Sometime in the last week the dishwasher, which had been limping along with intermittent doses of “percussive maintenance” ( which here may be defined as Joe alternately shaking and kicking the thing) entirely gave up and quit with even the pretence of draining. Joe and I cursed, swore, brandished a screwdriver at it, looked at 87 websites on dishwasher repair (again) and finally declared that we were going to have to hire a repair guy. Then we looked at our bank account and washed dishes by hand until the reek coming from the appliance in question at least brought home that we were going to have to have it looked at – and before it spawned a new life form.
This morning I picked an appliance guy out of the book based on the fact that he was in my neighbourhood, and awaited his arrival with bated breath. Joe and I had several conversations about “how far we would go”, which, as anyone who owns an appliance knows, is sort of the mechanical version of a DNR order. Plan in force, we waited.
At 4:00 sharp, the repair guy turned up. (The fact that he arrived exactly when he said he would was incredible) and he came into the kitchen and started to look at the dishwasher, and I was suddenly so overcome with anxiety about the whole thing that I had to go sit in my office, which is off of the kitchen so wasn’t really as far away as would have helped, but at least meant that I wasn’t hovering over this poor guy. I sat at my desk and pretended to work and thought things like “Oh man. Oh seriously. Oh let this come in under our DNR price because there is no way another new appliance is coming in here for quite a while. Please, fates that govern appliance well being. I’m sorry for what I said about the fridge. I still miss Sir Washie. The trim around the basement door has never been re-installed and the chunk of drywall that we removed is still in the hall. Please, don’t do this. There is no way to know what will happen to my sanity, my doorframes and my marriage if I need another appliance. Spare me the indignity of crying in front of this man….” and because I was a little worn down by the neck thing… I really did worry about crying in front of him. (I’m a McPhee. We don’t cry in front of appliance people. We cry in the bathtub where no-one can see us.) I sat there, knitting a little and hoping a lot, and then I heard it.
He sighed, and I went nuts. Sighing, sighing was bad. Sighing was terrible. Then he left for More Tools, and I thought – that’s it. That’s the appliance equivalent of the crashcart careening down the hall of the hospital and the way you can tell that your dishwasher is about to go the way of the guy in the red shirt standing near Captain Kirk – and I got a little dizzy and to make myself feel better I started imagining the worst thing. Dude is going to call me in there, and he’s going to tell me that the repair is more than our DNR price. A lot more. Enough more that we can’t kid ourselves, and then just like Joe and I agreed, I’m going to ask him to drain it so that it stops being a reeking fetid pool of dishslag, pay him his $45 service fee, and wish him well. Then, and only then, I will lie down under the dining room table and weep softly until it’s time to use the really nice lavender dish soap I bought, at which point I will meditate on the loveliness of doing dishes by hand and being connected to the real work of things, and feel grateful that I am even lucky enough to have dishes to wash and running water to wash them in. Yes. That is The Plan, and just as I am feeling recovered, and I have properly imagined myself taking the whole thing really well, he calls me into the kitchen, and I smooth my hair, and take a deep breath… and I go.
When I get there, he shows me this:
(Pen for scale) This is the small collection of articles that were together, completely immobilizing the “hose valve” and not allowing the dishwasher to drain. Collectively, they are: a small piece of string (maybe yarn, I deny everything) a small chunk of a cabletie (Joe denies everything) a hunk of pistachio shell and and a chip out of a coffee cup. (Nice little window into our lives, isn’t it?) He disassembled the dishwasher, freed up the valve and handed me a bill. Now, I was worried, on account of a repair guy just called me into the kitchen and told me that my dishwasher was fixed without giving me an estimate first, and that could mean that I’m going to be selling a lot of stash to get out of this one, and the world goes a little dark around the edges, and I say “What do I owe you?” and he looks at me and he says (Get this. This is the incredible part.)
“Well, let’s see. The service call is $45 – so what do you say we call it $65?”
I stared at him. An appliance repair guy who’s speaking to me in numbers with two digits? Sixty Five? I look at him and try and figure out if he means 65 thousand, or 65 hundred, and then it hits me.
He’s fixed my dishwasher for $65. That doesn’t happen. It just doesn’t. I’ve been a grown-up for a while, and I know it’s never happened to me, and I tell you what, I don’t think it happened to my friends either, because the minute that guy left I phoned up Rachel H and I said “DUDE IT WAS $65” and Rachel said “What? To take it away? To talk about it? To take off his shoes? What?” and I had to tell her about eight times that it was $65 to fix the dishwasher… as in, he came to the house. He fixed the dishwasher, and I gave him $65, total, as in Not A Downpayment. and Rachel H couldn’t get over it either. I mean really. It’s like… crazy talk. It’s like… a contractor who shows up every day, then comes in ahead of budget and on time.. or… a woman who goes to the doctor and gets told that she’s actually not 37 weeks pregnant, she’s 40 weeks pregnant and it’s over. We dream of these things, we imagine them, but they don’t really happen to people.
This is how urban legends get started. I mean, a dishwasher repair for $65 DOLLARS. Please. I almost checked myself on Snopes before I called Joe. Think of it. This is the sort of thing your friends tell you when you’re worried about your appliances. Things like “No, no… It doesn’t have to be that bad. I knew a guy who knew this lady, I think she was a knitter or something, I dunno, but she totally called a repair guy and it was $65 bucks” and then everybody feels better, even though we all know it’s a lie, just like the lady who really actually did get money from Bill Gates for sending around a chain letter, or the thing about gum staying in your stomach for seven years if you swallow it.
Except this one is true. $65. Dudes.
(PS. My neck is a little better. Thanks for all the advice. Cold, massage, ibuprofen, and resting helped a lot.)
Yay for working dishwashers! Ours had the very same issue this past weekend. We fixed it ourselves, but unfortunately my husband didn’t think too hard about what would happen when he disconnected the stopped-up outflow hose. It only took about 24 hours for the kitchen to dry out. Argh.
I assume the absence of comments thus far means that we’re all waiting for you to yell “April fool!” or “Gotcha!”. But seriously — $65??? Go buy a lottery ticket, because it’s got to be your lucky day!
Awesome! Totally need to post the infoz on this guy so your local readers can save a bundle on repairs!
The Gods thought you needed something good, especially after sock-gauge issue!
So glad the dishwasher is fixed, and at such a reasonable price. However, I was kind of looking forward to reading about you crying under the table, such an interesting idea. Mine needs a new door gasket, must order soon.
First the washer. Then the dryer. Now the dishwasher! It’s been quite a year hasn’t it!?
I’m overjoyed for you. I’m almost as happy as when the guy came and fixed my furnace in January ’08 for $80.00. And it really was cold here. Just think, now you have all that money that you were mentally scraping up for the repair, and can spend it on….YARN, of course.
Looking forward to seeing you in AL.
I wonder if he does cars.
Amazing!
Oh, and that gum thing? I have a friend who works for a GI doctor – and she saw a surgery for a lady who had swallowed gum and it blocked her intestines so nothing could get through.
Which is way worse then it just sitting in your stomach for years and years.
WOW! If I were you I’d spread that repair man/company name around to everyone you know to get them more business! It’s the least you can do!!!!
Can I have the appliance guy’s name and number? Because even if I have to pay travel and overnight expenses, and meals, he’d still be WAY more reasonable than our appliance repair people!
Definately frame that bill, or no one will believe you.
Deb
How much do you think he’d charge for a housecall to Portland? Maybe he could come for the Sock Summit…I’ve got this strange smell in my dishwasher…
WOW.
I am standing up in front of my computer and applauding you. That is some seriously good karma-wrangling! And kudos to the awesome repair guy for not gauging you.
