Booking · pricing · machines · area
Appliance repair questions from St. Louis Park and the west metro
A dryer running cold, an oven that will not light, a question about price before you call. Below are plain answers on booking, the diagnostic, the machines we repair and the cities we cover around St. Louis Park.
- $99 diagnostic, counted inside the repair price once you approve it
- One written price before a part comes off the truck
- Same-day windows held for warm refrigerators and freezers
Part 1 of 4
Booking and arrival
Phone or online form: how do I set up a visit?
Ring us, or use the request form on this site. Give us the kind of machine and its brand, read off the model number from its sticker if you can, and describe what it is or is not doing. We answer with an arrival window and send a text to confirm it. A note that your refrigerator or freezer is warming moves the request to the top of the pile.
How wide is the window for the technician’s arrival?
Two hours, set when you book and confirmed in a text, so the day stays mostly your own. If something earlier on the route runs long and puts your window at risk, we let you know before the window passes rather than after it. A technician who is going to be late should never be a surprise.
Can you come today?
When the call is a refrigerator or freezer drifting toward room temperature, we try hard to get there the same day and slot it ahead of other calls, since the food will not wait. Every other machine on our list usually gets seen within a few days, quite often the morning or afternoon after you call. Saturday appointments are on the schedule as well. Asking early in the day helps with a same-day request.
Must I stay home for the visit?
Someone grown should be there to open the door and accept or turn down the written price. In rentals and condos, that yes can come from the landlord or building manager by text, which leaves the tenant with nothing to do but unlock. Before the window opens, shut pets in another room and move whatever blocks the way to the machine.
Part 2 of 4
The $99 diagnostic and pricing
Exactly what does the $99 get me?
The trip to your house, meter readings on every suspect part, an account in ordinary words of what broke and why, and a repair figure written down for you to keep. The diagnosis is measured, never guessed from the symptom. When the repair goes ahead, that figure already contains the $99. When it does not, the $99 pays for the visit, with nothing further due.
Do I pay the diagnostic and then the repair on top?
No. From the moment it is written, the repair figure on paper includes the $99, so the total you sign is the total you pay. Nothing gets stacked on afterward. Should you pass, you are charged $99 in all, and the appliance is left exactly as the technician found it.
Can you give me a repair price over the phone?
Not one worth trusting, since a single symptom has several possible causes. Take a dryer blowing cool air: the thermal fuse may have blown, the element may have burned through, the gas valve coils may be tired, or the vent may be stuffed with lint, and each is its own repair. A phone quote would only be a guess. We would rather measure first and hand you one written price that holds.
And when a part is not on the truck?
Your written price does not move. We place the order, book a return visit that suits you and complete the repair then, without charging for the extra trip. Most jobs skip this step, since the truck is stocked with the parts that wear out most, but some model-specific control boards and assemblies have to come in from a supplier.
Part 3 of 4
Machines, parts and brands
What machines are on your list?
Six. Refrigerators and freezers, garage and basement units included; washers of either style, top-load or front-load; dryers that run on gas or electricity; dishwashers; ovens, ranges and cooktops, including wall ovens, glass-top and induction; and any ice maker that is part of a refrigerator. Microwaves, wine coolers, water heaters, softeners, disposals, standalone ice machines and commercial equipment fall outside our work.
Which brands do you service?
Most of the names you will find in a Minnesota kitchen or laundry room: Kenmore, Amana, Maytag and Whirlpool; GE and Café; Frigidaire and Electrolux; KitchenAid, Bosch, LG and Speed Queen. Samsung is on the list for its laundry machines, dishwashers and ranges. Brand matters less than people expect, since many models share pumps, valves and igniters, but the model number tells the technician exactly which part to bring along.
Which parts ride along in the truck?
The ones behind most calls: defrost heaters and evaporator fan motors for refrigerators, water inlet valves and drain pumps for washers and dishwashers, door boots for front-load washers, thermal fuses, heating elements, drum rollers and belts for dryers, and igniters and bake elements for ovens. Having them aboard is the reason most jobs wrap up on the first trip.
What does the written warranty cover?
It covers the repair we made, as described on your invoice. Should that same repair fail inside the term printed there, we return and make it good. It does not extend to unrelated parts of the machine, which is why the technician points out any other wear noticed during the visit, so nothing on the next call comes as a surprise.
Part 4 of 4
St. Louis Park and the west metro
Where is the company based?
In St. Louis Park. Neighborhoods such as Minikahda Vista, Meadowbrook, Browndale Park and the streets around Wolfe Park are close to home, and our routes run out along Excelsior Boulevard, Minnetonka Boulevard and Highway 7 to the cities west and north. There is no walk-in shop to bring a machine to; every repair is done at the house.
Do you serve Minneapolis?
Yes, the southwest side and the lakes: Linden Hills, Fulton, Armatage, Kenny, Windom, Lynnhurst, Tangletown, East Harriet, Kingfield, Lowry Hill, Kenwood, Cedar-Isles-Dean, Bryn Mawr, Uptown, ECCO and CARAG. Those homes are mostly older, with basement laundry down narrow stairs and remodeled kitchens that leave little room, so the technician plans the visit around tight spaces.
Does hard water affect my appliances?
In St. Louis Park, it does. The city pumps from deep wells, and that hard water leaves scale on dishwasher heating elements, washer valve screens and ice-maker fill valves. A working softener helps a great deal. Homes on Minneapolis water, including Golden Valley, Crystal and New Hope, see the opposite problem: soft water makes detergent foam and can etch glassware.
Is a garage refrigerator that quits in January worth a call?
Yes, and that month brings most of those calls. Once an unheated garage falls below zero, the refrigerator in it may let the freezer soften, because the cabinet thermostat is surrounded by cold and rarely asks the compressor to run. Some models are rated for a garage and others were never meant for one. The technician will tell you which you have and what can be done.
Book the $99 diagnostic
Questions answered, machine still broken: the $99 diagnostic is the next step, and it lives inside the repair you approve.