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| "Air conditioners may come and go, but there's still nothing like the fresh ocean breeze. I use my air conditioner primarily as a white noise machine, to block out the chitter chatter of neighbors...I know it's November and many of you are battling cold weather and I am blogging about a broken air conditioner. :D) |
Sixteen months ago I bought a Kenmore window type air conditioner from Sears. It quit working last week so I called customer service about my warranty, my warranty expired in May of 2011, one year after I bought it. I sure wish I had bought the extended warranty for $60.00 at that time.
The person on the phone told me that there is a $97.00 fee just to see what's wrong and diagnose the problem, the same thing on the 'Mainland' United States is $65.00 and the $65.00 is applied towards your repair, however after much hoopla I was told the $97.00 is just to examine the air conditioner and any repair done in Hawaii is additional.
I scheduled the appointment and decide to take the gamble on the diagnosis, I wait from 8:00A.M.-12:00 P.M. the guaranteed time they say they will be at my residence, one o'clock came around and I had a doctors appointment at 2:00 therefore I call Sears and they feel bad and reschedule and give me a $50.00 credit towards my repair for not showing. The customer service rep tells me that the $50.00 is only good for the repair and not the $97.00 estimate. I was somewhat disappointed but decide to reschedule for the following Wednesday.
In the interim I am shopping on Craigslist and see many used air conditioners and one in particular for $71.00. The lady says she will get back with the particulars, is it quiet, how old is it etc, I asked? Even though I am ready to buy, she is not ready with answers or even ready to show it because she is so bogged down in work.
Sears comes and I show them what's wrong, within 2 seconds without touching the unit the repair-woman says, "I can tell you with-out touching it that it will cost you at least $190.00 for the repair alone not including the visit." The repair person sees the look of distress on my face and says to me, "I never touched the unit so I recommend you buy a new one." "If Sears calls for a follow-up tell them you just decided to buy a new one, Technically I was never here."
The repair-woman also stated make sure and buy the extended warranty next time, especially on the Hawaiian Islands electrical appliances take a beating from the salt air, and my place sits on a hill with the ocean slightly below. OK great advise, Mahalo Nui Loa, I replied. (Thank you very much)
I am thrilled I did not have to spend $97.00 just to be told my air conditioner was not repairable. I was ready to write off my Kenmore Air conditioner and look seriously for a new one with a warranty. I decide for fun to give my air conditioner one last hard kick, I had kicked it a few times before calling customer service, but this time I really kicked it hard just out of frustration and low and behold, 'hallelujah' it starts spitting out cold air!
The air conditioner Goddess's decided that my Air conditioner needed a miracle healer and so be it, Amen. My air conditioner is fixed, for free, just with a kick. The moral of the story when your AC is sick give it a kick!
(The names of the air conditioner and store may have been changed to protect the guilty.... other than that this story is the truth!)
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this blog site do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Publisher of Dakinetalk the blog, but they could? ;D)
5 comments:
via facebook;"Oh well, air conditioning for Thanksgiving is one reason people trade their white Christmases (or other seasonal holidays) to live in paradise.
Regarding the extended warranties, most of the time they are a waste of money. It is a gamble a...nd the odds are (usually) not in your favor. If it does happen that the device goes out, then it would have paid off, but over one's lifetime, with few exceptions (such as experimental or leading edge stuff), it is rarely a good idea to bite for them. Of course, those times (like this one) when you find out the long shot would have had a payout, it makes the long odds look more attractive."
via Facebook;"Keep Kool in Kauai, Kimo!"
Doug, I would agree with you 99% of the time, but when a window air-conditioner as in my situations is sitting on the window side of the ocean side and windy side of my place, with the salt air causing premature aging, it's worth an additional 60.00 for a 3 year warranty inclusive of house visites where a visit alone without fixing will cost over one hundred dollars with tax.
Dave, Kool Kimo on Kauai deosn't drive a Kar! :D)
via facebook;"That was a funny story, & I'm glad you didn't have to pay all that $ for a useless estimate."
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