Also, I really agree the dishwasher detritus really is an interesting window on your lives. Something for everyone almost.
Ooo, a red shirt comment! I do loves me some obscure phaser bait reference…
And if the repair guy does do cars, I really need to speak with him…
Holy Cow.
Can you marry him? (Umm, no, there’s Joe). What about one of the girls? This is unheard of. You must keep this man in the family, and very sheltered, so that he cannot find out how low his prices are and what a nice guy he is.
OMG!! It cost me more to get into my apartment when I locked myself out on friday ($78 to be exact… and the humiliation of having to call several friends to get someone to give me a NUMBER to the locksmith!)…
That’s great. I wish that I would have that much luck with my car — unfortunately because my job depends on me getting to work (and there isn’t a bus or any way to get here otherwise) I can’t do a DNR for that…
Unbelievable. I was half expecting you to add that he was good looking to boot, but hey…let’s not get carried away or for sure no one will believe you.
Did you do the “happy dance” around the kitchen like I did the “happy dance” around the basement when I found out if was only going to cost $4.95 to fix my dryer? Freaked the repair guy right out.
Wow. That man deserves a pair of socks or something.
I am soooo jealous. It has been 2 months and counting since I have had a working dishwasher. I was just informed today that the repairman will be out here on May 21st!! Yes, over 2 more weeks. All because of a recall part (that I still don’t think we needed to worry about), 3 different repair people that had no clue what they were doing, and 3 separate customer service people that keep giving me different answers. At least since this is all their fault I will not be paying for any repair service. I’m so glad that you got it fixed with minimal expense!!
hooray! NOW, take all that energy you built up from all that stress and go knit for a few hours, drink a beer with the $$ you saved.. cheers!
Dude! We need to build a shrine, or possibly just call his boss and tell them what a wonderful repair man he is. No I like the shrine idea better. I guess you’ll have to save the lavender scented dish soap for special occasions.
this is a susan boyle moment
Bless him.
It was just like the time my ’84 Cougar was fixed by my mechanic with a fuse and a golf tee for $25! It ran great for the last 3 years I had it, but I had to adjust the golf tee in my carburetor every once in a while.
Dude. I once had pain in a tooth that had just been drilled and filled like two months before, and when it escalated all the way to excruciating I took myself to an emergency dentist not my own, and when she removed the filling and drilled just a bit more and re-filled the whole thing, all on one shot of novocaine (not three) and instead of, like, telling me I needed root canal work, no fooling, I got out of that chair and hugged her. Complete stranger.
Which your happy tale of dishwasher repair reminded me of. Congratulations!
Praise be for decent repair people!!!!!
Send him some cookies. Make the guy some socks. Keep him happy. Seriously.
They are not all legends. We have a contractor who did remodels for us twice. Always on time. Always. NEVER Over Budget. Not once. Never. I will not share his name. We are in the boonies of the midwest plains and he might leave if we share.
That man is a keeper. Does he fix other stuff, too? You know, just in case something happens to the fridge…
I know there is supposed to be some Zen experience in hand-washing dishes, but I’m always so distracted with dodging the disgusting lumps of food matter in the water so they don’t touch my hands, that I’ve never achieved the Zen effect. A working dishwasher is one of those signs from the Universe that it wants us to be happy. Congratulations!
Only in the movies!
This guy is a keeper. OK, you’ve got a dishwasher guy for us, I’ve got a car mechanic for you….was $350 for job I had been quoted $1,100. Does he have a brother who fixes heating and air conditioning, or maybe is building contractor? 😉
“I almost checked myself on Snopes before I called Joe. ”
Love this.
If only there was a similarly reasonable neck repairman!
We have an awesome appliance repairman, I told him he’s never allowed to a.)move away or b.) retire.
Walking away humming, “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…”
The last time I had a plumber it was more than that just for him to put his foot over the threshold so you did well.
It does of course mean that something is about to kick you, hard, just to balance things out. Maybe that happened already and the $65 balances out The Neck.
That was an absolutely lovely bit of multicoloured yarn before it was turned into an instrument of dishwasher torture. Deny all you want. I know the truth 😉
$65 really!?!? 65 honest to G-d dollars. This is just over the top
Plus he did the below listed things ( unheard of)
1 Arrived on time
2. was in the neighborhood
3. $65 dollars.
I would not tell a silly single soul about this guy. Keep him all to yourself!
Carolyn
Hooray for the awesome repair man!!! Keep his number on speed dial.
Checked yourself on snopes, bwahaha! Oh, thank you for that laugh, I SO needed it (although my keyboard did not, perhaps, need coffee snorted onto it, but that’s OK). Glad to hear your neck’s feeling better.
Aw! Just when I was about to tell you that there was a reason God invented children.
p.s. I’m with Carolyn. I’d keep his name as a closely guarded secret. Information is valuable, you know.
WOW!! Congratulations on your good fortune. Does he have a brother or cousin that lives in MY neighborhood??
My oven guy just told me $500 to fix. It is EXACTLY on the cusp of our DNR. I am torn. But since I know that is likely not the end of it, and even though I’ve scoured Craigslist for a new oven, a new one will not fit exactly, the the whole domino effect of new cabinetry for the wall oven changeover will cascade into a Niagra Falls of Unforseen Consequences. I know with the washer you understand. I have decided to pay the $500 (much of which is parts cost), and move on. I find I can’t knit when I’m stressed. How suckful is that?
Did you notice other people have taken over committing your Freudian slips for you? I like the comment about how nice it was “he didn’t gauge you” and I agree, since that’s pretty much what that last sock did to you.
Now that it’s fixed, will it be Sir DishWashie?
(Also wanna hear more about new book idea. Twitter in sidebar too short.)
Recently we had a washing machine problem. It wasn’t draining. The repair guy comes, finds baby socks in the hose, says it should cost us $200, but he knew of a loop hole and we got off scotch free! And he showed my husband where to look if it happens again (which it did).
Fantastic! I’d hate for you to have to waste yarn money, but even worse is wasting knitting time to hand wash dishes.
Thanks for sharing your story. As someone who has been battling appliances since I bought my house, and have been watching the stain on the floor from my own dishwasher spread (it’s leaking), I am encouraged. Maybe I will call a repair person soon. Not the Sears repair guys–they seemed totally clueless about how to fix their own appliances.
I was in a tight spot a few years back, and I have a friend who is a bit of a handyman.
So when my washing machine collapsed, I asked for his help. He had to dissassemble the humongous thing and there it was, my ATM card stuck in some hose or something.
Live is good, sometimes! Enjoy.
Congrats on that one. I hope I have as much luck with the air conditioner guy on Thursday.
Tricia in Texas
No. Really? Wow!
Btw, that lovely lavendar dishsoap will now make a fabulous Non-crying bubble bath! Cool, huh? $65 PLUS bubblebath. Congratulations!!
Thanks for making me laugh out loud today… I’ve got to go see my midwife tomorrow and I’m pretty sure she’s going to tell me I really am 40 weeks pregnant and no, it’s not over yet.
That’s so awesome. The plugged up items are a hoot!
OMG – $65 (US + $55.32)? I was just checking out handymen on Angie’s List & the closest one to us (also the highest rated one) charges $90 ($105.73 Canadian)per hour with a 2 hour minimum! Actually getting an appliance fixed for $65 – unbelievable! Rotorooter cleaned out a clogged pipe & replaced the j shaped pipe under the sink for us yesterday – took about 20 minutes & they charged us $250 ($293.74 Canadian)!
Thanks so much for the LOL, the picture you painted of the entire scene and its characters, and your wise perspective on the whole situation. I only wish I lived in Toronto so I had a shot at hiring this guy myself. Thanks and brava!!
