Called them yesterday when my water quit while washing the breakfast dishes in the morning.
Since I am a Major Household Appliance Service Technician I am very knowledgeable about motors , pumps, mechanical & electrical repair. I have some health issues I'm dealing with so it's difficult to climb down into my pumphouse & back out.
Needless to say I climbed down into there only to find that the motor just humms.
I checked to see if the motor & pump would spin manually and it did. I decided to try changing the start capacitor since I stocked a few in my service van . Still didn't run with the new start capacitor.
I started to panic since I was now running late for my service calls so I looked on line for the new motor and couldn't find the right one. I needed this fixed quickly and by now it's late morning. I called Lamms and spoke with Mike and he wanted me to go back down there & take a picture and provide him with info off the motor plate which I did. He then told me that it could be the transfer switch and not need a motor. He also told me the service call was $150.00 Quite Steep !
I should have ran & ran fast.
He said he could come in the afternoon.
Between 2-3p.m. his young employee showed up in a very expensive bran new looking truck. His employee took the top of the motor apart and said "your transfer switch is bad" and I said "Oh , then I don't need a motor" WRONG !!!
He told me the transfer switch can't be replaced.
Just then, Mike showed up in another brand new looking fancy truck and told me that my motor would be $530.00 but he didn't have it in stock.
He also told me he has a better motor in stock for $615.00
I thought I was going to have a heart attack hearing those prices !
I told him since I'm selling the house I want the 3/4 h.p. motor just like what was in there. The old motor lasted 40 years.
He told me again it's not in stock so I asked " When could you have it ?" His answer "next Tuesday"
I can't wait a week and he knew that so I ended up with the $615.00 more expensive motor.
After he looked at the picture I sent him he should have known that if it needed the transfer switch he would have to replace the whole motor. He should have told me that on the phone & he didn't !
He just wanted to get here, mark the price up on the motor more then $200.00 over what he pays, charge the service call of $150.00 plus $150.00 labor for a grand total of $926.90 !!
He SCREWED ME BIG TIME !
On top of that I told him what caused the motor to burn out which was a problem with the bladder tank causing the pump motor to constantly cycle on & off. He refused to do any thing about it and told me after paying $926.90 that there was no warranty because of the bladder tank problem. He said he could replace the bladder tank for $600 - $700. but not at that time.
I SAID NO WAY, I'LL DO IT MYSELF.
When he was finished with the job and it was his employee that did all the work( Mike never even went down in the pump house) I found he didn't put the cover back on the pressure switch, didn't put the rubber grommet in the side of the pressure switch where the power wire from the motor goes thru & only put 3 bolts in to mount the motor when it's made for 4 bolts. After I corrected all his mistakes and cleaned up after him I decided to call an older friend of mine to help me deal with the bladder tank issue. This friend is 80 years old and he's great !
We drained the bladder tank flushed it and but the right amount of air pressure & water in it and everything is working great !!!
Why didn't Mike & his helper do this instead of doing a half ass job and running away after 45 minutes. ???
When I go out on a service call to repair a customer's Refrigerator, washer, etc.... I don't leave until everything is perfect !!!!
By the way, I also don't make a killing on service calls. I treat my customers with respect and provide low prices for everyone.
Mike was a smartass as soon as he arrived here because he knew I was stuck and needed the water up & going immediately. With my health problems (Chrons disease) I can't be without water.
Lesson learned , do everything myself no matter how sick I am
Also,
Don't call Lamms Well Service.
Steve @ AC/DC Appliance Service read more