Smith Brothers Appliance Repair Overcharged by a mile and refused to call back Orange California

I called this company because the compressor on our refrigerator stopped working. When I called on Friday morning, December 26th, I was told by the rep that a service call of $85 would be charged if they came out that day. I asked what it would be if they came out the next day and she said, "Oh, since it won't be coded as an emergency call, it'll only be a $50 service call." I scheduled a visit for the next day.

Some guy named Jim showed up, about an hour and a half into the window period, looked at the fridge for about 5 minutes then said it would be $220 in parts and $180 for labor. When I hestitated, he said I would be charged a $85 service call fee. I told him it was quoted at $50 and he said that was an error. I was uneasy but had relatives in town for the Christmas holiday and didn't want to lose any more time with a broken fridge. I agreed and it took him about 8 minutes to do the repair.

When I called the company to lodge a complaint for the outrageous amount, they said the owner would call be back right away. After a few hours of no call back, I called again and was told that the owner would be out of town until Thursday. I was given some phone number which was supposedly the owner's direct line, but I'm pretty sure it was a number to an answering machine that never gets answered.

I have still not received a phone call back and will be writing to the BBB next.

I was fooled by their website and the "BBB Rating" on it. Be very careful when dealing with this company. Every thing I was told by every person I dealt with was a lie. They are trained very well to rip people off who are at the mercy of a broken appliance.

Naomi
Tustin, California
U.S.A.