Buy a new fridge or get ours serviced?

MuaySteve wrote: ↑I am in Bowmanville and have had Paddy's Market out 3 times for 3 different appliances. It is usually around $90 for a service call. I believe they will service Pickering.

I had them out for my 9 year old fridge when the defroster back up and water kept leaking down into the fridge. (yes we tried defrosting it ourselves, but the problem came back 2 weeks later) That call cost me $104 in total, and the fridge has been great ever since.

Something broke in our washing machine, and the drum wouldn't spin anymore. $15 part, $90 in total for the call.

My 9 year old oven starting getting way to hot on the outside when were baking. $100 service call, but the part was almost the cost of what I paid for the oven. $100 down the drain and we bough a new oven from Paddy's. Better price on the same model than any of the big stores. Free delivery and hauling away the old one. That made the service call almost a wash.

So 2 outta 3 appliances saved at minimal cost.

bylo wrote: ↑1. A fridge that's more than 5 years old is probably not worth repairing. It's going to cost $100+ for a technician to come and diagnose the problem, then more for parts and labour to repair it.

bylo wrote: ↑...
A half hour's labour that was included in each $100 service call fee paid for his time. But then there was the $200 charge for the 5¢ board. So in total ~$400 plus tax--plus the value of spoiled food we had to replace.

Now this happened once just after the original 1-year warranty expired. Then it happened a second time a couple of years later. At that point the fridge was still too new to write off. But we'd already spent more than half the price of a new fridge to keep this one going. Touch wood the third temperature control board is more reliable. There won't be a fourth.
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bylo wrote: ↑They used to be relatively simple things. Nowadays even the cheapest fridge or stove has at least one computerized circuit board that's vital to its operation. While board may cost a few cents to manufacture in China, its design is proprietary so the customer has no choice but to pay whatever the service organization wants to charge for it. (Hint: A lot more than the cost of manufacturing it.)

Our fridge has twice failed similarly to the OP's, i.e. "Lately I've noticed [food isn't] as cold anymore (even though I turned up dial to make it colder)." First I checked all the usual things that others have suggested above. But that didn't fix anything. The fridge still didn't cool.

I called the service department of the locally-owned appliance store where we'd bought the fridge. A technician arrived quickly enough ($100 as he entered the door.) It took him half an hour to recheck all the stuff I'd checked then run diagnostics to determine that the temperature control board was dead. The board is proprietary so naturally he didn't have a spare on his truck. He had to go back to the shop and then return here (another $100 as he entered the door) to install it. A half hour's labour that was included in each $100 service call fee paid for his time. But then there was the $200 charge for the 5¢ board. So in total ~$400 plus tax--plus the value of spoiled food we had to replace.

Now this happened once just after the original 1-year warranty expired. Then it happened a second time a couple of years later. At that point the fridge was still too new to write off. But we'd already spent more than half the price of a new fridge to keep this one going. Touch wood the third temperature control board is more reliable. There won't be a fourth.

P.S. I don't begrudge the $100 charge for a service call. After all the technician has to drive to our home and drive back. That can take anything from a few minutes to an hour, depending on traffic (and a lot longer in cities like Toronto.) And that's each way. Likewise I can't expect their truck to stock every conceivable part. So nowadays even a relatively simple repair can cost half the price of a new appliance.