18 replies to this topic

[Scottthewolf]

WHY do customers keep wanting to install their washers and dryers in rooms the size of a broom closet with built in shelving next to it?

I had a call yesterday on a Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer on pedestals in a tiny room and the dryer was side vented into a non removeable floor to ceiling bookcase with absolutely no way to remove the vent except to remove the bottom front access panel of the dryer and stick your hands in there and disconnect the duct from the blower housing. It's bad enough I had to stand on a ladder and use a socket wrench to remove the screws on the back that hold the top panel on. ALSO, the 240 volt outlet for the dryer is down almost by the floor, so the circuit breaker for the dryer has to be turned off each time the dryer is worked on.

Today I had a service call on a Bosch dishwasher that the homeowner said was not draining.  It's a good thing I got it to drain.  The installer glued a piece of wooden baseboard to the kickplate of the dishwasher, so if it is neccessary to service the dishwasher, I have no way of accessing anything underneath the tub.

Why do customers and installers permanently install appliances like they will NEVER ever have to be pulled out to be serviced???

It makes me want to :rocketman:both the customer and the installer.

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

No one thinks about repairs... until it breaks. Then, even though it's a physically impossible situation for the repair and the machines can only be accessed while exposing your back or other parts of your body to permanent injury, they'll piss and moan about how much it costs to repair it. I always surcharge ludicrous installations. Ours is a physically-demanding trade and we're not getting any younger. We're selling our physical ability as well as our knowledge and the physical ability is a diminishing resource. Maybe the mental part, too.

[That Guy]

The worst one I ever saw, was a house where the laundry room was exactly the width of the washer and dryer. To work on the washer, the customer and I had to pick up the dryer set it on the washer and then carry it our the door. Then I barely had room to turn the washer around and work on it. (It was a belt drive Whirlpool)

It really makes you wonder what the people that build these houses are thinking about.

Another good one is the house where the washer is on one side of a hallway and the dryer is on the other side. If you try to pull out the dryer, you no longer have room to work on it. So it has to be moved into a different room to work on it.

I was in another house, it was probably over $200,000 house and brand new. Yet the floor under the washer was so weak the washer bounced all over. That's because the floor is 3/4 inch particle board on 24 inch centers. Talk about stupid and cheap. I told them they should reinforce the floor and they almost had a cow.

[Scottthewolf]

I think I'm going to hire the Gieco getko to help me in these spacesaving laundry rooms built for munchkins.

I still don't get it.  Why does it seem the newer the house is, the bigger the house is, but the laundry rooms keep getting smaller????

And...what posesses these lovely home builders to put the laundry room in the middle of the house, so the vent has to run over 50 feet, in between walls?

Why does everybody shove a huge side X side refrigerator into a hole in the wall that barely fits? And what's with these islands right in front of the fridge with just barely enough room to get the doors open???

[Scottthewolf]

Another pet peeve of mine, some customers have kitchen counters that are so cluttered with junk that you don't even have room to set down a screw from the appliance you are working on.  I went to a house with a Thermador wall oven with a box of firewood right under it, and in the back of me was a huge plant in a fancy vase.  I asked the customer to move the plant because it was making me very nervous.

I had no place to set the glass control panel, so I laid it on a chair and customer said to me "Please don't set that there, I'm sure it has grease on it." I asked them nicely to put it somewhere were it won't get broken.

Well, since there are so many horror stories from customers about bad experiences with repair technicians and other tradespeople, one of these days I'm going to write a book  "Handbook of Manners for Customers" so WE get treated fairly.

 

[Comstock_Services]

[user=19296]Scottthewolf[/user] wrote:

I'm going to write a book  "Handbook of Manners for Customers" so WE get treated fairly.

Can you call it " In Home Service for Dummies" ?

[BrntToast]

ok hotpoint washer(old belt drive rear access(ya, the heavy one)) and inglis dryer side by side maybe one inch of play on the sides, washer left,dryer right(dryer vented cockeyed direct to the wall with 2 elbows

did i mention the sink/countertop was built in flush to the front of the washing machine and the room was no wider than both machines?

its like playing tetris with washers and dryers :X

[lucyLiu]

Nighmares like this are in smaller 43-year-old homes, too!

My washer and dryer sit face-to-face in a tiny space just off the kitchen that's perhaps 6" wider than they are and the width between their fronts is the same as the opening for the pocket door (which is exactly two inches wider than the appliances are deep).  Did I mention there are built-in cabinets over both?

