Repaircare are a National appliance repair company offering fixed price repairs. This review was written only several months after they began trading. Things may, or may not, be different now.
Their fixed price appliance repairs include call out, parts, labour and VAT. Repaircare are part of Connect Distribution who are the UK’s largest distributor of appliance spares and accessories.
They supply much of the independent repair trade. Their website is easy to use and features 3 simple steps to get a quote. It’s incredibly simple and well designed.
How do they do fixed repairs? What’s the Catch?
I’m naturally pretty sceptical and not easily impressed – always looking out for a catch. It shouldn’t be possible for Repaircare to be able to include the spare parts in their repair charges but they are the UK’s largest spare parts distributor so they have access to much cheaper parts than most and they obviously think they can.
Repaircare advertised fixed price repairs, but unfortunately the truth is they did not fix every appliance for the price initially quoted. They covered themselves against the more expensive repairs with a clause in their terms and conditions allowing them to charge extra.
They did claim that most repairs should be covered by the amount advertised, but after a few months (of complaints) they were forced to change their terms and conditions to remove their right to charge extra for certain parts. Offering fixed price repairs is a big ask.
But Repaircare should have access to very cheap spare parts because of their massive buying power as part of the UK’s largest spares distributor 4Ourhouse. However, they don’t employ their own engineers.
They instead use a network of independent engineers, which appears to cause some problems at times where people have complained of poor customer service.
Complaints
Repaircare have been accused of washing their hands of some complaints when (presumably) a customer and the independent engineer have been telling them different things.
However, I don’t believe they can do this because a customer’s contract is with Repaircare, and not the engineer that Repaircare subcontracted to do the repair.
It sounds like Repaircare have been frustrated by different accounts from the engineer and customer and want them to sort it out between themselves. But if a customer can’t, then Repaircare must.
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Margins must be small and this operation probably relies on economies of scale. As it is covering all of the UK they may be able to achieve the quantities of repairs necessary to be viable. However, they need most repairs to be relatively minor to balance out the expensive repairs.
If only people suspecting they have a serious fault use them, the system just won’t work. There have been a lot of complaints in the comments of this article (and elsewhere), which is disappointing.
They may have been struggling to cope with the work load at the early stages as they had promoted themselves very heavily. It’s also fair to say that appliance repairs tend to attract a lot of dissatisfied customers due to the length of time it can sometimes take to get them repaired.
Repaircare did eventually respond pro-actively to public complaints and put in place a system to allow people to complain directly to a manager. People with complaints previously felt they had no option but to complain on the Internet because they couldn’t get past the call centre staff to complain to a manager.
If you are the type of person who takes comfort in prices being fixed and inclusive, then fixed price repairs may be attractive for you. Sadly it’s become the main way large repair companies operate now.
You can end up paying a lot more than necessary if your appliance turns out not to need any parts, or only needs inexpensive parts, (most repairs).
You can save money if it needs an expensive part but if it’s quite expensive most repair companies just tell you it’s beyond economical repair. This can make it difficult to get a “win” on these schemes.
Make sure you read and understand the terms & conditions. It will probably state that if parts are “too” expensive they can say the appliance is not worth repairing, which may still cost you a fair amount of money.
Make sure you understand how much it will cost you in that scenario.
Alternatives?
Some manufacturers also offer fixed price repairs now at rates competing with Repaircare. For example Hoover / Candy, Ariston, Indesit, Hotpoint, Creda and even the obsolete Dyson washing machine have fixed price repairs. Also, AEG, Electrolux and Zanussi have relatively low and reasonable labour charges.
Only 3 months guarantee
A mere 3 months guarantee on repairs is very poor indeed. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (previously the Sale of Goods Act), any repair should last a reasonable time, as should any new parts fitted. 3 months (90 days) is nowhere near a reasonable time for almost any repair, especially if new parts are fitted. However, that’s all you get.
So you would have to pursue your claim in the small claims court or through a consumer help body if a repair by a company offering only 3 months guarantee failed after an unreasonable time outside 3 months.
I have to be honest and say that I personally would never use any repair company that only gave a 90 day guarantee, which I consider pretty disgraceful, and a very poor show of confidence in their own work – Is a 3 month guarantee on repairs reasonable?)
More appliance repairers
There are some appliance repair companies listed on site Book washing machine (or other appliance) repair page including companies offering a much more desirable 12 month guarantee on repairs.
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L A Wilson: thanks for the update. It is sad to see a few people having problems. I understand RepairCare are getting a hell of a lot of jobs coming through and I think they are the victims of their own success at the moment.
Without wishing to be seen as an apologist for repaircare I do believe it’s fair to say that most of the problems described in these comments are typical problems that you can commonly experience with many repair companies or repairmen.
Engineers not turning up occasionally, misdiagnosing faults, not having the parts, and when ordered parts taking ages to come are all sadly common issues experienced by customers of many repair companies because companies have to repair too many products and too many different brands. People commonly expect engineers to turn up with the right parts but this just doesn’t happen very often when engineers are expected to repair almost every make of appliance and every type of appliance. They’d need to drive around in a transit lorry to carry them all.
I’m pretty sure if I wrote a general article on repair companies and repairmen and left it open to comments we would get many people relaying the same issues with Comet, Curry’s, each manufacturer, and all the other repair companies as well as independent repairmen. I think that needs putting in perspective.
Having tried to put things into a proper and fair perspective RepairCare need to clearly deal with complaints better and get on top of things quickly.
Please dont use this company. Waited in all day for the engineers ect could nt repair costs more than quoted ect…
Seems a under lying trend in this company poor service and over charging. Spend your money some where else.
Just to give the final installment on this saga….