Kinda restores your faith in humanity, doesn’t it?
(PS thanks a lot for day-before-yesterday’s post. Now I GOTTA have a loom, after resisting for a year.)
Congratulations! It is fantastic that you found someone who not only fixed the problem but charged you a fair price. Now, since you saved so much on dishwasher repair does that mean you can celebrate and use that saved money to increase your stash?
Well, thank you first of all for the very useful concept of a DNR price (had to find out what a DNR order was on Wikipedia — but it’s always good to increase one’s knowledge). I am SO glad that your dishwasher has been reprieved, and have a brilliant idea for celebrating: don’t you think that the difference between your DNR price and the $65 you actually paid could be used to celebrate in some way?? (Such as a little splash on yarn????)
Hope the neck continues to improve — I wouldn’t be in the least surprise if it’s the result of holding a phone with a bit of your anatomy not designed for the purpose .. I’ve had the odd twinge myself. Perhaps there’s some cheap gizmo out there that fits over your shoulder and holds the phone for you? If not, someone should invent one!
I hope he gets a hand-knit. Maybe a hat, or a simple scarf, with “You Are The Greatest” spelled out in purl stitches…
And to think you didn’t tell Joe it was $120 and go buy $55 worth of yarn. 🙂 Congrats on the dishwasher’s new life. I’d keep that guy’s number!
I, too, have been washing dishes by hand (for a family of 8) all week, fearing the worst if I call a repairman. You have given me new hope. Thank you.
Not only laminate his card, put that man’s number on speed dial # 1 (or at least in the top 10)!!!
I have been taking our 12yr.old Saturn wagon to about the only honest mechanic in our town and when we needed to replace the back window (senseless vandalism while my daughter was trying to get her college degree) I called them first and asked who they recommended, and was glad I did. Their guy was way cheaper than anyone else,
came to the house and did an excellent job.
Referrals from honest workmen are priceless.
Re: the Star Trek reference – You know when they beam down to wherever, they ain’t coming back!
The dishwasher doctor came, so why doesn’t Stephanie go to the people doctor? Don’t take offense – just asking because I care.
wow… I’m speechless.
If you hadn’t tweeted about this in real time, I might not believe you.
Wow, you drive a car in the rain and wind ok, AND you get a repair for $65. Somebody is smiling down on you, and She rocks.
Okay – I have to admit that I read you all the time, so I knew ahead of time that there was going to be something stuck in the drain. Especially when he sighed. But I never figured on the $65! I think the repair man gets a pair of socks!!
Plus, considering the contents of exactly what was stuck in the drain, all parties are responsible. This is a lovely conclusion.
Holy crap! Perhaps in another life you knitted him a nice sweater … was he wearing a sweater, did you offer him a sweater … or socks – you are the queen of socks … offer him socks, soft warm cushy yummy (sorry got carried away) socks … YOU have to make friends with this guy!! Seriously
Does his service area extend to California?
Oh, we loves a happy-ending appliance story!
We recently had our own with an oven repair (from no heat, zip, none, nada)that cost ~$50 (US) and 15 minutes work on our part.
Question though on the title for this post … is that VERSION 29 or (more likely me thinks) VOLUME 29?
So, you gonna knit the repair guy some socks?
Is this an appropriate forum to pass on some hard-earned advice? Yes? Good…For the record (when autumn rolls around and fresh cranberries arrive), do not toss the ugly, wrinkled cranberries into the disposal when you sort them before cooking. Get this…they actually are too light to get chewed up by the disposal. The water pops them to the top of the unit, shoots them into the dishwasher hose (you see…I was getting to the point eventually…), and you end up with company for the yarn/cabletie/pistachio shell/coffee cup chip. For some of us it takes only two Thanksgivings in a row (with a clogged dishwasher!) to learn this. Fortunately, husband knows how to remedy this trauma. Anyway, for what it’s worth…beware the cranberry attack.
I add my congrats to welcoming such a stellar addition (Appliance Guy) to the family. Worth his weight in gold.
That is pretty awesome. I dream of one day owning a dishwasher while I look mournfully at my dirty pots. Then I ignore them some more.
Awesome.
A laugh and a smile. Thanks for that on this grey day.
Beautiful.
Isn’t it a shame that when we find a professional who treats us well we go crazy?! I think you should knit him a wrench cozy, maybe even a repair truck cozy if you want to stay on his good side. And I think it was the bill for $65 that made your neck feel better. Just sayin’.
Wow! I’ll bet the large bug in my mom’s dishwasher hose costed more to extract.
Then you’ll love my story about the furnace repair man who came to the house, told me that smell we smelled was a melted crayon, and DID NOT CHARGE ME. At all. Sometimes I totally love people.
Wow – I could have written this entry (only not nearly as well!) Dishwasher that wouldn’t drain, leaving it for a week until it smelled so badly we couldn’t stand it anymore, praying it wasn’t dead, and only paying $100 for a guy to come, fiddle with it for literally 2 hours, and figure out it was clogged. Not with chipped mug bits, but glass, and a piece of what I can only assume was a dishtowel(?!?!). You should definitely share this guy with other locals – he’d make a fortune just charging a reasonable price for a reasonable repair!
Congratulations on finding the second honest appliance repair guy. The first one lives in Muskegon, MI, who repaired my dishwasher for me when I was 40 weeks pregnant for the grand sum of $25 about 24 years ago. (He said something about being ready to drive me to the hospital when he was done with the repair job, too, for the same price!) Glad that your kitchen will smell better too!
Yay, it works!
I can so feel for you. Last week our dishwashie went on strike too and the whole horror show went off in my head… no money… it’s broken for ever… we can’t afford a new one… dishes piling up to the ceiling… a Nightmare, I tell you.
Well, I’m not afraid of poking around things myself if necessary and tested the hell out of the poor thing, but it would always stop at the same spot in the program and just sit there and hum unhappily.
After about an hour of trying various creative things I found out… the water was turned off *head desk*. I for sure didn’t do it, hubby denies everything… we gotta have gremlins in the house.
OMG – I would have offered to bear his children.
It’s so heartening to hear tell of decent people in the world. It seems your appliance karma has officially swung ’round!
congrats! I just got my laptop back and it wasn’t as horribly overpriced as I assumed it would be. But it wasn’t great. Glad to hear you had a great experience.
I am a firm believer in fate, having suffered serious bouts of it in the last two months. Thus my being home on a weekday for the first time in twenty five years (no job). I would send the difference between the $65 and the DNR price to KWB as a thank you to the appliance gods. In future payment. K
Wow–65 bucks! That’s truly amazing amiga (Happy Cinco de Mayo). P.S. Try rubbing a little lavender oil into the whole shoulder thing. It’s a nice, natural relaxer and is my cure all.
Ya think that guy would come and fix our furnace?!?Heck,I’d even give him $75 for that…
Claim: A Canadian woman paid $65 to have her dishwasher fixed.
Status: UNVERIFIED.
Example: (found on the Internet, May 2009)
He disassembled the dishwasher, freed up the valve and handed me a bill. Now, I was worried, on account of a repair guy just called me into the kitchen and told me that my dishwasher was fixed without giving me an estimate first, and that could mean that I’m going to be selling a lot of stash to get out of this one, and the world goes a little dark around the edges, and I say “What do I owe you?” and he looks at me and he says (Get this. This is the incredible part.)
“Well, let’s see. The service call is $45 – so what do you say we call it $65?”
