Give it to me straight: how long have I got?

[3beltwesty]

RE "What Part Of....

"It Can Easily Be Fixed" here in the UK are some of you NOT getting??? "

Just because the parts are cheap has no bearing on what *another* will charge if you pay a repair shop..LABOR rates vary all over map.

NOTE nobody has shown an actual real life quote.

Here just to get a clutch swapped out in the 1970's was about 1500 bucks on a MGB the whole engine is pulled then there is always something else so the bill was 2 grand. With a 2 grand used MGB a 95 buck clutch would last 2 to 3 years. In running a UK car here in 10 years one would spend more than the cars cost every 2 years in clutches. Thus some of us here in the USA tend to think that some UK stuff has a monster repair cost!

In many USA places it is 80 to 100 for somebody just to look at a flakey old washer; the labor cost governs the repair not the part's price. With a token 300 buck top loader, a repair chap will often quote 120 to 170 to fix a dumb pump. Thus *IF* one pays another; most here want a quote and "It Can Easily Be Fixed" often is a danger sign unless one gets a quote!

If a repair is easy to do for YOU; it has no bearing what another charges. Heck they might be unionized and the parts might be some variant that is oddball.

Without a quote you can be assuming and get stuck when a repair becomes opened ended.

*IF* you are not doing the job yourself then the variable is what another charges to do the repair. He might not repair for fun and have trucks, liability insurance, rent and overhead far higher than an amateur who rebuilds for fun and not a profit.

Here the repair rates vary widely; ALL over the map. Many repair places today only repair minor things like pumps, some like only certain brands. In rural areas it is worse, an oddball brand has little local following.

When I was in New Zealand 20 years ago an oddball appliance often had little repair knowledge. Ones parts were ordered out of NZ by air at about 6 bucks per Lb. A friend dad had a boneyard of appliances that were "easy to repair" but the parts were the devil in cost thus the item got scrapped or gutted for spares.

 

[pierreandreply4]

story time

here is a little story about repair cost,

my grandmother around 2009 still had her 1988 belt drive kenmore washer bought when my grandfather died to replace her old inglis whirlpool liberator washer that was a push to start washer don't know the year but i estimate it was a 69 model since it was a push to start pull to stop model she called her repair tech around 2009 to have something fix on her kenmore belt drive washer, it was fix but her repair guy even if her kenmore washer was still in good working order du to a leak she bought her direct drive washer left of her old 40 year old dryer now replace with the match to her 2009 whirlpool washer. In other word even if the washer is fix today won't mean it will be fixable next time and thats go for any contry or any type of washing machines front loaders or toploaders.

 

[chestermikeuk]

This machine of Alex's

Is probably very easily repairable and will do many years good service, Mathews Oovah machine is running as a daily driver and showing no signs of wear, like everything if its looked after, used right and repaired when required then happy washing ensues!!!

 

[ronhic]

Ok

Given the price of GBP134.00 is the price quoted by Hotpoint, the manufacturer, and Assuming it is also applicable to washers, how much more of a blasted quote would you like 3Belt?

 

[superelectronic]

*chuckles*

Thank you Ronhic for pointing that one out...not sure I had the heart/energy!

Having seen a repairman in action before on this kind of machine, I'd definitely put it as more like a 2 hour job for a pro. Even to me the basic sequence seems pretty straighforward: front and fascia off, tub front off, release the drum from the back, remove old bearing and pop in new, reinsert drum (with new spider) then reassemble! Still, I'd rather pay than risk the f___-up factor in attempting it myself.

Still erring on the side of getting the thing fixed rather than sporting out on something new, by the way. Nice as it would be to splash the cash and get up-to-date performance and economy (e.g. fast spin, more programming flexibility, quieter running), the Hottie probably covers my needs well enough at a price that's right! Besides, I'm not so sure about installing high-tech equipment on a suspended floor...all that vibration may give me grief!

Alex

 

[3beltwesty]

Washers and Dishwashers are different machines with repair c

Ronic; folks vary on how they assume and manage their money in life!

RE :"Given the price of GBP134.00 is the price quoted by Hotpoint, the manufacturer, and Assuming it is also applicable to washers, how much more of a blasted quote would you like 3Belt? "

/n

My take is you must be of the more assuming type in life than I am; see the actual comment:
/n

RE :"Well, 1st enquiry down: dropped a line to Hotpoint service earlier.

