Smith Brothers Appliance Repair

Awful. Paid $65 to get washer door opened and was promised a quote the next day. Four days later no quote. The F ratings are correct. Word to the wise: DO NOT USE

Brad did a great job. We had reinstalled a 13-yr-old Sub Zero the day before, and we weren't sure whether we were just seeing some condensation or a bad seal. Brad was very efficient; he examined the unit, informed me that everything was in good order, and provided me with a lot of helpful info and advice about the unit, including things that typically go wrong, what to watch out for, and what the repair costs were for different problems. Overall, it was well worth the service call fee of $45; had there been something wrong and we'd had him performed a repair, the service call fee would have been waived.

Otto accurately found the problem quickly and called to find the appropriate part, located it and had it sent to him.  When the part came in he fit us into his schedule for that day and came out to complete the repair.  The part was expensive- $455.  Still the total was cheaper than a new built in refrigerator/freezer.

I called Smith brothers in March due to water pooling at the bottom of my fridge.  The tech came out and said it was due to the defrost system, and there was excessive frost around the coils.  He gave me an estimate to fix it, which was $400.  This included a 25% discount.  He assured me that this was the problem and repairing it would be a definitive fix.  I was hesitant to put that much money toward a repair, but because he told me it would resolve my issue, I went ahead with it.  A few weeks later, when cleaning the fridge I noticed there was still water.  I called them again, and they sent the tech back, and this time he said it was a frozen drain line.  He defrosted it, but said it would probably continue to freeze.  The problem continued, and I called them back a third time.  He again said the drain line was frozen, and for $250 he could install a heater to keep it from freezing.  I declined, and he wanted to charge me a $65 service charge.   My issue is that he led me to believe his first repair would resolve the issue and that there was nothing else it could possibly be.  If I had been told that the defrost issue was one possible cause of the water pooling, and that there may be additional (costly) repairs, I would have just opted to get a new fridge.  My second issue is that I feel they are extremely overpriced.  The first repair took less than half an hour, and he replaced one small part.  I also, at that time, had a microwave that was not working, and I asked him how much it would be to replace the shorted touch panel.  I found the part for $20 online, and they suggested I purchase it because they mark up their parts significantly for profit and to add a warranty.  But they quoted me a minimum of $120 labor for the job,  I bought the part, and replaced it myself under 15 min - I am not handy, but it was honestly just a sticker with a few wires to connect.  I took extra time photographing each step, that's why it even took me that long.  I honestly wished I had shopped around before paying them for the repair. 

Alex was our serviceman and within 5 minutes, he had determined the problem, quoted a price and started the repair once I approved the price. 55 minutes later, he had replaced the rollers in our LG dryer, cleaned behind and throughout the dryer, leveled it and collected his bill.  Totally professional, pleasant, clean and knowledgeable. The price was a little steep but no more noise?.

I had called Sears when the spin cycle on my Kenmore washing machine stopped working. Sears came out and said they couldn't fix it, so I called Smith Brothers. Their customer service was helpful and friendly. They sent a technician out a few hours later the same day. He was able to replace a piece and get it working in less than thirty minutes. The total cost was around $250, which was way better than having to replace the washing machine. I would absolutely use Smith Brothers again.

Luke had a very nice manner, was very helpful and explained the problem. There was no pressure and he provided a great service. We were very comfortable with him and would recommend him to anyone. Very clean and professional.

BEWARE, BEWARE, BEWARE!  The technician arrived and asked what the symptoms were.   He quoted an outrageous repair price that was more that the cost of the microwave itself.  Then, when I asked the cost to replace the microwave, he stated they were VERY expensive and quoted me a price of $1,000 !!  He told me if I ordered through him, he could use his wholesale discount to get me a deal.  I knew immediately this guy was a crook.  By the way, after he left, I looked up the cost of the exact microwave model I wanted to replace: the price was $229.
When I told him I wanted to research the purchase of a new microwave, he continued to tell me he could get me a deal.   The kicker in all of this is that when it cam time to pay him, he told me if I wrote an "excellent rating review on yelp, he would reduce the service fee by $25.  He said he had to see me write it and post it before he would give a discount.  I felt intimidate and afraid of this guy.
 
