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Fixed a dead fridge with a $12 relay vs talked a customer into a $400 board, and I keep going back and forth on which call was right
Had two callbacks last month that got me thinking about this. First one was a Whirlpool side by side in Garfield Heights, fridge was warm, compressor humming then clicking off. I ohm'd the start relay, it was shot, swapped in a $12 part and she fired right up. Second one was a Frigidaire, same basic symptom, and I told the guy his main board was toast, quoted him $400 installed. He paid it. Now here is my problem. Both units are working today, so did I really need to sell that board, or did I just not want to sit there testing a $9 thermistor for 30 minutes? Part of me says replace the cheap stuff first, always, it is the honest way to run this trade. The other part says I am running a business, not a charity, and guessing at a board is faster than chasing a ghost in a 15 year old harness. I will say the relay call felt a whole lot better driving home. So where do you all draw the line, do you eat the time to chase the small parts or do you quote the big fix and move on?
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keithyoung25d ago
Man, I used to be all in on chasing every cheap part first, no question. Then I burned a whole afternoon on a Samsung chasing a bad wire in a harness when the board was the real culprit, and the customer was mad at me for the bill anyway. These days it comes down to age and access. If the unit is under 10 years old and I can get to the thermistor or relay in a few minutes, I test it and swap the cheap part every time. Once you're pushing 15 years and the plastic is brittle and the harness looks like spaghetti, a board swap is the smarter call for both of us, and it stops the callback cycle. The relay job feeling better on the drive home is real though, that never goes away.
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