The winter holiday season, starting with Thanksgiving and running through New Year’s Day, is one of the busiest times for home appliance repair professionals. Homeowners, wrapped up in planning meals and shopping for holiday gifts, may forget about doing basic home appliance maintenance. The result is panicked calls at the last minute, begging an appliance repair professional to come out and fix their issue.
With this situation in mind, I wanted to offer some tips for appliance repair techs that’ll be dealing with increased volume and pressure from customers to “just check out this one small problem.”
Tips for Staying Sane During the Busy Holiday Appliance Repair Season
1) Don’t Be Afraid to Say “No”
One of the best ways to minimize stress during the holiday season is to say, “No,” when your gut tells you to and decline calls that come through at the last minute. Sure, it’s tempting to squeeze in as many calls as possible, but trust me, nothing good comes from overstretching yourself. When a homeowner is in a high-stress situation, you’ll feel pressured to rush through the repairs and over-promise what you can actually do for them. You’ll also expose yourself to potential injuries stemming from trying to quickly complete a job and extended hours.
Instead of subjecting yourself or your team to these circumstances, start by being honest with homeowners. For instance, if you’re booked up with calls already, state this plainly, remain firm in your decision, and schedule an appointment date in the future. Some techs this year have been giving themselves up to two weeks to respond to customers given the surge in demand because of the pandemic. When a job is going to require replacement parts, I encourage you to get the homeowner to call a manufacturer directly and then have you install the components. Not only will this save everyone time, but it’ll also limit those daily check-ins from a customer, which takes you away from running calls.
2) Know About These Common Holiday Season Appliance Issues Ahead of Time
Once you’ve limited your volume of requests, it’s time to prepare for handling these common appliance problems often associated with the holiday season. Ones that frequently get mentioned in service requests include:
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Ovens and stoves not working as a result of infrequent use throughout the year and using the self-cleaning feature
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Washers and dryers stop working because of inconsistent cleaning of the debris filter and overloading
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Fridges and freezers stop working because of pet hair or other debris covering the bottom vents
- Clogged sinks that arise from placing the wrong types of items down a garbage disposal, such as grease, bones, and large pieces of food
During your appointment scheduling call with the homeowner, make sure to get as much information ahead of time as possible. Doing so will ensure that you have the right tools on-hand, replacement parts are ordered, and no one’s time is wasted.