After the third defrost of the fridge in two weeks, it seemed time to bite the bullet and call Sears. They sent somebody with what looked like a twenty year old laptop who typed keywords into it and guessed at potential problems; Sears was going to charge nearly $420. I called around and someone who did not repair my brand recommended "First Appliance Service Team"; they fixed the refrigerator for less than $220, with just a day's notice. The technician didn't arrive in an nice neat uniform, rather, he looked like a guy who had been poking around appliances for a long time. He didn't guess about possible problems and insist on trying to fix all of the hypotheticals, rather, he checked for possible problems and deduced the actual problem. He could have charged the store's upcharge for a replacement water filter, but recommended "Reliable Parts" because they supply everybody. As an added bonus, he showed me a better way to defrost the fridge.
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