I can’t believe it’s been six months since I successfully started my appliance repair business! I am surprised at some of the things I have learned along the way. Many things have been easier than I thought, and a few harder. Here are a few things I have observed so far: Overall I have surprised …
Getting Past the Fear of Running My First Service Calls
With a few service calls under my belt, I am finally starting to get past my initial fear of going into other people’s homes and fixing some appliance that I have never seen before. Honestly, I have a long way to go before I feel totally comfortable, but I was surprised at just how nervous …
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The Random Nature of Service Calls
OK, I admit it, I’m a bit of a control freak. I spend my life organizing and planning the events of my day. When studying appliance repair, I found myself choosing to study the appliances that I thought would be most in demand for repair FIRST and the least likely to get service calls LAST. …
It’s Not What You Study, It’s What the Customer Needs Fixed
Another service call came in, but this one threw me way off! Customer says she has a GE microwave that is dead and wants to know if I can come to take a look at it. I kept a cool tone, but my stomach was in a spin. I knew I hadn’t touched ANY of …
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Ever Have That Feeling You’re Being Watched?
It was a conspiracy of ironic bad luck that sent me on my second ever service call. I had no idea when I rang the doorbell just how challenging fate was going to make my next experience. It was not because the customer was some terrible jerk that demanded unreasonable results with no intention of paying …
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My First Service Call (For Real) Part 2
The part came to Fedex at around 1:00 PM the next day. I called the customer and arranged to come by at 2:00 PM. When I got there, the customer let me find my way to the laundry room – we were old pals by now. There was a load of unwashed laundry in the washer …
My First Service Call (For Real) Part 1
Today I got my first real service call. (Thanks to the “dress rehearsal” last Thursday, I wasn’t half as nervous taking this one. ) It was a straightforward call. The customer said his wife had broken the door latch on their Whirlpool Duet washer (GHW9200LW). I told the customer I’d come by at 1:00 PM, and actually got …
Appliance Repair Makes the Cut
After realizing that appliance repair might be a good option, I started to look at it more closely. First, it’s not regulated, so you don’t need a license or a 4-year apprenticeship or anything like that. Second, you can make some good money doing it. So far, so good. How do I start? First thing …