Appliance Canada Professional Sales and Service
Our Dismal Dishwasher Repair Experience
We called this company around Sept 5, 2017 to fix our 6-year-old dishwasher. The motor was noisy, the dishes weren’t getting clean and the door switch was not working as it should.
Blair and a trainee showed up to investigate and determined that they needed to replace the above-mentioned parts and would have to order them from Toronto. They would arrive the next morning, so we booked an appointment for 5 pm. Around 4:30, someone called to say they were running behind, and could they re-schedule for 11 am the following day. I said, “Sure, no problem.”
Come 10:30 the next morning, someone called to say they were running behind again and could they re-schedule for 1 pm. Again, no problem.
Blair and his colleague showed up after lunch and right away it was obvious that they didn’t have the proper door switch. They proceeded to replace the motor and pump assembly, and while they were working on that, I fiddled with the door switch and managed to fix its problem, so it was re-installed. They ran a dishwasher cycle for a few minutes, saw no sign of leakage, and replaced the dishwasher in the cabinet.
When it came time to settle the bill, Blair refused to grant me full credit for the door switch, saying that I owed him some more money for labour. When I asked him what their labour charge rate was, he said they charged a flat rate for a service call. Silly me, I didn’t insist on a full credit and we settled on a $37 amount instead of the actual price of around $60. When is a flat rate for a service call not a flat rate? Blair’s last words to me were “If you have any problems, please give us a call.”
It was several days later when we noticed that the dishwasher was leaking, seemingly in the area where they had replaced the parts, so we called for a follow-up visit. Blair and his colleague came two days later, and said that the screws for the motor/pump assembly were too long, (how could that be?) so they added some washers to tighten things up. Blair said that they tested the system 3 times without seeing any leaks, and replaced the dishwasher in the cabinet.
As we were loading the dishwasher for the next load, we noticed that every time we opened the door fully to load the bottom rack, it knocked the kick plate off its position. (it’s held in place with magnets for easy access to the bottom face plate of the dishwasher.) This was something new. It means that they didn’t get the front dishwasher feet re-set to their former height. Then when we attempted to start the load, we noticed that the water was shut off, which raised the question “Was it shut off when they checked for leaks?” That would explain why they didn’t find any. When we ran the load, we noticed that the dishwasher was still leaking as before, so we called for another appointment. One was made for two days later. No one showed up or called to re-schedule, so I phoned again to ask what was going on. I spoke with a lady who told me that Blair was on a job in Mississauga, (when he should have been at our place!) When I tried to re-schedule over the upcoming weekend, she said that their only qualified technician was off for the weekend and no one else could do the job.
During the following two weeks, two more appointments were scheduled, and missed, with no notice. Four voice messages went unanswered, and when I did manage to connect with a person, at different times I spoke with Sarah, Tony and Steve, who all promised they would investigate and call back, and not one of them ever did.
While we understand that sometimes things go awry, we expect any problems to be fixed in an effective and prompt manner. There is no excuse for the treatment we have received with a problem that Appliance Canada Professional Sales and Service technicians caused in the first place and now refuse to resolve.
We paid 587.60 for parts, service charge and taxes.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $587.60
- Company Response
This customer had called us to fix his dishwasher. He acknowledged to us that the dishwasher was making noise and the diagnoses was that the pump and motor unit indeed was the problem. So the tech did replace it. Now the customers particular dishwasher had other issues and also he wanted to put insulation behind the dishwasher, which was fine. Just resulted in an increase of labour costs. It was tested and drained 3 times before showing the customer that everything was installed properly and there wasn't any leaks. He called again a few days later and said they was a leak with the dishwasher. So the tech had returned and found the dishwasher already out the cupboard and the bottom base cover was already off. The tech found the leak and shown the customer again there were no leaks before leaving their home. Put it back together and was ready to use. Customer did call again and said there was a leak again. So the returned with the same thing bottom base cover and out the cupboard. It was tested and found no leaks. It was once again put together. At this point the tech felt he was beingtaken advantage of and the customer felt he overpaid. So his warranty was voided.