Seriously, when you read reviews online of all kinds of appliance repair services, you really scratch your head before tossing a coin and crossing all sorts of things in the hope that you'll get someone who seems competent and above all honest.
I decided not to go for a page 1 Google search selection for 'washing machine repair W14' and scrolled through to see if there were any independent nuggets to be found on page 4.
There is something to be said for a form whose name isn't AAAAA11111 Washing Machine Repair or something which is simply trying to win the alphabetical classification war. An old Yellow Pages trick, tainted with Watchdog reports. So I see a name of a bloke, not trying to pretend to be anything other than a someone who owns a repair firm that might like your business if you can find them. Still a coin spin but one that feels more like it might be worth a punt.
Bearing in mind that the cost of consumer goods has come down to a point where repair is nearly a second choice for many owners, competition has forced companies into fixed price repairs. So the various franchise services seem to hover around the £50-£80 mark. Not expensive in many ways, particularly if you just want to see if you need to ship your 6-year old machine off to the appliance cemetery.
This company was offering a bargain basement price for its service. Enough to make you wonder how they could undercut the market like that. But also enough to encourage you to think "what have I got to lose?"
After a difficult start where it looked like the technician might get straight back in his van because there's very little parking round where I live, and having to make sure I subbed him for the pay and display, we were off. The chap was affable, polite and happy to explain what he's going to do next in the manner of a good dentist. He talked through what he was doing as he removed the motor, after checking it wasn't just a belt problem causing the drum not to turn (I was ahead of him, having checked this myself, but it was reassuring to see he was following a method I had found on the internet in the vain hope I might DIY the problem away).
Ultimately, he could find nothing wrong but had a sneaking suspicion it was just a loose connection. He reattached the motor firmly, and we were back in business. Loose connection it was. Alright, you don't really want have to pay someone just to plug something back in, but for peace of mind that you're not going to have to shell-out for a brand new machine, it was money well-spent.
He left a few grubby marks to go along with my own, which might upset you if you were more fastidious than me, but otherwise, though my experience was limited to one minor fix, if there were any future problems, this company would be my first call. read more