A few weeks ago my dishwasher started acting up. It's a fairly new dishwasher so I felt betrayed by it the first time I found standing water in the bottom post-wash cycle. I ran the cycle a second time and the water drained. I smiled and put the problem out of my mind. Sunday the standing water was there again and this time it wouldn't drain. I called the repair number and found out a shocking bit of news: a service visit is $109. Repairs are additional. I understand the need to charge something for the technician's time, but $109?!?!?! I felt reluctant to schedule, especially since almost every service call to my house has ended up to be something totally brainless (spoilers). I almost didn't make the appointment because $109 is obscene, in my book, as a starting price for a service call. If they actually charge you for repairs you are probably approaching a good percentage of the original price of the dishwasher!
I digress. So I took the plunge and made the appointment. Anytime between 1 pm and 5 pm. That's a whole different rant right there.
So the technician shows up, I tell him what's happening. He says, "Ah." Then he takes that cap off that little thingy next to the faucet. You know, that little thingy. It's got a name- the air gap. He unscrewed the plastic top, cleaned out a tiny amount of food gunk, screwed the cap back on and said, "I won't charge you anything more than the service fee."
Really? How kind of you to ONLY charge me $109 for 30 seconds of work. At this point it dawned on me that we live in the age of the internet. I was pretty sure I could have saved myself $109 (plus tax) so $119.34 if I had googled "dishwasher won't drain". And yes, it turns out. I could indeed have learned all about the pitfalls of the air gap from the internet.
But what really makes me mad is when the technician called to say he was on his way he asked what the problem was with the dishwasher. I told him. At that point he *could* have suggested I check the thingy- you know, the air gap. That would have been the nice thing to do. But no. Instead he came out, worked for less than 30 seconds and charged me &109 + tax.
From now on I will google first, even if the house is full on flooding. I will google 'how to stop your house from flooding'!
I digress. So I took the plunge and made the appointment. Anytime between 1 pm and 5 pm. That's a whole different rant right there.
So the technician shows up, I tell him what's happening. He says, "Ah." Then he takes that cap off that little thingy next to the faucet. You know, that little thingy. It's got a name- the air gap. He unscrewed the plastic top, cleaned out a tiny amount of food gunk, screwed the cap back on and said, "I won't charge you anything more than the service fee."
Really? How kind of you to ONLY charge me $109 for 30 seconds of work. At this point it dawned on me that we live in the age of the internet. I was pretty sure I could have saved myself $109 (plus tax) so $119.34 if I had googled "dishwasher won't drain". And yes, it turns out. I could indeed have learned all about the pitfalls of the air gap from the internet.
But what really makes me mad is when the technician called to say he was on his way he asked what the problem was with the dishwasher. I told him. At that point he *could* have suggested I check the thingy- you know, the air gap. That would have been the nice thing to do. But no. Instead he came out, worked for less than 30 seconds and charged me &109 + tax.
From now on I will google first, even if the house is full on flooding. I will google 'how to stop your house from flooding'!
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