The response doesn't inspire confidence - it starts "thank you for your enquiry about your dishwasher..."!

Looks like a stock response. Working in Customer Services I know the drill and feel for the staff but you'd think they'd actually tailor the response to the enquiry, no?

Anyway, machines over 8 years old get a fixed price repair for £134.99. Not too bad, methinks. I have, however, replied to ask if it's more for a washer!"

/n

HERE there is NO way in heck that *I* would assume that a dishwater repair quote is going to be the same as a quote to replace the bearings in a FL washer. I have replaced bearings on several different vintages of FL machines, and all had a decent amount of labor.
/n

One is free to assume that a stock response of "thank you for your enquiry about your dishwasher..."! also is the same as a washing machine if one wants to.

Assuming is often dangerous; here a "fixed price repair for £134.99" and "thank you for your enquiry about your dishwasher..."!set off alarm bells for me. One they mentioned a dishwasher, two the quote seems to low.
/n

Maybe in non usa countries getting a vague quote referencing a different type of device somehow protects the customer through odd laws. Here a quote mentioning a different type of appliance and a low quote sets off warnings, and there might not be any magic to protect the assuming folks.

 

[3beltwesty]

135 Lbs British is 218 bucks US today.

At least in my neck of the woods in the USA, no sane repair chap would replace the bearings and seals on a washer for parts and labor for that cost.

Even if the parts were free and you gave him the parts I know of no repair place that would give out such a low labor price of 218 dollars to rip a machine apart and swap out bearings and the seal.

With a price to just arrive at the door of 80 to 120 bucks *HERE* ; that leaves only 118 in labor; if the parts are free. This means the shop rate for 2 hours is 59 per hour and for 3 hours is 40 per hour and for 4 hours is 30 per hour.

This state is the poorest in the USA and no repair shops are at those low levels.

A quote of 218 bucks HERE is more typical to replace a low end easy to swap out pump, bearings would be 2 to 3 times that rate.

a quote of 218 bucks for parts and labor seems so low that it sets off alarm bells here.

 

[3beltwesty]

A quote of 218 bucks here to replace the bearings on a FL washer seems more like a side job for a retired service guy.

Ie one pays him in cash and he thus does not report the income and thus has not impacted his retirement benefits; that limit ones income.

Since the economy is bad; often folks in the USA *do* work for cash. Ie they have there 99 weeks of unemployment; and basically work for cash "off the grid" at lower rates all undocumented. Some make more than there old jobs since the cash avoids the tax man.

***The whole point of the rebuttal is that to me 218 bucks for labor or 218 bucks for parts and labor to swap out the 2 ball bearings and seal on a house call seams super low ball; thus suspect if one really got a quote on a washer and not a dishwaher.

 

[pierreandreply4]

me i would say that for 218$ and up you can get a brand new washing machine for this price and also even if you have it repair today do not mean that the tech will use a brand new part as most repair tech today use refurbish parts that where fix in a factory and also Please note that not evryone can fix there washing machines them selves i for 1 can say that if my duet breaks for me its not worth spending money on a repair i would rather spend that money and buy a brand new washer dryer set. and here is a qote from my last post

" her repair tech around 2009 to have something fix on her kenmore belt drive washer, it was fix but her repair guy advise my grandmother to buy a brand new washer even if her kenmore washer was still in good working order."

so in a word think before having it fix sure i could of had my old toploading inglis whirlpool supberb2 washer fix but the washer was already 10 years old and did its time as well.

 

[pierreandreply4]

and in a way maybe you should also think that if the hotpoint company say thank you for your quote on a dishwasher maybe its there way in saying that they are not intressted in fixing your washing machine and telling you to buy a new 1 and going off topic for a sec i have a fridedair fridge pro gallery that had 2 repair, the first repair was the whole electronic. Cercuit board that was change and the second, repair was the handle where i get water from the fridge my mother was lucky the 1 repair was when the fridge was still under warrenty and the second repair cost 200$. She was lucky to have fix because the tech could of told my mother to buy a new fridge. Ok back on topic so in other word maybe you should think about it repair your actual washer or buy a new one.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Good news - QUOTE IS CORRECT!!!

