I am feeling incredibly dumb. And incredibly taken advantage of. Not a good combo!
It's all related to that dryer issue I posted about on Thursday. The repair guy came Friday afternoon around 2:00pm (he was supposed to be here between 8 and 12), stayed 5 minutes, did next to nothing, and charged me $140 for his "services".
First of all, shouldn't you get a discount if they can't even make the convenient 4 HOUR WINDOW they provide? And shouldn't they have some sort of discounted rate if they, you know, don't actually do anything? I understand their time is valuable, and should charge for the time it takes for them to come out to my house. But seriously, I don't see how the guy or his company can feel good about what they did to me today, even if there was a lot of stupidity/ignorance on my part.
To cut to the chase, a fuse had blown and that's what caused the dryer to stop working. The dryer itself was fine. My boyfriend and I were at least smart enough to think of this previously and did check the fuses before having someone come. We just didn't know the right place to look, apparently.
Here is my electrical panel:
And here is where the fuses are, the ones we looked at and tried replacing:
But wait... what's this? An extra little "hidden" panel thingy? Apparently THIS is where the fuses to the dryer are:
The guy took a really quick look, said it looked ok to him, I had some sort of electrical problem, needed an electrician, and that I better start saving my money. So after he left I looked at the two fuses again, and noticed one definitely looked blown. I switched it out and lo and behold, the dryer started making the lovely humming noise again!
Do you have a not so finest moment to share? It might make me feel a little bit better to know I'm not alone. :)
Ah, the ol' hidden fuse box. Sure. I can't be-LEEVE you didn't think of that first.
That electrician took advantage of you, pure and simple. Actually, he flat-out lied. So who's the idiot? Not you.
Don't beat yourself up - how could you have known? You are not an electrician that is HIS job. Any professional would have helped you to understand the situation rather than make you feel inadequate. And by telling you "to start saving your money?" What a jerk!
I hate everything dealing with the house (we rent an apartment in a house). I kind of never want to buy a house just so that stuff never becomes my responsibility (even partly).
Btw, also stopping by to let you know I gave you a "Lovely Blog" award. :)
http://www.bookishpenguin.com/blog/2009/10/18/feeling-loverly.html
Yikes! You would think he could've just fixed this one for free, since it was so simple (to him).
I told my dad all about what happened and he was pretty mad. He took my receipt and said he was going to call the company to complain. Also, I got a voice message from the company asking me to call in and do a survey on how their service was. Hahahaha. IT SUCKED! That's how it was. :)
JD: He was more of an idiot than a liar, per se. I am still not sure if he took advantage or if that is just the company policy. I plan to find out. Live and learn, right?
christina: Yeah, trying not to beat myself up too much... and doing a decent job now that a few days have passed :) He was definitely a bit of a jerk.
Candice: Homeowning isn't for everyone. Definitely a lot of work and money. Even when issues like this pop up though, I am still so glad I own my own home. Also, thank you for award! I will do my post soon.
Jennifer M: That would have been nice!! :)
I knew I would have one eventually.
http://www.majimoblogs.com/2009/11/duh-moment.html