Origins: This claim seems to have begun with a blog post by someone using the sobriquet “Yarn Varlet,” or something similar (as is typical of these rumors, the original poster is alleged to have been the Yarn Violet, Barn Scarlet, Darn Charlotte, or any of several other variants). While we are unable to label the claim definitively false, the idea that someone could get a dishwasher fixed in 2009 for only $65 is so improbable as to be worthy of extreme skepticism. Remember, unlike a credible news source, so-called “blogs” are not subject to independent vetting or fact-checking.
I read your post to a co-worker and we both laughed so hard we cried. Thanks for the therapy!
At this critical juncture of history, I give you:
Susan Boyle
Mine That Bird
Stephanie “$65 Dollar Dishwasher Repair” McPhee
We may never see such times again.
It seems to be going around!
Last week my car was making a terrible “glug glug glug” noise. You know, the kind of noise that usually translates to “Cha-CHING!” in English. My mechanic has the car for a day and a half. (ching, ching, ching!) He couldn’t find anything worng with my car, purged the fluid system (something like that) and charged me…nothing. $0.00. Seriously. I know.
do tou think your repair man could hope on a plane to England and fix my washing machine, its been out of action nearly four weeks, I’ve had one visit from an actual repair guy, who came and looked at it for about three minutes,then went away to order parts. Since then I’ve had two cancelled visits, and a lot BS. (glad you’ve had more luck, it does restore my faith a little). Dawn.
Holy smoly– your luck has changed for the better–best get a lottery ticket. At least we know there is at least one honest repair man out there. GOOD for him and good for you too. What goes around comes around and I wish him all the luck too.
Dude! This day just keeps getting better and better! I think I’m gonna go looking for unicorns next. 😀
To which god shall I make sacrifice? I Need To Have My Furnace Looked At (shudder) this spring. All I can hope is that I find an appliance guy as understanding as yours.
It seems the least you could do is knit the guy a scarf or a hat or something.
WOW! I’m speechless! (Almost!) All I can say is, “Knit that guy a sock!!!”
I think you give this guy one heck of a recommendation on whatever website lets you evaluate contractors. Seriously, dude. He’s prompt, reliable in that he fixed it, and above all honest — he could have socked you for a bill and you’d never have known.
That said, I’ve learned dishwashers clog. Frequently. Usually right after a party involving the washing of many dirty crusty dishes . . .
Pistachio Nuts! We had a similar event… with the dishwasher not draining ( resulting in poorly rinsed dishes, and a similar unsanitary dishwasher smell ) Our pile of dishwasher shrapnel looked quite a bit like yours! I’m Glad that Sir-Wash-Dishes-A-Lot is back in the world of the living… would have SUCKED to have to pull the plug on him and have to do the by-hand thing. Would have resulted in waaaay too many lost hours of knitting, even if you did have pretty smelling soap!
Jeezus god. I think I would have kissed him full on the mouth!
I’m still amazed with the fact that he showed up when he said he would!!! The man is gold!! I don’t know what would happen if Martha quit on me. Martha is our beloved dishwasher who keeps the mess outta the sink and off the counters, and cheerfully chugs out clean dishes. 🙂 She’s named Martha for the biblical story of Mary and Martha, wherein (yikes I typed wherein!) Martha remains in the kitchen and works. 🙂 I’m glad your Martha is well again and didn’t require a DNR order. $65!!! The man is GOLD!!!
Steph, I hate to burst your bubble, but I’ve got you beat! I have an appliance guy who will tell me what to do over the phone if he thinks it is a “do it yourself” kind of job. What do you think of that?:)
Sounds like a thank you note and a printout of this entry, comments and all, are the best thanks. And to see if he has other home maintenance buddies in the business who he respects!
And I think a pack of beer on a hot day would be a great way to say thanks. Save the socks if you have to call him in the fall/winter.
On the other front about the tight budget, well, can you start up a side business (manical laughter at the thought of another job)? Will lots of people attending sock summit help?
Even if the thread stuff is yarn, which it probably is, it is definitely the least obstructive item in the pile. Please keep this in mind if anyone blames you for it. Hey, it could be considered a filter, not a blockage!
Dishwasher repair guy comes – says he needs two guys to look at it. TWO WEEKS later two guys come and say they need to order parts. TWO WEEKS later two different guys come, repair dishwasher and leave saying it is fixed. I open the dishwasher door AND IT FALLS OFF!!!!!! I run after them as they drive away. One comes back and says he will order parts. I call the company two days later and they tell me they don’t know who came to my house! That night Customer Service called to see IF I WAS PLEASED WITH THEIR SERVICE!!!UGHHHHHH
Our similar experience: seven years after B graduated from law school (and Too Many Years before we would pay off the loans), we got a letter from the loan servicer telling us that they’d had a better than expected repayment rate, and that we no longer had to send them any money, as they’d already made all the profit they were allowed.
Four years of student loan payments, gone. POOF! It was like winning the lottery.
Not to be a total joy kill, but have you actually used it to wash some dishes? You’re totally positive it works? I know I sound skeptical, but srsly, dood.
Whoa! Only $65.00!!! That is freaking awesome!
Quick story: Our AC died (we’re in Louisiana). As in, every time we replaced the burned up transformer, it would smoke the moment we turned on the AC. So, back to the repair parts store. Only I show my “get out of cutthroat markup” card (retiree military ID; hubby has one too) and spent 1/2 the $$ that my hubby did on one transformer. For less than what he spent, I got a replacement transformer and a new relay (the bad one was smoking transformers… that’s more expensive than DH smoking… ) Get this: total repair cost $28.00 for two transformers DH bought; $13.00 for one transformer and a relay: Total: $51.00. We also had to run a new control wire to the compressor as the old one was broken somewhere… (oh, and we do our own repairs on everything)
I can so relate to your great $65.00 repair!
That is about the same amount I’m paying for parking at a meter in NYC today. Too bad I didn’t notice the sign behind the tree that said the meter wasn’t in effect from 8-4 or some such nonsense. You clearly got the better deal. Don’t lose that dude’s number. You’ll be calling him again sometime in the future (hopefully the distant future). Now, go dirty a cup!
This is so amazing; it TOTALLY belongs in whatever new edition of the “Porn for Women” series of books that they’re planning. (If you haven’t seen the books, they’re on Amazon. They wouldn’t be nearly as funny as they are if they weren’t spot-on. Don’t worry; no dirty pictures at all!)
That guy seriously deserves a beer or five. You can have the sixth one in the pack because it would help your neck.
I can’t believe you fell for that. I mean, come on. Consider the evidence. He arrived on time, and the bill was 2 digits. This is not an appliance repairman. This is an opportunistic stalker.
Elaine
Norman, OKlahoma
Does he come to Barrie??
Well, not to be a wet blanket (crocheted, of course) because I certainly do share in your excitement over the dishwasher, but have you tried washing a load of dishes in it? Does it really work or is this one of those too-good-to-be-true deals? I don’t know of any plumber who is that cheap. If all is well, never lose his number.
I had a similar experience when we had our garage door repaired!
“…go the way of the guy in the red shirt standing near Captain Kirk”
I love the way you word things. Congrats on the $65 repair.
Stephanie, you need to go buy a lottery ticket.
Kewl. But remember, you still have two teenagers at home. They can do the dishes.
Yes, beating them is still legal.
Yet another reason why I want to move to Toronto. May our new dishwasher last while we live here, but do you think he’d make a Brooklyn house call? 😉
If this wonderman has a relative/ brother or anyone he knows really, who lives in Australia please send them over to me. My dishwasher has not worked since September and I’m sick to death of being cheerful about it.
I’ve tried reassurring myself of the theraputic benefits of hot water on my sore hands but lets face it, massaging a lovely hand cream in would be just as good.
$65 – I dream!
