Buddy's Appliance

5,003 Views | 27 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Picadillo
CTGilley
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AG
Complete Crooks.

The ice machine was not working so my wife called the manufacturer to check warranty. It was out of warranty so they gave her the number of the local repair shops. I told her if it was out of warranty I would fix it to just order the parts. She called Buddy's to order the parts and they convinced her to let them come out and give an estimate. She did and when I found out I told her no we do not want to do business with them because I have heard some terrible things from former employees.

They called her back and said repairs would be over $400. She told they no thanks and was then told she owed $85 for the "service call." No service was provided and come to find out the OEM parts cost Less than $100 and only took 20 minutes to install.
bugle rank '87
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AG
Always call Thomas Moore for appliance repair. Sweetest most honest man you will ever meet and a great repairman too!
We’ve never lost a halftime...
justalocal
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The service is them coming out, looking at the appliance, and telling you the cost to fix. Sounds like they did that. Did they tell her the service call was free? Did she ask? What did they say to convince her? Not seeing how Buddy's is in the wrong or a crook.

carpe vinum
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AG
Sorry, but Buddy's has been known to do this crap for decades.
Amen for Mr. Moore, but he's long into his retirement years..
I'll call Thomas until he's retired, but WE ALL need to be looking for an honest repairman like Thomas.
befitter
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Ummmm.....your wife agreed to the service call. They charged you for the service call. This is not crooked.
CTGilley
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AG
She agreed to get an estimate and not a service call. Yeah she got conned but the rates are what are crooked. I have never charged anyone for a bid.

There was no service provided. They came and got the part numbers that she had already provided for them.
BCStalk
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Did you speak to the manager?
CTGilley
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AG
Unfortunately
MosesHallRAB83
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AG
Perhaps there was some shadiness in how they got your wife to agree to them coming out, but have you ever had a service provider (plumber, appliance, AC person, etc.) not charge for a house visit? I haven't.
justalocal
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Theres another post about a fridge where someone else (technoag) states another company has a rate similar to what you were charged. It sounds like a misunderstanding, mainly on your wife's part. I'm a woman and usually my first question to someone coming out is "how much."
MiMi
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S
Quote:

If you take your car to the mechanic to be diagnosed (and they pour in time + labor to do so), and you take the car elsewhere to be fixed, do you call them crooks for charging for a "service not rendered"?
My mechanic has a posted sign disclosing their diagnostic/labor fees.

Buddy's is at fault if they did not inform the customer of their service charge prior (and obtain her consent to pay the fee) prior to the visit.
JP76
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What was the technician's name ?
EVA3
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AG
I've done business with them for years. In my experience they are always very clear that there will be a charge to come out in the event you don't have them make the repairs.
nought
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AG
EVA3 said:

I've done business with them for years. In my experience they are always very clear that there will be a charge to come out in the event you don't have them make the repairs.
This. Every appliance service place, whether Sears, Buddy's, or anywhere else, is always very clear that a visit will incur a charge.

All I can guess is that this is the first time OP has ever had someone come out for a visit to look at an appliance.

I have had Buddy's out several times over the years. They aren't the cheapest, but they do get the job done well. And, every time, they have been clear up front that there is a fee for the initial visit. Even if they weren't, common sense dictates that of course there is a fee for a service visit (no matter what else you want to call it like 'estimate visit').
halibut sinclair
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I've used Buddy's Appliance for over 20 years and my folks have used them longer than that. Never had an issue. The Haney family is upfront and honest and do great work.
Rapier108
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halibut sinclair said:

I've used Buddy's Appliance for over 20 years and my folks have used them longer than that. Never had an issue. The Haney family is upfront and honest and do great work.
Same here. Never had a problem with Buddy's.
crbongos
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AG
I am a homebuilder and have used them for years. The Haney's are honest, fair and do a really good job. But they are human just like you and I and miscommunications can/do happen in any business. They are anything but crooked--many of their employees have been there for years. Buddy's has always supported the community as well. Sometimes we judge on a one off experience--I am guilty of that as well. Just wanted you to know the other side of the story.
CRBongo
LOYAL AG
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AG
Places like this charge a fee for assessing the repair that gets waived if they do the repair. They definitely aren't in it to cheat you out of $85. There's no money in that.
Orlando Ayala Cant Read
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LOYAL AG said:

Places like this charge a fee for assessing the repair that gets waived if they do the repair. They definitely aren't in it to cheat you out of $85. There's no money in that.
agree with this.

no offense to OP but its kinda unrealistic and cheap frankly to expect people to take time out, provide a look at your problem, and not charge you.

i could understand if they advertised "free in home estimates" or something, or maybe even you taking it in and all they had to do was give you a 5 min look and you were charged a ton and you being annoyed. but this isn't either of those. they came to your place, took time out, spent gas money, and provided you a service. gota pay.
meinkee
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Time is money in most businesses.
I use Buddy's exclusively since Deryl Emola joined them a few years ago.
Deryl saved my new refrigerator that was a victim of the floods of sixteen and when he told me to buy a new washer instead of repairing my Maytag that was barely out of warranty, I did and I bought what he recommended from Buddy's. Cheaper ones out there? Yep. But his experience in repairing them far superior to some salesperson on the floor of Lowe's or Sears telling me what to buy. Completely satisfied with Buddy's l
EMY92
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AG
Years ago, I worked for a company that consulted with small service businesses. In the early 2000s, the national breakeven price point for a man and a truck was $65/hr. That was over 15 years ago.