Do not use this company...ever.

Our subzero freezer went on the blink sometime Friday night because we woke up Saturday and everything in my freezer was thawed our and warm. Of course I freaked because I just did $700 worth of grocery shopping and most of it was going to go bad. We had a huge bbq on Sunday for my husbands company softball team I was getting ready for. I called a few companies and no one could come right away or least in a decent time frame and most were just answering machines. I called Smith Brothers and the girl who answered the phone was very nice and scheduled me right away.

The man came very fast, only a one later, and was very nice. I even offered him a cup of coffee and a donut because he came so fast. He took his time and talked to me to let me know what was wrong. My compressor went out. My heart hit the floor. I had no idea what I was going to do with all the ribs, steak and chicken. Jim told me he might have a compressor on the truck still and THANK GOD he did. He fixed my freezer and even showed me what he was doing. He even help me put all the meat back in the freezer from the coolers after he was done. I would happily call them again! Thank you Jim!!!

We called this company on an issue with an oven. They did not do that work but the service guy noticed we had Sub Zero and told me they were real pros at fixing Sub Zero. Over the next few months we spent several thousands of dollars getting Sub Zero service from them and replaced a lot of parts. A few problems persisted and they came back and fixed them saying it was warranty work form their repairs. On 12/27 they came back because the freezer was icing over. The tech was a different guy and he said "whoever installed this did not use correct parts" (all of which was from Smith Brothers). When we told them this was what they (Smith Brothers) had recently installed he said "show me receipts". I told him he could and should check with his own service records since they had all of them. He said essentially "no" "you show me" and said it was "my problem". Crazy way to run a business. Totally unprofessional!! The "warranty" is apparently zero. Now that I have seen the experience other people have had I am sorry I messed up and used them. I will likely file an action against them because I hate to be taken advantage of.

This was the first time I called a repair service using Angies' list. I needed my stove  repaired and chose Smith Brothers thinking they were local and  their rating was very good. Not only was the price for one part and labor excessive but their rating had gone down as well. I never would have called this company. Now I don't believe the ratings that appear.

While there were a couple of glitches, I was pleased with this repair. I feel that this company does care and tries to get you up and running again without too much stress. In my experience with the larger appliances, sometimes it takes two visits to get it done. A lot of times, they diagnose a problem and fix it only to find that there was another underlying issue. This company seems to care and respond quickly to any issues that arise. Of course there was no charge for the second visit.

I have a 10 year old Amana double oven.  The bottom oven worked fine, but the top oven was not keeping temperature properly. I can only blame myself for choosing this company because I didn't check for comments on Angie's List first, but I found these people in the yellow pages and called them.  They came out promptly, the man checked it out and told me what needed to be replaced.  He gave me a price of $927 , less tax, which was a huge shock, but he told me it would cost me about $8000 to replace the whole oven.  It cost $2190 when purchased in '02 so I didn't question him on that point.  I was later told by his office person it would have cost me $2000-3000 to replace, which I confirmed by checking on the internet.  He ordered the parts and called two days later ready to fix it, which he did.

The repairman had a strong Russian accent and spoke very fast and I had to repeatedly ask him to speak more slowly. I would say it took him maybe a total of two hours including the time spent checking it out before giving me an estimate. The labor cost supposedly was a 20% discount. In general I would not give this repairman high marks, although he did his job correctly.  He trooped in dirt on his shoes and was careless in slinging his repair box around on the kitchen floor.

When I complained to the office person about the high cost of the parts, she said they add between 30 - 40% to their cost and that was standard in the industry.  I realize they do need to mark up their costs, but it seemed excessive to me.

They surveyed the refrigerator, came up with suggestions, asked what my particular issue was, and pointed out other features and recommended that they could repair it like new for far less than replacing the unit.  I was thinking about replacing the rubber gasket around the door and they advised me not to, which saved me quite a bit.  They were on time, informative, and very nice to work with.  I’ll use them again for other things in the future.