Objects requiring “percussive maintenance” are called Bang-O-Matic brand in my house. What a nice story, I like happy endings.
OMG I want his number and I don’t even have a dishwasher. I like him so much better than the sweetheart at A Major Retailer who told me the door of my front-loading washing machine was not considered an “essential component” and therefore not covered by the warranty.
We once had a plumber come to the house on a major American holiday to fix our bathtub which would not drain. He unclogged the offending matter (hair, probably) and charged us $25. Yes, really. No, I am not kidding at all. Twenty-five bucks. And it was in 1997 – not 1947. Which is good because I wasn’t around in 1947.
BTW, we are thinking of visiting Niagra Falls and your fair city (which we hear is the cleanest city ever) and would love to know where to go and what to see and a native like yourself seems the best person to ask. If you wouldn’t mind so much telling me. kthxbai ;o)
“I almost checked myself on Snopes…”
I’m going to be laughing about this for days. Thanks!
WHAT???!!!!
He shows up on TIME, he only charges you 65 bucks, and you are NOT HOLDING HIM HOSTAGE? (for the rest of his workable life at least.)
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING????????????
I blame it on your neck.
Glad it all went so well.
Janet
Hooray for you! And what an excellent story teller you are.
If I were you, I’d call the guy back, find out his shoe size and knit him a pair of socks!! Someone said don’t give out his name and number. SELL IT.
I love you – this was such a fun read. Yeah to the dishwasher guy.
In sports it’s called a make-up call. You have endured enough on the appliance front as of late that you deserved a make-up call. I’m so glad the rest of the universe agreed 🙂
I noticed you didn’t put his name in your post…. Keeping him for yourself are you?!!!! Not that I’d blame you because he is indeed, the find of a century! By the way, you are going to get a headset/Bluetooth/ or some sort of hands free phone device to save your neck, aren’t you? Especially since your dishwasher was fixed for such a reasonable price!
A nice thank you to him would be to go to the phone book on the web and rate him. It’s not alot, but every good review helps.
Having today spent almost $3000 for a new air conditioning system, I am full of envy.
H’mmm.
*I* am the dishwasher. I hope it never costs more than $65 to fix me! 😀 (Sorry.)
Honestly, that is wonderful. What a good guy. Karma has GOT to be on his side. And yours. Congratulations!!
Re: fiddleheads. At the age of 42, still not brave enough to try them again. Bad memories of bitter, overly limp greens…plus, how does one tell a fiddlehead from a regular fern popping up?
I love it when you talk appliances on your blog! They are the best. That snopes reference was a big grin. The knitting stuff is real good, too;-)
We have a good repair dude. Charges are fair, but the honest assessment is priceless.
I think you’ve earned the good appliance karma. I’d laminate his card, stick a magnet on the back and put it on the fridge, just in case the fridge got any bad ideas, to let it know who is boss and who you’re going to call.
It sounds like this guy just got business for life. This just proves there are still honest, good, kind, decent people in the world.
You had me at “he arrived exactly when he said he would.” That’s amazing enough to make a good story. And only $65? I’ve never heard of it either.
In our house we call the guy in the red shirt next to Captain Kirk an “expendible extra.”
OK, this is totally American (ie tacky) of me, but we do have Canadians in our family (my husband just found out he is a Canadian citizen by virtue of some brand new declaring him so), but that’s off-topic and what I just can’t resist saying is this:
“AND that’s $65 CANADIAN!”
When we lived in New Orleans pre-K, a very similar thing happened — I stabbed at the phone book and picked a plumber who was a small local guy in our neighborhood. We used him several times over the years; not *once* did we pay him more then $100. That included an emergency call when my hubby managed to break off a valve and boiling hot water was spraying all over the bathroom! He was there in less than 10 minutes.
It’s a rare and dying breed, the honest, affordable, competent repairman, but I’m here to report, along with you, that he’s not totally extinct yet!
I know cable companies are usually listed only below attorneys, telemarketers and used car salespeople, but NE Portland must be some kind of Utility Twilight Zone because ours has come out many times over the years and – cue theme song – never charges us (almost makes up for the dryer that leaves burn marks on every piece of clothing it touches).
I’m so glad for you!!! And that’s gotta be one of the funniest lines ever: “I almost checked myself on Snopes.” (i am forever sending my mil links to snopes articles) rofl!!!!
I once had a dishwasher service call, in which the leak that had been going on for about 4 months was fixed by the repairman glancing at the dishwasher, pursing his lips, and then tightening the screws that held the rails that helped slide the top rack in and out.
2 minutes, and I was so happy to pay him his $60 or $70 I could have cried.
This story will be told and retold, generation after generation, and even though I am hearing it firsthand, even I don’t believe it.
$65??? No way.
Actually what my Aunt told my children was if you swallow gum you’ll poot bubbles. I sort of liked that little item.
Now I need bigger help. I knew when my daughter started playing bassoon it was only a matter of time till she made her own reeds. Sure enough. She did. When I started her knitting, very young I might add, it was only a waiting game to see when she would want to spin her own yarn. Stephanie, you’ll be so proud. She wants to do that very thing. I would like to buy her a spinning wheel. I have one here from my Great great grandmother. Don’t think it will do. What do I look for? Is there a brand that is the very best? (Silly me, of course there will be) I just need to hear from some spinners. I am perfectly happy to go to my LYS and buy the spinned and beautiful yarn that is always ready for me. I do wind it myself but no spinning here. Please click on my email and advise me on this purchase. She’s graduating from college the 16th of May. She deserves a special gift.
Are the McPhee’s and the Koontz’s related? We totally save all crying for running water – bathtubs, showers and washing dishes by hand.
Apparently it doesn’t take much to wreak dishwasher havoc!
From someone whose diswasher hasn’t worked for 5 weeks now & whose 2 girls believe this is the single worst thing to ever happen to them: you give me hope. 🙂
We blame the pistachio.
That’s what it was in ours.
Somehow a whole pistachio had gotten past a filter and the grinder and was blocking the drain.
We still don’t know how. Them pistachios are wily.
An appliance repair person telling me that the cost is ONLY $65.00 would straighten the kink right out of my neck! And gee, that would save another 100.00 for an office visit to the Dr., too! I’d be feeling A-Ok for months.
Well you win for the weekend!! Don’t you just love it when the fix is so simple? I did not have a similar experience this weekend…my car broke down 20 miles from MDSW and I had to be towed to my hotel. Only to wake up Saturday to a repairperson calling me to say that I now owed him $375 because my battery leaked acid everywhere and ate through my battery cables.
I agree with you…2 digits is amazing and unheard of!
Wait! remember, after the first 24 hours of an injury, you should switch from cold to heat, okay? That may help your neck more now. I think that warm, wet compresses are the most effective (lots of baths if you can swing it, or nice hot washcloths to the affected area)
My story isnt as great but still ended up being cheaper then it could have been. We called around and no one was available to come look at our freezer that wasnt working right. The one guy that could come out said he’d come out for $60 but would rather we just told him what was happening. The freezer was only turning on for something like 7 seconds, no good. We told him and he said it would be cheaper to buy a new one because the part was $500-600 not including install costs. We ended up getting a freezer with delivery and take away of the old one for under $600. That nice man really saved us a lot of money and we really appreciated that.
After a 14-hour day at work as a journalist, here’s my snarky comeback (sorry, it WAS a 14-hour day, in the RAIN, no less):
You didn’t kinnear him.
You didn’t ask him to pose with one of your socks in progress.
How am I supposed to know he exists?
Another journalism joke: If your mother says she loves you, get a second source. (I’m here all week — try the fish!)
