technician trouble - Landlord Forum thread 349452

technician trouble by Ted B (CA) on November 29, 2016 @11:27

Hi,
Apologies that the topic is little off tangent but there are lots of smart people on this forum.
My tenants called me that their fridge is getting hot. I checked out and called a tech. He said it is either the coils ($100) or compressor ($300). I said go ahead. Then he said the control board is bad and he had to send it for repair for 2 weeks. I said OK. The board came back in a week and he sent me a bill for $420. The warranty which he said is 1 year now turned out to be 6 months. His invoice included a bill for $186 for "control board repair". I asked him to show me the receipt for that repair and he said: "I am not obligated to show it to you". I don't trust this guy based on failed promises and want to make sure he did not just leave the control board in his garage for a week and wants to make extra $200 at my expense. Any pieces of advice besides putting an adequate yelp review.

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My CPA needs receipts by Kathleen on November 29, 2016 @12:00	[ Reply ]

And be a broken record about it. I can't pay until I have a receipt.

Re: technician trouble by Anonymous on November 29, 2016 @13:59	[ Reply ]

Not only is he obligated to provide you with receipts and invoices, he's also obligated to provide you with any parts that were replaced. Even though they're the broken old parts, you own them. Your technician is screwing you. If he can't prove to you that the repair was actually made, then I advise not paying him until proof is provided. Is he his own boss or does he work for a company that you can contact? Do not do business with this person in the future.

Re: technician trouble by Garry on November 29, 2016 @14:14	[ Reply ]

First, how old was the refrig? If it's past 10 years old, you should not have bothered to have it repaired. You can buy a decent, new refrig at Sears, Lowes, Home Depot, etc, for $500- $1,000 that will last another 10 years. As for the current repair, if he had to switch out parts, you should ask him to give you the old parts back, so you know he switched them out. Unless you can PROVE he is falsely claiming charges, all you can do is pay him, and never call him ever again.

Re: technician trouble by Fred on November 29, 2016 @15:06	[ Reply ]

I'm wondering what did the T do for a week waiting for this fridge repair? If the repair man was giving you a flat charge to do a job such as clean coil 100 bucks. Then he would not necessarily have to show any receipts. Any parts and material if any, are built into the price. But I would question the bill unless he told you the price to repair the board or some type of estimate before hand. Did he clean the coil or replace the compressor? Sounds like he just changes parts till he hit the right one.

Re: technician trouble by MrDan on November 30, 2016 @12:09	[ Reply ]

If you breakdown the charges using the Appliance Bluebook reference; Service and Diagnostic charge... $89-$125 Replacement control board (repaired/new)... $160-$265 Labor cost... $145-$200 Total repair cost... $394-$590 $420 does not seem unreasonable. The tech has no duty to provide you with his receipts. Most repair techs do provide a breakdown of service cost, diagnostic cost, labor cost and parts cost which seems was supplied, along with the damaged parts. Some repair techs will wave the service charge if the repair is authorized at time of service call, some will up-charge for lack of parking or travel distance. Refusing to pay for service is a crime and you would likely wind up in court. If you truly feel you were overcharged, best to pay by credit card and dispute the charges later. Every landlord should have a record of each appliance, including serial numbers, repair records, age, warranty, etc. Every landlord should plan to have a list of prescreened service companies to call before there is a need. I would have questioned why you were not offered the choice between a new control board and repair of the old control board and warranty information. You can complain to the Better Business Bureau.