Consumer advice organisation Which? polled more than 400 independent appliance repairers across the UK for quotes for fixing a major problem with a dishwasher, fridge freezer and vacuum cleaner.
Which? found a difference of £184 between the dearest and cheapest quotes for repair of a fridge freezer, £120 for a dishwasher and £47 for a vacuum cleaner.
Which? also contacted some manufacturers for quotes ““ and found some large price differences between the average independent repairer quote and the manufacturer’s. For a Hoover fridge freezer, for example, the company quoted £91 more than the average independent quote.
Which? also found, as we tell people regularly that, “Appliances from reliable brands are generally less likely to develop serious problems.”
The survey also found that people throw away 3 million electricals every year that still work or could be easily fixed. Which we have strong evidence to suggest is about right and that, very often, appliances are thrown away with no fault whatsoever or, a very simple one.
The investigation found that not only is it often cheaper to repair appliances than replace them, many faults can be fixed yourself. Problems such as water build-up in a fridge or a broken vacuum cleaner belt can usually be fixed without calling in a repairer, saving up to £80 on call out and labour charges.
Of course we offer free advice in our forums to help you find the easy to fix problems like blocked filters and the likes through to some more in-depth repairs.
Highly-rated Which? Local repairer Barry Jacob says: “˜Too many customers are replacing appliances after a couple of years without getting quotes or even realising that some appliances have parts guarantees lasting longer than a year.’
Which? regularly finds that independent repairers are cheaper, faster and provide a better all round service than most national companies offer.