Vent: Just read a report that says 40% of appliance calls are for user error, not broken parts

Found this in a trade magazine article from last month. They surveyed a bunch of shops and that was the average. Means almost half my day is spent fixing things that aren't actually broken. Had a call yesterday for a dryer not heating, and the guy just hadn't cleaned the lint screen in maybe a year. Took me 10 minutes to show him, but I still had to charge the full trip fee. How do you guys handle explaining this to customers without them getting mad? Feels like half my job is just being a teacher now.

3 comments

3 Comments

wendyk567d ago

Used to get annoyed by those calls, figured people should just know better. Changed my mind after my own mom flooded her kitchen because she didn't know about the dishwasher filter. Now I see it as part of the service, like a car mechanic checking tire pressure. I just explain it's a safety and efficiency check, and the trip fee covers my time to diagnose it, even if the fix is simple.

emery1997d ago

Your mom's kitchen flood is the perfect example. People treat appliances like magic boxes that should just work forever. They don't read manuals, they just press buttons. That trip fee is basically a stupid tax for not knowing where the filter is, but we all pay it sometimes. My own dad still calls me to ask why his printer is "angry" at him.

scott.jana1d ago

Honestly that trip fee logic makes sense for a service call. But doesn't it feel like companies build stuff to be confusing on purpose sometimes? Like they could make the filter easier to find if they wanted to.