So to get back there you have to push the dryer up 'till it kisses the front of the washer and hop over top backwards and writhe down to where the gas line, vent, and outlet are.  Once in The Hole you can't stand fully upright, so to get back out you can't use your arms to lift yourself over the back or you'll leave part of your spine underneath the cabinet edge.  You have to do a standing split with upper body parallel to the inner thigh of the raised leg, then use that leg to power yourself up and over with back arched forward.  My fit and fine husband is not sufficiently agile so I DIY by default.

Y'all probably make contortions like this everyday but I cannot imagine asking a tech to get back there--or what kind of fee might be charged for the hassle!

[Crouching Tiger]

Whirlpool direct drive washer with matching dryer installed in a bathroom with the washer in the back corner and the toilet directly in front of it.  The dumb ass then decided to squeeze the dryer in there as well which just fit through the door  - and then he installed the door casing - asshole.  I get there and the washer needs an outer tub because he cracked it while moving it from the downstairs to the upstairs and then his dip shit mother who lives with him drops a screwdriver down the lint chute.  Just when I think there are no more stupid people, someone always surprises me.

[Econo Appliance]

[user=4488]Crouching Tiger[/user] wrote:

Whirlpool direct drive washer with matching dryer installed in a bathroom with the washer in the back corner and the toilet directly in front of it.  The dumb ass then decided to squeeze the dryer in there as well which just fit through the door  - and then he installed the door casing - asshole.  I get there and the washer needs an outer tub because he cracked it while moving it from the downstairs to the upstairs and then his dip shit mother who lives with him drops a screwdriver down the lint chute.  Just when I think there are no more stupid people, someone always surprises me.

 
hahhaha I could feel your anguish in this post. I feel for you.
 
 

[AccApp]

Just had a call two days ago. 1.3 year old fancy Frigidaire (I know, an oxymoron) dryer. The guy told me over the phone that he drywalled around it, wasn't sure what he meant. I get there and he built door jambs/walls so close the washer and dryer doors would just barely open. Of course the dryer motor won't start without a bump so I had to order it. I was at least able to snake off the access panel to confirm the blower wasn't jammed. Gave him some time to do some precision demo while the motor shows up.

[JetechService]

How about a trash compactor installed under granite countertop. The floor was clay tiles that were one inch thick! Even with the screw down feet all the way up the frame was still 1/4 inch below the floor, can't get the unit out. We come back a few days later after the tile installer chipped out a bunch of tiles so I could service the machine. Don't know what happened after that. I bet he re-laid the tiles.

[nickfixit]

I had one in the same situation, PLUS they sealed it in with construction adhesive around the top and sides. I told her that her contractor was an idiot, and she would have to get it removed if she wanted us to service it.

Nick

[Chat_in_FL]

[user=20491]Comstock_Services[/user] wrote:

[user=19296]Scottthewolf[/user] wrote:

I'm going to write a book  "Handbook of Manners for Customers" so WE get treated fairly.

Can you call it " In Home Service for Dummies" ?

Here is the first copy, see attachment:

Attached Files

•  dummies.jpg   19.46K   164 downloads

[Kiwi-nadian]

Any dishwasher/bar fridge/wine cooler that has tile/hardwood up to the toe kick panel, and the feet didn't need to be raised to install it.

I love telling customers they need to lift a few sections of their new $60,000 floor, and I always suggest they get the same guys who installed the flooring back.......:flush:

[WayneSB]

So, apparently people do that EVERYWHERE! I thought it was just a Maine thing. Yes, let's build this machine in so we can never get it out.

I always love when I ask the person who did it why they thought the machine wouldn't break. "Well, I thought it would at least last more than 20 years... duh!"

Yeah, and your car which you use daily and depend on just as much as your fridge lasts 20 years without any kind of repairs. Sure. Right...

[Rocket Appliance]

How bout this....an old Kenmore D/W ...like previos posts the leveling legs were not raised they were removed!!!! then a layer or 4 of lino then some 1" custom fir flooring butted right up to the kick panel of the machine!!!! I do a lot of new installs for sears and try to keep them Happy...sometimes I have to do things im not proud of...like this....I took my sawzil with a good metal blade and had to cut the D/W out of the cabinet!!! It came out in 14 sharp little pieces!!!

Good Times!!

That was a $250 D/W instal!!!!

remember this its not rocket science,.... its Rocket Appliance

[Poobah]

Hardest thing for me ever to learn to do was to learn to say no or to refuse the job...I will try to stand on my head and gargle peanutbutter to help a customer out if I can but over the years I have learned to recognize the battles that are worth fighting and the ones that can be won  and the ones better left alone...