"DH in Denver" wrote in message
news:3fd690ab$1@nntp....
My Kenmore refrigerator quit cooling. I called an appliance repair
company. The tech said I needed a new "pc board." I don't know why he
called it that, except it sounds more ominous than "defroster timer,"
which it really was, and was even so identified on the box that he
brought the next day.

They are also called ICBs..so?


Anyway, he didn't have that part with him; said he'd return the next day
with it. Before he left, I had to pay him $159.19 in advance for the
part. When I asked him how he came up with $159.19 (he hadn't looked a
any lists or made any phone inquiries), he said he remembered the price
from the last time he had needed the same part.

Oh god...you know...I know the prices off my head of about 100 parts that we
use on a regular basis...I just priced out a YorkGuard IV module that I have
not seen in over a year in use on an older unit, and I knew before I called
to verify the price it was going to be over $400.
Be glad the guy didnt pull out his flat rate book and give you a price...it
might have been closer to $250.


Before he returned the next day, I checked with Sears and two other
parts store in town and found that I could have bought the
part--retail--for between $55 and $62. (I knew the part number, because
Sears provides parts lists for almost everything mechanical it sells.)

If that price included labor..you did good.


So, he was charging me almost 3 times the retail cost for the part. I
assume he could have bought it even for less than my retail cost.

Maybe..maybe not. Sears tends not to wholesale anything unless you are a
Sears bot.


QUESTION: is this typical of repair companies to charge exorbitant
prices for parts?

Answer: Did you pay it? Did he install it? Does your unit work now? If you
did, too late. The time to bitch was before.


This guy was not an independent guy; he worked for a large appliance
repair company in town.

Ahh..there you go..
I believe that you got a fair price. Did you pay for the FIRST service call
out?
Lets break it down..using outdated labor pricing.

First service call: $50
Part: $60
Labor to install part $50

Total, $160

Problem?



DH in Denver