Was booking a service call for a fan oven and asked about fixed price repair of your said machine - I think its an excellent deal

£135 for a fixed price repair - bearings & spider - AND anything else neede to make the machine usable (so if he found pump knackered, then you will get this)

AND - This is covererd for 90 days - Alex you may find a local repair out of london could do it cheaper but I'm not sure for where you are....

Like I say you would be hard pushed to find many other Service Departments offering that type of service these days!!!

 

[superelectronic]

Well actually...

...I had a reply earlier to state that £134.99 stood for washing machine repairs too!

I would point out that I have NOT accepted this or booked a repair. And yes - the email correspondence hasn't instilled total confidence. Then again, companies other than Hotpoint operate similar pricing structures (e.g. Hoover Candy - about £110 + parts for machines over 8 years old last time I looked at the website).

I somewhat doubt they'd send some retired/out of work sort to pop round and try his hand at a repair/former trade.

Britain is a very different country to the US in some respects; it sounds like repairs to washing machines is one of them.

Now if anyone else who actually lives in the UK would like to add their thoughts, do speak up!

May you all have a very pleasant day.

Alex

 

[superelectronic]

Thanks Mike - was composing as you posted! I'd agree it sounds very reasonable.

I'll be sure to keep all updated once I move things on a bit.

 

[3beltwesty]

If that quote is really 135 Lbs British for parts and labor then it sounds like a great deal !

The point about a retired person is that here a low quote is not normal for a real company with overhead;

ie a low quote is due to little overhead. The side line guy skirts taxes; skirts insurance, skirts the normal expenses an actual company has.

 

[3beltwesty]

Your quote of 135 Lbs British/ 218 US is less than a local quote to replace an air baffle on my 1992 Frigidaire refrigerator; the quote from last summer.

An exhaustive search showed few parts and thus the going internet price is about 130 bucks for the few that have the discontinued baffle. The quotes to have the parts plus labor were in the 230 to 250 buck range. The part only takes about 15 minutes to swap out, but the first time took me a lot longer to figure how to pop off the hidden snaps.

Since the fridge is old I really did not even spend 130 to do it myself; the fridge actually died 2 weeks ago. I just manually adjusted the dead air baffle to do the freezer versus refrigerator temp balance.

 

[electron1100]

Good Price Indeed

Thats a good price, and from the manufacturer. dont forget these people have to make a living aswell so it is only fair that they are paid for their skills.

I cannot think of a worse recomendation than going out and buying a new budget machine, god knows middle range machines are nothing to rave about in terms of build qaulity look at what Asia produces and unfortunately because of their cheap labour rates the rest of the world has to struggle to keep up or go under, hmmm we have been here before in the 1970s when Japan started up

Come and do my job for a few weeks and you will see loads of modern shite being dumped after a few years use

I hope you go for the repair as these are excellent machines, they are from a time when you could have good build quality and performance at a not unreasonable price

 

[pierreandreply4]

sure its a good price for a repair but just ask your self this question are the parts new or refurbish{refurbish parts means that they where parts taken from an old machine and fix in a factory}

 

[electron1100]

New Parts

In reply number 13 which Chestermike posted, there is a picture of the complete kit, tell me do these look like second hand/refurbished parts, you know it is possible (in this country at least) to obtain genuine parts for older machines relatively cheaply.

The thought that anyone would attempt to remove bearings and seals (providing they dont damage them doing so) and then clean them up and try and pass them off as new is laughable......................

You really have no idea about repairs in this country at all

Regards

 

[hoover1100]

£135 (NOT 135lbs!)

Is very reasonable indeed! I misread it at first and thought that was their callout charge!

You would certainly be getting new, genuine Hotpoint parts from a Hotpoint engineer.

You may be able to buy a new machine for £200, but to buy one of comparable quality to this you would be looking at upwards of £700 these days!

Who cares if it goes wrong again, chances are it will still last longer without requiring repair than a £200 machine!

Matt

 

[ronhic]

I agree...

If it were me faced with a repair of GBP135 on a limited budget or trying to buy a budget machine for around the GBP200-250 mark, I would be fixing the old girl up....

 

I'd look at it this way....If I get more than 2 years out of her, which I have no doubt I would, then I've equalled the warranty on a new machine and am now in front....by a minimum of GBP70...