Sean in Edmonton

The dryer in a property I own and rent out stopped working so I called City Appliance based on the Homestars reviews which were very high. I arranged for the repairman to come out on Monday morning and meet the tenant at the house and to do the repair. I got a text from my tenant a few hours later saying the repairman determined the start button was broken, but instead of replacing it he simply bypassed it and it now worked. I then received the invoice from City Appliance which included a $50 charge for a new button. At the same time, I got a call from my tenant saying the machine stopped working after 3 cycles. I called the repairman back and told him the machine stopped working again, and also, asked why I was charged $50 for a new button if he didn't replace it. He insisted he did replace it. I told him the tenant told me that he didn't, and he insisted he did and would show me when he came back out to fix it again. We arranged for 1-3pm the following day, so I told my tenant he needed to be home at that time and to ask the repairman to show him the new piece he said he put in. The next morning I got a text from the repairman saying he made a mistake and that he shouldn't have charged me for the button since he didn't replace it, but that he would be back between 1-3 to fix it without charge. At 4pm I got a call from my tenant (who had taken time off work to be there between 1-3) saying the repairman didn't come. I called the repairman and he said he was tied up at another job and wouldn't make it that afternoon. I asked him why he wouldn't call to let me know and he just said "I'll come tomorrow instead." My tenant was not happy. The next day a different repairman came from City Appliance and finally fixed the dryer. He said the other guy hooked up the electrical wrong and that was the problem. So, in summary, City Appliance tried charging me for a piece that they didn't use and only refunded the cost after I told them I knew it wasn't used, didn't show up for the follow up appointment and didn't have the courtesy to call and let me know, and ultimately did a poor job in fixing the machine to begin with. I would not recommend City Appliance because I feel they tried to rip me off, and then didn't have the basic customer service skills to call me and tell me they couldn't make it to the appointment. I now have to deal with an angry tenant.

I called Harmcor when I noticed a wet spot on the ceiling below the upstairs bathroom. Robert was the plumber who came, and he was right on time, very thorough, and tried to save me as much money as possible for the job. I have nothing but good things to say about him as a plumber. My only criticism of Harmcor is that the service call charge of $159 should be rolled into the cost of the fix, if you decide to go ahead with it. When you add that to the fix itself it gets pretty pricey. I think the parts may be a bit overpriced as well. However, Robert was great and took care of the job quickly, and was good to talk to.