And I’m with the poster who said she spent a ton of cash to get a locksmith… the one I called on a Saturday night threatened me if I wrote him a check that bounced. What a jerk…
Anyway, congrats! Makes me want to poke around my dishwasher just to make sure it’s okay.
(Oh? Really?)
My dishwasher says it’s lonely — I haven’t been home enough to fill it and use.
Damn job!
I should be laughing at the humour of it all, out of relief for you and Sir Dishie…but my husband and I are embarking on the purchase of our first house and I think this just added to my list of things to worry about…oh god.
p.s. Glad you are starting to feel better. 🙂
Congrats on getting it fixed – reasonably.
My nice handyman story is that I had a leaking outdoor faucet. Called a local handyman. He charged me $25 – including purchase of the faucet. Wonderful when good things happen.
Until 2 years ago we owned a 1989 Volvo wagon (you know the kind right). Fully paid, but when things went wrong, they went really wrong. Most visits to the repair shop set us back between $500 and $1500–luckily that wasn’t often.
Towards the end of the Volvo’s time with us, one day it decided it only want to go in “drive”–this was an automatic. You don’t realize how often you use reverse, until you can’t! I thought that this was it. We drove the car to the repair shop, after hours, and left it there in such a way that they could actually move it in the morning. They were a bit annoyed when the saw it the next day–blocking 3 parking spots–but fully understood the situation when they read our note.
I was sure this was going to be a $1500 job–you know, replace the transmission or something. They made it so my car could go backwards for a mere $50–some random cable needed to be replace–I must say, I think I did shed a tear of relief. Strange things sometimes do happen.
Keep his name and number handy- send him candy at Christmas – maybe knit him some socks!
Around our house, it is called “seismic intervention”.
But before the repair guy is called my little tool box comes out, and either I, with the carefulness of a brain surgeon, or my husband, go through the entire mess. We have an agreement, he does the things with fuel and I do the things that plug in. (My son is married to the local animal doctor’s daughter so my deal with them has been a real godsend.)
So far, so good. But, nevertheless, congrats on your bill. I guess that means more cash for stash? Right?
You got your dishwasher fixed for $65 and I got my car brakes fixed for…..$50. I was expecting $1500 because that’s what the last brake job cost and today (different mechanic) it was $50. So I was happy about today’s bill and felt totally stoopy for having paid the previous one. There are honest repair people…I just need to find them all the time.
Will he come to Chicago? I don’t remember the last time I paid less than $90 for a service call–and that’s before the repair costs. He’s a keeper!
Hmmm, my dishwasher quit for a similar reason over a year ago and my hands are frayed. I wonder exactly what your Princely Plumber did and if I could do it, too…?
Just reading your Tweets – The one about the BC Safety Minister? (Don’t you hate when ‘they’ – the adults in your life – say this? Your daughters will agree) – You won’t remember the days when Phil Gagliardi was BC Minister of Highways – he was called Flying Phil for a reason – lead foot! His son (also later a member of BC Legislature) inherited the family lead-foot, so there was a second-generation Flying Gagliardi!
This made me laugh my butt off. Oh and by the way, I’ve never had the luxury of a dishwasher (it’s a rarity in NYC apartments)… I assure you, you would not “meditate on the loveliness of doing dishes by hand and being connected to the real work of things”… At least not after the first week or so once the novelty wore off!
I thought this post was hilarious. Maybe because it I can so relate. I just had a plumber whose service call price was $120 and the day after he was done, another tap began to leak.
That is amazing, short and simple. 🙂
As someone who once abandoned a vehicle in order to avoid towing costs, repairs, and the guilt of having the damned dead thing in our driveway, I can only share your wonder. Sometimes, urban legends have their roots in truth.
I had a washing machine repair guy like that once… next time I needed him I found out he’d died. There is no justice in the world.
Does he fix anything else?? I would call him in for anything I could! YAY!!!!
Stephanie,
I never comment on your blog (that’s a lie, I commented once) but after reading this post I just wanted to congratulate you on making it such a good read. Never mind the urban legend…you are brilliant! How could anyone write about such a mundane but important event as an appliance repair and make it such an enjoyable epic. You brighten my day when I am in kitchen renovation hell at the moment. thank you!
You know the $45 call out fee wasn’t bad in the first place. In the UK we rarely get a call out fee less than £60 – and they want a cup of tea for that!!! Long live honest repair men!
That is so cool! Isn’t it great when things work out better than your wildest dreams. (Judging by your reaction to your bill, I don’t think I’m exaggerating here LOL!) Believe it or not, I too have a great repairman that doesn’t charge an arm or a leg. I know it’s a different guy because I live in another country and it’s too far to travel and charge $45 for the service call! My repair guy can fix anything, and has saved me from having to buy a new clothes dryer. The element died in my dryer due to a wire clothes hangar mysteriously being added with a load of laundry. (The culprit is still at large and no confessions are in sight!) My guy came to my house, took apart the dryer, ordered the new element, went and picked it up, came back to my house on another day and installed it. He charged my the price of the element and $50 for the service call. He gave me the receipt for the element so I know exactly how much it cost. I almost fell over! Gas at this time was ridiculously expensive, and he had to drive 30 to pick up the part and come home so I gave him a tip!!! It’s the first time I have ever tipped a repair guy. All my friends call him for repairs too. He’s a very nice person and boy, can he fix almost anything. I’m so glad that you found a repair guy like mine. It’s almost like having an appliance security blanket! You know that you’ll be treated fairly and when you pay him you know you aren’t getting shafted. Congrats on having your dishwasher back. Glad to hear about the neck. Have you tried the homeopathic remedy Arnica gel on it? I love the stuff and have gotten my family hooked on it for aches and pains. Beoricke and Tafel (B&T) is my favorite brand. It really works. Happy dish washing!
I host an annual cracked crab Christmas Eve party for my family. One year the dishwasher stopped working on Christmas day (panic!). The guy came out on the day after Christmas, and after a tense 15 minutes asked me if anyone had been eating crab– just a few tiny shells were the culprits and caused what seemed like no end of smelly misery.
The best part is that the guy did not charge me anything (!!), and then showed me how to clean out the thing by myself if any such mishap should happen in the future.
I didn’t keep his card! I was in shock that he didn’t charge me and I just let him go, with a grateful tip.
What a relief!! Definitely an excuse to sit knitting and relaxing with a quiet beer for a while!!
Is he single? Can you send him to Newfoundland? What a great story – thanks for the laugh. My monitor has now been thouroughly washed with coffee! hee hee.
WOW!! Around here that never happens to my knowledge.
JL at 4:54pm: Is your washer a Maytag by chance? My sister had a similar experience to yours shortly after purchasing her new washer about 4 yrs ago. It took 3 repairmen, several hundred dollars and multiple phone calls to the service center to get it fixed as well as missed days at work etc (had to be home for them to come)and No Call No Show repair appointments by the service techs. Needless to say they arent ever calling Maytag to repair the washer/dryer again no will they purchase that brand again.
Oh, what a treasure. A reliable, honest, inexpensive repair person. After living here for ten years, we have finally located both a car place and a “small job” carpenter who comes on time and charges reasonable rates. Plumbing is still a problem area though; it’s a nasty job and nobody wants to do it for cheap. I don’t blame them, either!
I’ve just returned from Ireland, I’m knitting and Aran sweater with yarn purchased there, and when the wind is right, you can probably hear me cussing. It will be very beautiful, though. Someday.
You needed a break after all the recent houshold issues you’ve dealt with.
A current and true pregnancy story: My niece suspects that she is pregnant and does a home test. Yup! So she gets a doctors appointment for the next day (that’s amazing in itself) and finds out she is 31 weeks! She’s due in June.
