Reliable Service Company is anything but! BEWARE & AVOID!!! El Cajon, California

My son ( stationed in Iraq) and I, are opening a retail bakery in Murrieta CA. We bought a Vulcan double stack commercial oven, Double door glass display refrigerator, and single door stainless refrigerator from Economy Restaurant Equipment at the beginning of March. We contacted Reliable about working on commercial equipment & were assured that their technicians were capable & certified, and that they routinely worked on commercial grade equipment. Our service request was for a tear down of oven ( to fit through doorway of retail space) , and tune- ups on all 3 appliances.

We scheduled appointment for end of March, and a service technician named "Justin" arrived at our home, took a look, and took a deposit of $150.00. He said to call when we were ready to move them to the bakery. We scheduled several appointments through the office, however no one showed up. On the third appointment we met Paul Sharov " area manager" for inland valley. He looked at oven, said it would fit through standard retail doorway. I told him it would not, and he suggested we move it to the site, and "if" necessary he would tear it down at the location.

I asked about extra charges for weekend service, ( he said it was the same as weekday) and requested his help in loading and unloading from truck with lift gate. An appointment was scheduled for Paul & "Brad" to be at our home @ 9:00 am. They were a no show. I called the office & Paul's cell number, and eventually was told he had van problems and we could meet " Brad" at shop. By the time we ( and neighbors) managed to load the appliances, and drove to bakery 5 minutes away, Brad had left. Paul called him, and he returned. He was very young, and looked unsure & confused on how to proceed.

He confided much later, that he had only worked on his fathers Subway sandwich appliances.and was only licensed to handle freon. He then proceeded to get out a hammer, and began forcefully banging on the motors to remove them from the appliance inside the truck. My husband, neighbor, Brad, and I all got the oven to the rear door, but it would not fit. More hammering ensued & Brad then wanted to cut off metal trim between ovens to make it quit. I declined. When Paul eventually arrived, he looked concerned, but said nothing to us, and began grinding down something inside the oven.

We later learned that Brad had severely mushroomed out the motor shafts & Paul was attempting to cover the damage by grinding it off, "fixing it". Once it was inside, and put back together, Paul claimed it was better than new. He did not turn it on, tune it up, or calibrate it. When I asked a basic question about a fan switch, he said he did not know, & referred me to the manual. Another appointment was needed to take care of the refrigerators, and I documented several more missed appointments scheduled with the office. Paul eventually did show up for third sceduled appointment, and recharged the display fridge with freon.

He did not have the thermostat for the single door, and offered to remove dent on top plate, with a appointment set for another day to complete the repairs. I was again stood up for the appointment ( various excuses; office issues, appointment overtimes, waiting for part, wrong part arrived, etc). When he did arrive, my double door was not cold again, and he stated I had bad welds on copper piping. He welded them and recharged again with freon. He said I may need a new condenser for double door, and still did not have my top piece or thermostat for single door.

Also suggested new door seals @ $125.00 each ( total of 5). I declined condenser and 3 door seals. I called the office, and repeatedly called paul to finish up repairs, and recieved no call back for weeks. When he did call back,, he claimed my top piece was being fixed at the shop, and he would pick it up the following day. We sceduled an appointment, and he was again a no show. I contacted the office to complain, but they said he made his own schedule. I called Pauls cell, and he then claimed Brad had it, and he thought he had dropped it off. Another appointment was scheduled to replace the 2 door seals ( said it was causing leak & ice buildup on coils) came again and replaced thermostat, but still had no top plate, requiring ANOTHER appointment.

At the next appointment i was busy doing office work, and noticed after he left, that he had ripped off ALL the door seals and replaced all 5. Still no top plate. My phone calls were now being avoided, and were unreturned. I called and said I needed it for inspection, and claimed I was interested in a quote for the condenser, as a ruse to get them out there. Brad arrived with top plate that looked worse than before( ball hammer marks everywhere & bent sharp metal protrusion). Brad had no idea how to connect the 4 wires to thermostat & had to call Paul for directions. I expressed my dissatisfaction with the top panel, and the sharp bent peice that was not there previously.

He suggested I bend it down , and secure it with Gorilla tape. As I had the plate back, we contacted 2 certified Vulcan & appliance repair technicians, who both stated the oven motors were ruined and needed to be replaced. They also removed the coil panel in double door refrigerator, and discovered extensive acid corrosion, bad welds, and said it was unfixable and would have to be gutted ( not cost effective). Reliable tech Paul could and should have discovered this during tune-up consultation. We have replaced 1motor in oven out of pocket, so that we can open, and contacted Reliable in writing, with repair invoice.

We were referred to "Peter York the managing supervisor" for reimbursement of repair and replacement of the other motor damaged by their employee Brad & Paul. Mr. York scheduled an appointment for Paul to pick up the damaged motor, however we were advised to not allow them to take it from our possession. We have offered to let Paul take pictures, but they were uninterested in that offer. We have requested the cost of the new motors be paid to us without court intervention. We have not had our calls returned, been contacted to resolve this matter, or been offered any viable compensation.

In addition we have never received any written quote or estimate for any service call or "repair" other than the initial paperwork with the $150.00 deposit, even though we continually requested them. Paul informed me that "Justin" was fired for pocketing customers money ( checks written to him or cash) and not completing services quoted. Paul admitted he has no commercial appliance certifications, and Reliables business license is for refrigeration only. I will be reporting Reliable to the BBB, the Bureau of Eloctronics & Appliance Repair, and filing a court action against them later this week for $5000.00. This sum will now include loss of time, loss of business, damage to equipment, etc. Reliable Service Companies business = Bad Business! Just say NO!