Thieves.   They price based on what they think you will pay before replacing the appliance altogether (so usually it is at or just under 50% replacement cost.)A hard-start capacitor failed; they claimed that the part was "not made any more, so the replacement part is $200."   He told me the cost was about $400 to repair (which is about half the price of a new fridge replacement.)  I felt at the moment I had no choice because my food was rotting.   I signed his order, he walks out to the truck, five minutes later the new part was installed and he was heading out the door.I came home later that day and looked at the part he removed, pulled the refrigerator out and took a picture of the replacement part.  You can get them on amazon for $9-12, with free shipping.  Called to complain about this, and they offered a $100 "discount".  I refused and said the price should be more like $150 which they ignored.  Disputed the charges, but since I signed the repair order I am stuck.I hope people read this and the other negative complaints.   BAD BUSINESS.  Also negative and similar comments on Yelp.

When the repair didn't work after 30 days he wanted another $700 to replace the part that could have been replaced in the first place.  I found other vendors that can do the job for half the price.  A rip off.

It was a difficult job, as the product I use is slightly complicated. The technician could have been a little more trained, as it took him long to fix the same. Though he took time to repair the same, he never charged me any additional costs. They were punctual for the job and the quality was good. Their services were reasonably priced. I liked their services and will use the same in future.

The same tech came both times. He was punctual and knew what he was doing. In both cases the parts were fairly inexpensive, however I thought the labor charge was high. $140, both times. Based on time spent repairing, around an hour, Smith Bros charges a very high hourly rate.

They were good.

An authorized Kitchen-Aid dealer was contacted, and they verified that the compressor was the problem (they had no problem testing it) - and replaced it free of charge. Smith Brothers Appliance, aka "A Smith Bros. Appliance," was contacted to complain about the repairman's lack of competence or dishonesty, or both, and I was informed that he was an independent contractor and they would not discuss it. Smith Brothers has the largest Yellow Page ads (full page for Tustin/Santa Ana and another full page for Irvine) - however it appears that their operation may not be anything more than a dispatch, referral and billing service. This should be apparent from their Yellow Page ads (they operate out of suites) and don't stand behind "their" work. "Their" repair persons (at least mine) also don't carry business cards. I probably should have known that they needed a large ad for something and I'm just happy I wasn't scammed out of more than $135.

Requested a faxed copy of repair and guarantee of workmanship. Called 4 times before invoice was faxed. Had to threaten to dispute charge to card before invoice was faxed. Wrong name on invoice. Customer service rep - "Michelle" refused to correct name on invoice. Hung up when I asked to speak to management.

I appreciated being able to make my appointment online for a specific time, but the repairman was running late and didn't make it on time. At least he called, but not until the end of the appointment window, and he wanted to come another day which would have meant more time away from work. He did a good job fixing and he was efficient, but he was curt and offered almost no information on what may have caused the problem and how to avoid it in the future. Also he was not the neatest repair guy, I had to clean up after him when he left. I probably would not have them come back, just because I put a high value on feeling comfortable with people in my home and I felt like he just wanted to be left alone and not give me any information about the repair.

The technician that showed up barely spoke english. He worked on the dryer for a few minutes, then sat in his truck for a long time. He came back in to put the dryer back together, and then sold my wife the cleaning/spray on our refridgerator. The repair held for two days, then he had to come back out and reset the thermostat again. He said that if the dryer stopped working again, he'd have to replace another thermostat at an additional charge. Overall, we feel very ripped off by this company. Even if he had to replace a thermostat, $350 is way way out of line for the brief time it actually took. I highly, highly recommend AGAINST using this company for any service.

Great. They gave me a very narrow window as to when they would show up, not a three hour window. I liked that. They showed up exactly when they said they would. The serviceman explained everything he was doing, and was cute too!

Service man was prompt. He identified the problem and fixed the problem within 30 minutes. He offered useful suggestions and was very courteous. We had problems finding a contractor to work on our oven.