Dave's Appliance Repair Money for Nothin' Horsham Pennsylvania

The team at Dave’s seems nice enough and they came when they said they would. But when someone charges you a hundred bucks and gives no value in return, it’s a rip off. This is what happened to me:

My basement flooded in a recent storm and the washing machine was damaged. I scheduled a service call with Dave’s to find out what was wrong. The service call consisted of two guys staring at the machine for a few minutes: no tests, no diagnostics, no nothing. Then they returned to their van to look up parts and prices, and came back with a fee of $850 for a new motor and control panel (which seemed to be working fine), plus labor—more than I had paid for the machine brand new. I declined.

Then I talked to a friend who knows a bit about appliances: he suggested it might simply be the matter of a wet belt. So I gave it a week or so to dry. And guess what? I just finished my fourth load of laundry.

I talked to a representative at Dave’s about this. He said that the new parts were recommended because it is unsafe to operate a washing machine after the motor has flooded. He’s an expert, I am not, so I’ll concede the point. But here’s my point: I told them that the machine had flooded when I first called to schedule the service. Why not tell me then that a pricey motor replacement would be the only safe option after a flood? Why have someone come to your house to glance at the machine and then tell you something they already know? 

Their website says that they'll "give you an estimate for your appliance repair and get your approval before we start any work." They just don't mention that they charge top dollar for the estimate, which is only refundable if you go through with the work. And in my case, they did absolutely no investigation to develop an informed estimate to begin with.

I’m not saying these are bad folks, or this isn’t a tactic that many or most appliance repair shops will use. But they charged $100 for doing nothing but driving to my house. And that’s a rip off, plain and simple.