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Review content:
Before I scheduled a service call for my microwave oven, I asked whoever answered the phone at Service Care if it was worth repairing. They said it was. When the service tech arrived, he said that repairs for microwaves cost about as much as replacing the unit. This was BEFORE he tested ANYTHING to determine what the problem was. Well I would have never paid $75 for a service call if they ALREADY knew it would cost more than the microwave was worth!!! Total waste of money.
RESPONSE FROM Service Care, Inc.:
After communicating with the customer, our field service manager and the technician who went to the customer's home, I have come to the conclusion that our technician offered an incorrect opinion that has led to confusion and dissatisfaction when he otherwise did an exemplary job. I disagree with the opinion that this was a "Total waste of money" as we did all that was possible and necessary to determine whether the microwave was worth repairing, but I absolutely do agree that our technician's erroneous opinion made it seem so to the customer.
When the customer originally called our office, she asked if "in general" were microwaves worth servicing. We have a very high success rate with in-home repairs, and installed microwaves are often worth repairing, so our customer service department told her that they usually are worth repair. This is something we assume based on our high percentage of approved repairs.
Unfortunately, per the customer, upon arrival at the home our technician gave a personal opinion that microwaves, in general, cost the same to replace as to repair. I can only blame this on haste and inexperience, as the opinion of our field service manager and the bulk of our repair history contradicts his opinion. Actually, we tell our technicians that this decision is highly subjective, and should be made by the customer, not the technician.
At that point the customer called our office to speak to management while the technician was calling Thermador technical support. Unfortunately, she was unable to reach me at that time, and while she was on the phone our technician was talking to Thermador technical support and testing the microwave. At some point, her husband spoke with customer service at our office, and decided to allow the technician to continue with diagnostic testing.
The technician spent about an hour (approximate, based on GPS time) in the home testing several components to see which were defective. It turns out that the inverter board was bad and was surprisingly expensive. The technician informed the customers and collected the basic diagnosis fee when they declined the repair.
Service Care is interested in providing professional service and caring for our customers. It's our motto: "Professional Service by People who Care... that's Service Care."
The technician's failure, and in my opinion it's an important one, is he offered an unwarranted and incorrect opinion which has resulted in unnecessary distress to a customer.
When we discovered that this customer was unhappy and had unmet expectations, I had our field service manager call her as quickly as he could, which was a few hours later due to the service calls he was responsible for that day. He left a message asking her to call him back, and did not received a reply.
After initially reading this survey, I sent a detailed email to the customer explaining our process of diagnosis. I offered her a credit on her next television or appliance repair and told her how much I sincerely wanted to speak to her. She has replied to my email and explained the events from her perspective, which I have used here to edit my original response to this review to reflect all the facts. Hopefully I have done so with some degree of accuracy.
In my reply to her email, I offered my apologies again for the distress caused by the wrong and inappropriately presented opinions of this technician and reiterated my desire to offer her a credit on her next repair or diagnosis. I have made notes in her original ticket about the credit, and I hope that I can serve her again in the future.
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