here and sees someone messed with it they may not want to deal with it. BTW, fridge was out or warranty, payed Sears the $250 or so that covered the repair (whatever the problem was) and gave 12 months warranty afterwards.
So I decided to unplug the fridge, let it thaw out and plugged it in to see if the auto defrost was the issue. After a night of thawing, fridge was working fine. When the tech came out, told them what I did, he said the fridge was working fine, nothing to repair and he left. Unfortunately I wasn't home because I would have reamed him a new one... I called Sears and told them what kind of professional did they send over. Even if something is working now, if I tell him what the problem is he could have tested the components to make sure they're ok so when time comes to use them they'll perform. They said their policy is if the unit is working they don't do anything else.
Told the idiot on the phone that basically you're wasting my time for a second trip when the device fails again, will have to wait for another week for the tech, without a fridge and it's costing Sears two or more visits for something they could have done in one or two if they didn't have the part. At this point the issue has come up again and they're coming again in a week but this time I'm not defrosting anything. Screw the idiots. Wonder why companies are going out of business, they can't control their costs. The $250 I paid them will ensure they come back till the issue is fixed at no cost, but how stupid can a company be and their management to have this kind of policy. No way I'm buying another appliance from Sears, specially with all the crap I read about how soon after purchase they fail. I bought a Bosch washer from another local store, got a 20% better price than from Sears. When I showed them the printout from the website, they told me their price protection is only good for their major competitors, like BestBuy or Circuit City. Screw them. I got the better end of the deal.
So per your logic, I should plan to pay upwards of $200 for a $300 microwave? Is my microwave 10% ($200 for microwave vs. $2000 for cruise ship, etc.) as complex as a cruise ship or super tanker? What is the ovrall price of a super tanker or cruise ship?