What it costs
What a repair costs, and how the number is reached
One published figure sits on this site: $89 for the visit and the diagnosis, waived when you approve the repair. Everything else depends on what the machine turns out to need, and a number quoted before anyone has looked at it is a guess dressed up as a price.
$89
Call-out, flat
Covers coming out and diagnosing the fault properly. Waived when you approve the repair — decline it and the call-out is all you pay.
What the $89 covers
It is a flat fee for the call-out and the diagnosis, the same figure whatever the appliance and wherever in the county you are. It covers getting the machine accessible, which in a downtown closet or an under-counter run is most of the effort, and it covers tracing the fault to a named part rather than a symptom. When you approve the repair, the $89 comes off the total. It is charged only if you decide not to go ahead.
How the repair number is produced
Two things set it: the part, and the work to fit it. A drain pump on a front loader and a control board on a wall oven are not comparable jobs, and neither are the same part fitted in an open garage and in a closet where the pair has to be unstacked. Once the fault is named, both are known, so the figure you are given covers the whole repair, part and labour together, with nothing added afterwards. You hear it before any further dismantling.
When a repair is not worth it
Some machines are past the point. A ten-year-old dryer needing a drum, bearings and a blower housing is three jobs in one, and the parts alone can approach what the machine is worth. When that is the case you will be told, with the parts listed and the reasoning given, and the decision left with you. The warranty on work we do carry out is 90 days on parts and labour.
Reviews
What people wrote afterwards
★★★★★
There was arcing inside and a burnt smell every time we used it. The waveguide cover had charred right through. He replaced the cover, cleaned the cavity out, and checked there was no damage behind it.
Corinne D.Pacific Beach
★★★★★
A whole cycle would run and the clothes came out still damp. He measured the element, found one coil open, and showed me the reading before changing a thing. New element and a new thermal cutoff went on.
Ramiro C.Mira Mesa
★★★★★
My tenant reported water across the kitchen floor. It turned out to be the drain hose split where it clips behind the cabinet, not the machine at all. He replaced the hose and rerouted it away from the edge.
Fabian Q.Linda Vista
★★★★★
Same model as half the neighbourhood and the same fault too: the number keys stopped responding. He replaced the membrane and the control board sitting behind it, and the panel has worked fine since.
Alistair P.Tierrasanta
★★★★★
Garage refrigerator ran constantly and never quite reached temperature. Its condenser coils were packed with dust and dog hair. He cleaned them out, checked the fan, and now it cycles off the way it should.
Harlan S.Point Loma
★★★★★
Ours had gone silent under the sink with no hum left in it at all. The internal breaker had failed rather than simply tripped. He fitted a new unit and resealed the sink flange, which had been dripping too.
Rashida N.Tierrasanta
Answers
What people ask about the cost
Is the $89 charged if I do not go ahead with the repair?
Yes. It pays for the visit and the diagnosis, which happen whether or not you approve the work. If you do approve it, the $89 is taken off the repair total, so the trip is not billed twice. You will know the repair figure before you have to decide.
Can you give me a price over the phone?
Not an honest one. The same symptom has several causes with very different parts behind them, and a dryer that will not heat may need a thermal fuse or a whole heating assembly. What you can get on the phone is the $89 visit fee and a straight answer on whether the job is worth booking.
Does the fee change by neighbourhood?
No. It is the same in Downtown and Gaslamp Quarter as it is in Carlsbad, Poway or Chula Vista. There is no travel surcharge and no weekend rate. Access work is included too, so pulling a stacked pair out of a closet does not add to it.
What if the part has to be ordered?
The quote you agree covers the part and fitting it, so an ordered component does not change the figure. You are told at diagnosis that it is coming rather than finding out later, and a second visit is booked to fit it. Nothing is ordered before you have agreed.
How do you decide between repairing and replacing?
By what the machine needs against what it is. A single failed part on a mid-life washer is usually worth fixing. Three worn assemblies on an old dryer usually are not. You get the parts list and the reasoning, and the choice stays yours either way.
Get it looked at
Tell us what it is doing
The make, what the machine is doing, and how it is fitted — stacked in a closet or standing in a garage. That is usually enough to know what the visit involves.