Your washing machine or TV breaks down and you have to face the million-dollar question: is it worth it to fix it? Who to call? How can you avoid falling into the clutches of a problematic company?
The appliance repair companies in charge of repairing electrical and household appliances for a lifetime, generate consumer claims due to the unprofessional performance of an isolated firm. Therefore, you must adopt a series of basic precautions, before hiring any service.
You should first see if the device is still under warranty. If so:
You must go to the SAT that indicates the establishment where you purchased the item or, where appropriate, the manufacturer. If you don’t, you may lose the warranty.
You don’t have to pay anything – not labor, travel, or spare parts.
The SAT is not obliged to give you an invoice or the parts it has replaced. If you leave the device to them, they must give you a deposit receipt.
If the device is not under warranty, you have complete freedom to decide. In these cases:
If you have found the company online, be very careful:
If you want to contact an official service of the brand, search directly on the website of the manufacturer of the device.
Keep in mind that it is highly unlikely that companies that advertise as multi-brand repair services, with an endless list of well-known firms, are an official service authorized by all those brands.
Be wary if only a mobile phone or a special rate phone appears, without any physical address. If an address appears, try to verify that it is indeed its headquarters.
If you do not have personal references, search the internet for opinions of other users, to see if there are claims or complaints.
If you decide to contact that company or professional:
Ask their rates, especially how much they charge for labor, for travel and, where appropriate, for an emergency action.
Request a preliminary budget. It’s your right. They must prepare it in a maximum of 5 business days. If you don’t want to, you must renounce it in writing. Of course, if you do it and you do not accept it, you can be charged an amount. The amount of the invoice must match that budget. In addition, it will allow you to determine if it is worth repairing the device or buying a new one.
Think twice if it requires you to pay in full for the replacement part and labor in advance. You may never hear from him again.
Remember that if the SAT is attached to consumer arbitration and a problem arises, you can solve the conflict quickly and free of charge.
When the SAT carries out the repair:
Make sure that the invoice meets the requirements of the regulations, with details of the amounts for each of the concepts:
It can only charge you one trip, even if it has made several.
You must be billed for the actual work time, without rounding, unless it is a very simple breakdown. In this case, it can charge you a minimum time, depending on the type of appliance.