In BCS, figure 15-20 minutes to get to your place, 10-15 minutes to diagnose and provide the estimate, then 15-20 minutes back to the shop. That's very close to an hour, they need to cover the costs associated with that.
trackaggie76
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AG
Pretty much all my appliances have come from Buddy's--never an issue and I will use them in the future.
isitjustme
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Quote:

She called Buddy's to order the parts and they convinced her to let them come out and give an estimate.
I like Buddy's, we've bought from them and used them for repairs at the house. We trust Buddy's.

The OP's rub may be tied to the above quote. If she just wanted to order parts, then they should have just ordered the parts for her. If Buddy's truly convinced her to let them come out, they should have made it clear that she would be charged for a service call regardless of whether they repaired the icemaker. I wasn't on the call so I don't know what was actually said, but if she got the feeling that them coming out to give an estimate would be free, then Buddy's should have made sure she knew it was chargeable. If she couldn't understand that, then you just can't help some people.

All that being said, our household will continue to use Buddy's for appliance and repairs.
dallasiteinsa02
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I had a commercial style refrigerator that seemed to be making a humming sound. Called a technician and he said that it would be $100 for the service call but that would be credited against any services performed. The guy came out and said that the compressor needed to be replaced. It was an old Northland refrigerator and based upon the quote we were just going to buy a new refrigerator. Since it was still cooling, he recommended that we clean the compressor housing and quoted $110. I told him to go ahead and clean it which he did. When he was finished he said that will be $210. I said you told us it would be $110 to which he said we didn't spend enough and thus he wasn't going to credit the $100. He got pissed and stormed out of the house. He didn't get paid a dime. The best part was that the cleaning stopped the humming and there was nothing wrong with the compressor. The refrigerator lasted 5 more years.
Fonzie Scheme
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AG
Service tech is summoned to residence for inspection of broken appliance.
Said tech is responding to call for inspection with no guarantee his employer will be used for any needed repairs.
Said tech is also responding to call instead of possibly going to a guaranteed repair job.
Said tech is likely not Samantha or Jeanie, ergo must use conventional transportation to convey him/herself to appliance in question.
Conventional transportation is likely a company-owned truck which uses fuel and requires regular maintenance.

In what world has the business not incurred cost to make this visit, thereby necessitating the charge of a fee? If my physician diagnoses that I need the care of a specialist, he still expects to get paid for service rendered, and I had to go to his office. A service business will not last long if it is built upon making free diagnostic house calls.
ncttc
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It's a shame they are the only game in town when it comes to appliance parts. I needed a washer lid lock switch and their price was 69$. Ordered it from sears direct for $36. They know they have the market cornered so they jack up the prices.
dmott806
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AG
I agree with OP about Buddy's putting the screws to folks. The one and only time i will ever use them was several years ago when our front loading washer door seal/gasket was tore and thus started leaking. I ordered the part from them and i thought i could put it on myself. Anyway, once i got started with the project i realized that i was in over my head, thus i decided to load up the machine and take it to Buddy's and have them replace the door gasket. They did. I got it back home and started using it and it leaked even worse than prior to when i took it to them. So i called to complain and asked them if they verified that what they repaired had worked. Of course they said yes. Bull crap!! So they said they could come out for a service charge or i could bring it back in. So i did the frugal thing and took it back in for them to check it out. Got a call back from them later and they basically said that they always replace an additional part when they replace this door gasket (and because i just asked them to replace the one part, not knowing that there was something else that needed to be replaced during the replacement of the gasket that didn't get replaced) and that is why it was leaking. So they had to remove what they had originally replaced, dig deeper and replace another part, then replace the initial part while racking up the labor fees.

THIS IS WHY I LOST ALL RESPECT FOR THEM. THEY ARE THE SUPPOSED EXPERTS WHEN IT COMES TO APPLIANCES AND THIS ADDITIONAL PART NEEDED TO BE REPLACED, BUT WAS NOT DECENT ENOUGH TO RECOMMEND THAT WHEN I BROUGHT IT IN THE INITIAL TIME NOR DID THEY TEST THE REPAIR OR THEY WOULD OF OBVIOUSLY DISCOVERED THAT IT WAS STILL POURING WATER OUT OF THE FRONT DOOR.

Any "business" that would treat a customer like that by not telling them what they know so they can make ever mover money on additional service/labor fees. Manager said they were just doing what was asked.

Stupe
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S
CTGilley said:



They called her back and said repairs would be over $400. She told they no thanks and was then told she owed $85 for the "service call." No service was provided and come to find out the OEM parts cost Less than $100 and only took 20 minutes to install.
That's called "markup" and it's' completely honest. Businesses aren't open to break even, they are open to provide jobs and make a profit.

Picadillo
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We've done business with Buddy's for years and have had no issues. Hopefully whatever this is will be resolved soon. Just not a fan of the big box stores.
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