Why do appliance repairs (dishwasher, laundry, fridge, etc.) seemingly cost as much as the appliances themselves?
In: 5618
Directly quoting what a local AC/cooling unit company upper manager told me: “they ask us for a spare screw and we charge them $500 for it, even though we’ve got a box of them lying about that cost us $10.”
I imagine this also ‘helps’ the issue.
Directly quoting what a local AC/cooling unit company upper manager told me: “they ask us for a spare screw and we charge them $500 for it, even though we’ve got a box of them lying about that cost us $10.”
I imagine this also ‘helps’ the issue.
Just an FYI that replacement parts and their prices are available online. You can check the cost of the part. I find when repairs on appliances are expensive, it’s because the part is expensive.
You can usually estimate the labor cost because appliance repair people tend to have a service charge just to come out. If you pay for the service then they charge is applied to your balance. I’ve rarely had to pay an additional amount for labor over that amount—and cheaper parts are usually covered under that service amount.
Just an FYI that replacement parts and their prices are available online. You can check the cost of the part. I find when repairs on appliances are expensive, it’s because the part is expensive.
You can usually estimate the labor cost because appliance repair people tend to have a service charge just to come out. If you pay for the service then they charge is applied to your balance. I’ve rarely had to pay an additional amount for labor over that amount—and cheaper parts are usually covered under that service amount.
Mostly because appliances are stupid cheap nowadays, and labor is very expensive.
A dishwasher costs $500 (everything is done outside the US where labor is cheaper). Labor is roughly $100 per hour most places in the US right now (this is for a licensed and bonded trained professional though a business, not a handyman on craigslist wage). So anything that takes more than 5 hours work is a wash. You’re looking at at least a 1/2 hour in transportation, then a half hour taking the thing apart and another half hour putting it back together, and another hour to test it. That’s half the price of the dishwasher baked right into the repair estimate and it’s not counting the cost of even fixing anything.
Mostly because appliances are stupid cheap nowadays, and labor is very expensive.
A dishwasher costs $500 (everything is done outside the US where labor is cheaper). Labor is roughly $100 per hour most places in the US right now (this is for a licensed and bonded trained professional though a business, not a handyman on craigslist wage). So anything that takes more than 5 hours work is a wash. You’re looking at at least a 1/2 hour in transportation, then a half hour taking the thing apart and another half hour putting it back together, and another hour to test it. That’s half the price of the dishwasher baked right into the repair estimate and it’s not counting the cost of even fixing anything.
This started changing many years ago. There used to be TV repair shops. The technology and marketing changed all of that. The technical knowledge for electronics understanding and repair diminished as single components became integrated circuits with multi layer circuit boards that make it fast and easy for manufacturing but hard or even impossible for trouble shooting and repair.
The electronics technicians became circuit board replacement technicians and appliances became additional landfill. Marketing, interest rates and sales are great contributors to this and maybe the question should be, “Why is my dish washer so cheap?”
We’ve become a throw away culture.
This started changing many years ago. There used to be TV repair shops. The technology and marketing changed all of that. The technical knowledge for electronics understanding and repair diminished as single components became integrated circuits with multi layer circuit boards that make it fast and easy for manufacturing but hard or even impossible for trouble shooting and repair.
The electronics technicians became circuit board replacement technicians and appliances became additional landfill. Marketing, interest rates and sales are great contributors to this and maybe the question should be, “Why is my dish washer so cheap?”
We’ve become a throw away culture.
BECAUSE GE AND SAMSUNG WANT YOU TO BUY A NEW ONE. I can design something to be easy to repair or impossible to repair. If I don’t get paid for repairs, why would I make an easily repaired appliance?
BECAUSE GE AND SAMSUNG WANT YOU TO BUY A NEW ONE. I can design something to be easy to repair or impossible to repair. If I don’t get paid for repairs, why would I make an easily repaired appliance?
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