She’s happy, but I’m upset that I’ve been cheated out of valuble baby knitting time! Gotta go… I need to cast on some booties or something.
Hahaha, congratulations.
This reminds me an awful lot of something that happened to my mom – I’m pretty sure it was a bobby pin that got stuck in the washing machine, though.
No, no, no…..This can’t be right. Let me guess- he rode to your house on a unicorn, and his sprightly fairy assistant flew into the dishwasher to dislodge the guilty pistachio shell.
Me thinks thy next book must be ‘Domestic Fairytales and other Grown Up Nonsense’.
Speaking of windows into your lives. I’m wondering about the fact that you called Rachel H. before you called Joe! 😉
Steph, we lead oddly parallel appliance lives. Your washing machine broke, mine broke. My dishwasher broke, yours broke. Mine cost $65 to fix, so did yours. Very strange. And I had the same reaction… except mine was $65 USD and he replaced a part and fixed my oven while he was here. If ever I have to call him again, I’ll ask him if he’s got a brother in Toronto. Or maybe they’ve been cloned! Wouldn’t it be great if you could clone a useful person and scatter them around the world?
Oh, I do have a contractor who came every day, was on time and under budget (and he’d have been early if we hadn’t had a cabinet misunderstanding). He just never returns phone calls. I have to call his wife and tell her to have him call me.
You’re not crazy. Once, our heat was broken, and there was something wrong with the furnace. It wouldn’t turn on. The furnace was old, and had evidence of previous water damage, and we were sure we were in for a scary repair, or worse, having to buy a new furnace.
The HVAC repair guy came over, tinked around a little, fixed something minor, and 10 minutes of fixing cost of $60. I gratefully and happily paid him, in stunned disbelief.
I will never forget it. We were totally at his mercy (no heat in Boston! stupid first time homeowners!) and he was fair and honest.
Glad yours worked out too 🙂
Good News! Good News!! Good News!!!
Sounds like You have been Blessed by the GOOD FAERIES!
Now if the neck pain completely goes away….YAY!
It must be in the air. My husband was driving my Jeep on Sunday while I was at MDSW, and the drive shaft? It fell off. Just fell off. Both U joints broke, and there it went, taking the muffler with it. Car not go. He towed it to the new-to-us mechanic and left it there until they opened on Monday. I was already in mourning — it’s a 1991, and knew that the cost of the repair had to far exceed the car’s dollar value. Was absolutely shocked when the guy called to let us know it’d be less then $400 to fix the whole thing. It’s in the air, baby…
Dishwasher? I have 4- Andy(15), Joey(14), Mike(9), and Brydan (8) 🙂
I’m glad that both your neck and your dishwasher are more functional now. Perhaps the latter will help with the former.
you aren’t going to tell us his name?!! I think you should knit him some socks.
Woot! Another vote for something knitterly to your new appliance repairman. He’s a keeper.
I was perusing your Twitter notes: you’re right — fiddleheads are not like pokeweed or poke salad. Fiddleheads are delicious and not poisonous at all. Sidenote: some poke weed grew near my horse’s paddock (we didn’t know what it was at the time), and he nibbled on it and developed neurological issues. We pulled it all out (had to use gloves and a tractor– you can’t touch it with your bare hands due to the toxins) and he recovered just fine.
So, can we get the name of said repairman and would he be willing to make house calls south of the border? Seriously, he is going to get a major Yarn Harlot bump!
How much business is that guy going to get now because of your referrals?
This is a hilarious and remarkable story. It restores one’s faith in humanity (repairman humanity).
You almost really owe it to this guy to give out his name to people who request it. It’s a deserving reward for the honest tradespeople out there! Don’t hide him, he deserves more. And referrals are the best!
Lucky you!! Our coffeepot had a seizure wherein alllll the coffee missed the pot and ran onto the counter and and then underneath the counter and shorted out our dishwasher. $210 for a new front panel. And once we rented a house with a dishwasher that the landlord wouldn’t fix. It didn’t completely drain, and re-deposited the food crumbs on the dishes during the rinse cycle. Yuk. We called it the “dish-dirtier” and used it to store Tupperware.
That’s thrilling! I haven’t even been a grownup for very long and I know that this is the stuff of legends. My mechanic is currently holding my car hostage and wants $300 ransom money.
(I do, however, confess to lots of jealousy that you have a dishwasher in the first place. Granted, I don’t have kids, but it’s still kind of shocking how much time I spend washing dishes by hand.)
Recently, after one of our heavy spring snows I had to take the (low clearance) Jetta in because the snow had grabbed the skid plate down and it was dragging (thanks for not plowing, Denver, we don’t all drive SUVs). So I stopped in at my friendly neighborhood Firestone and asked if they could lift and repair as I didn’t think I could roll underneath to do it (now even less clearance). Forty five minutes later I had my repaired car back FOR NO CHARGE!!
This is so totally awesome, that one might even need a yarn purchase to celebrate it, don’t you think? And, I truly appreciate the Red Shirt reference….we’ve been fighting with our own house lately….
Thanks a lot, Harlot. I just about flung all my Sudoku afghan square stitches off the needle. $65!!! Do not share that repair man’s name with anyone. If you do, he’ll become so busy you’ll never get him back to your house again, ever. Maybe one of your girls can marry him, and you can knit him socks, and Joe can record his favorite music so he feels beholden to you and is always available to do your bidding? Or not.
That is definitely more affordable than any appliance repair I’ve ever gotten (though my last was mostly the cost of a new element in the oven).
Congrats! $65 would be a beautiful bill…lol
Is he willing to travel to the Bronx? I broke my oven door (it still closes,but won’t stay open on it’s own; we do have two ovens which came with the house).
I am pretending it didn’t happen.
Knitted items may not be enough. Is bigamy legal in Canada? I’d seriously consider marrying this guy if I were you. He’s worth holding on to. I can’t imagine that Joe would mind. Hell, he might want to marry the guy himself!
It’s about time you get what you deserve as far as appliances go.
Congrats!
(PS. I just checked Snopes, you still aren’t there.)
Egads, that’s exactly how I feel when I have to have anyone over to fix anything!! Being a grown-up sucks sometimes. $65!!! He’s a keeper!
Do you think you could get him to come look at my heat pump? I’ll pay the plane fare…but each quote is higher than the last!
There must be clusters of these events. I took my car back to the dealership last week to see about a headlight problem. Instead of installing a new headlight assembly they rewired the old one.
They washed the car, too.
And I really want to read a book by you called “The Blog and I.” You have my permission to use any of my comments, if need be.
Wow, I thought I was the only one who used the phrase “percussive maintenance”…LOL
And $65? Yep, urban legend stuff for sure! Excellent outcome!
Oh, good. I just put a coffee mug in the dishwasher and as I turned it over a number of olive pits fell into the dishwasher and I could only find 2 though it sounded more like half a dozen.
I think you should give credit to the repair company this guy came from.
On time.
Inexpensive.
We all should use them 🙂
I can’t believe you don’t have a headset yet. Take the money you thought you’d have to spend on the dishwasher and buy a headset! I mean it, now. Don’t make me come over there!
I almost hate to add another post to this because I printed out the story (I loved it so much) without realizing that there were so many comments and that they came with the story, and do you know it printed out 41 pages? I think the comments are probably just as wonderful and I am looking forward to reading them too. Thankyou.
Whew! I was wondering if it was pining for Sir Washie.
Glad to read your neck is improving.
so what are you going to knit for him, as a thank you? c’mon, he showed up exactly on time and charged you a reasonable price! he deserves some kind of credit. maybe a hat?
I’ll be damned!!! My mom was right !!!