After chasing by phone and email I was eventually telephoned and advised that the part (the compressor) was no longer available for my model. They refunded my £125 less £40 for call out charges. (Which meant I had paid them £40 NOT to fix my fridge/freezer!)
I telephoned Miele the following day and they were pretty annoyed at the information given to me as the part was readily available for immediate dispatch. They even gave me the part number and contact details.
I emailed the customer services supervisor who had taken ownership of my case. She replied promising to look into it. That was 10 days ago.
Suspicion is that the part was substantially more than the payment they had taken from me and they just decided not to tell the truth.
Their ‘fixed price repair’ promise hasn’t worked for me.
I have given up on them.
Fedupwaiting: What do you mean by waited in all day? If they turned up on day booked that’s not an issue is it? Many people have to wait in all day for many repair companies.
What was wrong with your appliance? If it’s beyond economical repair then it’s not worth repairing by anyone’s book. They do say they reserve the right to tell you it’s not worth repairing if that’s the case. All repair companies would do that. The only difference is that as they advertise “fixed repairs” there is a natural expectation that no matter what is wrong they will do it for this price. That’s a weakness in their business model IMO but they do make this issue clear in their terms and conditions at time of booking –
I do quote the above caveat in the review we are commenting on.
So you should have been charged £40, did they charge more?
RepairCare advertise fixed price repairs but unfortunately the truth is they do not fix every appliance for the price initially quoted and cover themselves against really expensive repairs by the terms and conditions quoted above. I must admit I’m uneasy with that because they advertise something but effectively say well only in most cases when it comes down to it.
I still expect most people would get good value for money from the deal and many will get repairs done for around £90 – £100 that would cost much more from the manufacturer or even places like Comet and Currys.
However, it’s clear that if you have a very expensive fault you will be told it’s not worth repairing. Any other company would just quote you a very high price and you would decide for yourself it isn’t worth repairing. Virtually all companies (unless you are using a local independent who may offer free estimates) will charge at least £40 – £60 if the appliance isn’t worth repairing. The main issue here is if you don’t read the terms and conditions you may be surprised and disappointed if this happens.
L A WIlson: Can’t think of any balanced point to put forward on their behalf there. I will put your experience to a contact I have high up at RepairCare.
I paid repaircare £116 to fix my washer-dryer over three weeks ago and it is still not fixed. I found their customer service extremely unresponsive. I called three times and the customer service reps never called me back when they said they would; and one lady simply brushed off my complaints by telling me to email them via the website. I sent them the written complaint about 2 weeks ago and still haven’t heard back. It’s like once you have paid, this company will completely ignore you even though they haven’t delivered the service.
In my case, when the engineer turned up, he refused to pull the washing machine out from underneaththe kitchen counter (which is not a massive job), saying that it’s not in his contract to do so. However, repaircare.com only stipulates that the machine CAN BE REMOVED, never is there one word on the service agreement that says the customer needs to remove it.
Repaircare is the biggest rip-off ever and to this date, I am still not sure if I’ll ever get a refund or my washer-dryer fixed by this company.
Jenny: This does happen with all major repair companies and manufacturers as well as many independent engineers. If the appliance can’t be lifted out to repair without risking damage to the flooring or even to the engineers back they will tend to refuse to do it.
We can’t know of course the exact situation and whether he was justified or not. I know you say it (quote – “can be removed”) but if an engineer believes it was particularly difficult they usually refuse. It’s always possible he was wrong in his decision but without seeing it none of us can judge.
You should be charged just the £40 call out charge in your situation.
Here’s the relevant TOC
There’s no excuse for your money not being refunded (minus the £40) prompty but it’s not a rip off. There’s no doubt you will only be charged £40. As I’ve said before they are currently extremely busy and adjusting to dealing directly with the customer after dealing before with insurance companies –
I will bring your complaint to the attention of the company as I have with the others. I don’t have anything to do with them as such but as my site is carrying their ads it’s the least I can do.
Avoid repaircare.co.uk.
First engineer (from one subcontracted company) arrived, and then left to order parts. One week later second engineer arrived (from another subcontracted company). Had no knowledge of first engineer, so he had to start again, and left to order parts.
One week later, phoned up and was told parts were on order. Then a few days later got a voicemail saying I was being refunded £70 due to B.E.R. She did not say what this was. Had to go to website order number to see that it meant “Beyond Economical Repair”.
So after 2 weeks I am still with a broken washing machine.
What a rip off. They offer a flat rate to fix the applicance, they refuse to do it if they can’t make a profit on it. They want to cherry pick, make a good profit from those breakdowns that are easy, and run a mile on difficult jobs.
Communications was very poor. Engineers did not phone before appointment.
Felt I needed to comment as all reports so far on repaircare are poor. My washing machine packed up on Monday morning; booked repaircare online Monday afternoon; They phoned me on Tuesday to confirm a visit on Wednesday; arrived by Wednesday lunch time and fixed my machine within 1 hour. I paid the origional fixed price of £104 and am a happy customer.
My Smeg dishwasher is broken. Repaircare engineer came today as scheduled to fix my machine, but as he has ‘very little knowledge about dishwashers’ he felt he wasn’t qualified to fix it at my house and needed to take it to his base. I have never experienced such a thing before and was surprised and dubious. Even worse, he had no paper work to give me to say he is taking the machine, but he already had my money so what could I do? I have no idea when -or if -this stranger will repair or bring back my machine and feel like I’ve been a complete mug. He was amazed that I should want a receipt for my dishwasher or any written agreement as to when I would have it back. Apparently I’m the only person ever to ask for this! Even if I get it back and it’s fixed, shouldn’t a bona fide company have paperwork for a client? Whenever I’ve called a repair man in the past they’ve had the knowledge and parts to fix it immediately….