Good things do happen to those who wait…. but man your WAIT was loooooooong !!!
Have a cold one for the repair guy’s health !!! All hail the repair guy !
We just had our contractor show up every day for 5 months, get the work done on budget and let us move back in 5 weeks early. Sweet!
Percussive maintenance…that’s something I haven’t heard in a long time.
I’m going to blog a little spin-off story about the time I bought 2 houses with photocopy of a $1,000.00 bill as a down payment and one of the furnaces made a sound in the night that was exactly like a 747 taking off.
But in the meantime, super congrats on the low low low repairman bill. You ought to post buddy’s company name, because he deserves allll the business he ought to be getting.
We had a nice surprise (eventually!) last Thursday, our car broke down and we needed it the next day to go to a family funeral in the north of our state. There was no way it was going to be fixed in time soooooo the guy who runs the Garage where we get the car repaired lent us HIS car for the weekend, free, gratis and for nothing!! He even picked us up from our house and had the car filled with petrol (gas!). There are good people in this world! (I even got some sock knitting done on the trip!)
Barbie, Tasmania, Aus.
Will he come here to fix my oven?
I feel your pain… Did you ever notice that appliances go up in three’s? The washing machine repair man told us to just let it die a natural death. No, a 747 is really not taking off from our house, it’s just the washer in death throes. Then I learned that every 168 hours to turn off the ice maker in the fridge (only for 24 hours) to keep that appliance happy, no service man needed!
That’s seriously awesome. Sounds like the appliance repair gods like wooly offerings. Go do the celebration dance. 🙂
Steph. Now it’s time to ALTERNATE heat and cold for the neck. And some gentle (gentle, I say) stretching exercises. Google them. Feel better soon, Dude, because we are looking forward to seeing you.
Dear Stephanie,
I just love the way you can take a deep breath and count your blessings, remember what is truly important and have a calm moment in the middle of a crisis. You are an inspiration. Many thanks, Cheryl.
we just had our washing machine fixed this week…making a wierd draining noise…a small allen wrench and rock were holding up the pump…$185 for my sanity with four kids at home…i applaud your $65…and am jealous!
Sir Washie is giving back to you the appreciation you have given him all those years. Steph, that’s wonderful!
So, you’ve embossed the repair guy’s name into your address book, right? Given him his own number in your speed dial? I mean, he’s an appliance repair guy who shows up on time and is affordable. If you didn’t have Joe, I’d say you should marry him. Come to think of it… you have daughters, don’t you?
You give me hope! My dishwasher is making odd noises, and we’re dreading finding out Why.
I did bring my car into the dealership once and they charged me $1.50 (US). Can you believe it? They changed a lightbulb.
I just wanted to tell you that your blog is wonderful and it makes a great bright spot in my day every time I read it.
Wow…did you ask him who he was and what he’s done with the real dishwasher repair man?
Hey there, just had similar experience her in good old England. Fridge threw in towel, bloke came to mend it, me thinking at least £100 in which case new fridge. He only charges £44 for the call out and no time limit, thing only needed thermostat at £35. So still having to have large cups of tea to get used to the idea of it only costing that little and no new fridge needed. There is a god. and he looks after our wallets sometimes!
“Please. I almost checked myself on Snopes before I called Joe.”
That was a GREAT line – cracked me up!
Congratulations on your cheap dishwasher fix. More money for yarn, right?
Dude! ‘Bout time something good came your way! I can’t top that one, but our own Mr. Washie just got fixed not an hour ago and it was only $85!! EIGHTY-FIVE! DH and I had had the same convo you and Joe’d had: “top spending limit”, “what to do in case”, yadda yadda. And it was ONLY 85 bucks! Woo-hoo! Considering the cost of a Really Good Washer these days, that’s…well, not peanuts… but it isn’t $285, either! *sigh of relief* I won’t have to sell part of my stash, spin tons of yarn and hope to sell it, or anything else! We won’t be going out to eat, maybe, but hey – I can live with that 🙂
“I almost checked myself on Snopes before I called Joe. ”
::cackle:: good one…
Okay, so you have a service that makes house calls, you can get a plumber to fix your dishwasher for two measly digits, you will get to go to the Sock Summit…. I could go on.
Can I be you?
I would have cried and hugged the guy on the spot! Being a single Mom, I dread unexpected expenses.
That reminds me of the time I woke up to a totally flat tire. I thought I’d just change it, all “girl power” and everything, except, even jumping up and down on the thing, I couldn’t loosen the lugnuts. Crap. Now what? Call a tow truck to put on the spare? Then go to a tire place for a new tire? Crap. That’s a lot of money and time. Eventually I decide I’ll just drive it very slowly to the gas station 2 blocks away. Where the dude looks as it, has it off, patched, and back on in 10 minutes! And charged me $15!
I hear that is the most common dishwasher problem there is–the plastic corners you cut off milk bags manage to sneak into our dishwasher with annoying frequency.
Nice to hear it wasn’t something major. And I bet Joe can take off the hose next time for preventative maintenance (we do ours once a year or so).
I believed he sighed because it was such a cheap job, and he was hoping for a larger payday.
It’s great when you find the one guy who doen’t see it fit that because he knows how things work and you don’t that it doen’t mean it’s time to put the screws into the one without the knowledge. I had a repair guy come into my house, sniff my fridge and tell me that there was no way to repair it- just sell it. Then I had one a few monbths later come to the house to fix my washer and found that the washer wasn’t broke- it was the power! GRRR! The best thing, though, is that he tested the outlet, snopped in my electrical box and then hooked up an extension cord and told me it would work ‘for now.’ That was about five years ago- I just plug and unplug the cord into a kitchen outlet!
Isn’t it comforting to know that there are still honest and reliable repair people out there? We’ve been exceptionally lucky, having found a reasonable mechanic (named Joe, I might add. I’ve never met a Joe I didn’t like. They all seem to be good human beings.), plumber, electrician, and appliance dude.
We live in a 72-year-old house with questionable wiring, and we needed an outlet added for the computer. Our electrician was here three days in a row, all day, trying (and breaking tools in the process…..) to find the wires inside the walls. At the end of it all, he charged for five hours labour, saying that he couldn’t in good conscience charge for the three days it actually took. You can bet I baked for him.
Happy Mother’s Day, Stephanie. Sit, relax, and do something you enjoy. I told my three that the real gift would be an entire day without bickering. We shall see.
IF you ever do get a *** NEW** Mr Dishie, get one with a TIMER!!!!
We replaced our ailing d/w 2 years ago & this feature is WONDERFUL! Ours has a 2,4 & 6 hour delay time
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
I believe it! I know such people as your appliance guy. I live in a small rural village in Ontario and once I had to call a plumber on New Years Day to thaw frozen pipes…. he had to crawl into a crawl space, spend time in the dungeon (my cellar, house is 150 years old) and he was here about 30 minutes – he charged me $25!!! Yes, $25. I’ll bet your guy is a country guy, at least once upon a time. Needless to say, he is my plumber forever. He has made two calls here that he didn’t even charge me for…. I must just look pathetically sad, or poor, one or the other. And NO, he is not getting any benefits but I did give him a shortbread cookie one Christmas.
Hi Stephanie,
You made my day! Don’t know if you count trackbacks or not, but I linked to your story today on my blog (http://justgrits.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/appliance-wars/)
I was about to mail you a handwoven tea-towel (dish towel) so you’d know the pleasure of hand drying hand washed dishes with a piece of handwoven linen.
If you even thought, for a nanosecond “Who would weave a tea-towel?” I’ll tell you, the same people who knit socks! 😉
It sounds like your dishwasher guy is related to my mechanic… and yay for good tradesmen 🙂