Our business, Cody's Appliance Repair, Inc., is a small, family-owned-and-operated business. My husband Cody and I specialize in the repair of major household appliances, gas and electric.
Over the past ten years, we have seen an alarming shift from repairing your appliances to this general mentality of, "let's throw this away and buy new." This type of unnecessary spending has been what has gotten so many people into trouble. It had just been so easy to buy on credit, and with delayed financing, it just compounds the problem. They buy now, then pay later. And if you are not on top of your payments, it can be a disaster! Dealers have just made it so alluring to choose to throw a perfectly good appliance into the valley's landfill!
When you change out an appliance, there are also sometimes hidden costs and dangers. There is the issue of additional costs in install and haul away. Also, will the installer take care with your floors and walls during the install/removal. Many appliances are hooked up to a water source. You could have leakage that occurs as a result of the change out. You may not notice for days or weeks, then your floor is ruined! Then you have to bring in the insurance companies!
Appliances, generally, have a lot longer life span than consumers give them credit for! Not only are you keeping more waste out of the landfill, which helps the environment, you are probably saving a lot of money! There are also components in many appliances that should not enter the landfill at all, ever. So there is often a charge to take old appliances.
As to the money issue, if you pay to repair your appliance, a bill of, say $150 or even $250 far outweighs spending $500+ on a good dishwasher or $1000+ on a new refrigerator! You are deferring the cost of a new appliance for, perhaps, years. And that is money which can be put to much better use!
We are working hard to get the word out that renewal of your appliances is a good thing for you personally and the environment! Your appliance may have many years of faithful service left and the landfills certainly don't need any more junk!
We have recently participated in the Eagle Customer Appreciation Day. At that time we launched our new maintenance program. For $99, Cody's will come to your home and take care of many of your appliances, keeping the running smoothly, efficiently, and safely.
Regular maintenance, such as cleaning your condenser coils annually, helps it to cool more efficiently, puts less stress on components, and lowers your electric bill. Yearly cleaning of your dryer vent prevents fires (yes, fires!) and also puts less stress on your components. Again, it will help with a reduction in your gas or electric bill if the unit is clean and well vented. These are just an example of a few of the maintenance items we now provide. We believe that maintenance is where our industry is headed. Head off the problems before they occur and get the most value from our purchase.
We also find that our solid reputation is what keeps us thriving in this economy. A good rating with the BBB, membership in our local chamber of commerce, networking with other professionals in our industry to partner to provide better service to our customers, has kept our phones ringing and our appointment books full.
Our maintenance program is very new, but we are finding multiple benefits. Customers are calling us to perform the maintenance checkup without needing a repair; they just want the checkup performed. As we are a REPAIR company, as that is our specialty, going to a home to check everything out and keep them running is a whole new income stream for us. And when they pay in advance for multiple years, it is discounted, but we receive prepayment. Another benefit! We are going to see them next year, as it is prepaid; an opportunity for contact with the customer.
Or we are in the home and after presenting the information the time of service, they elect to have the checkup done at that time. So we have just added $99 to our billing, and we sometimes detect billable problems at that time. Customer and company have benefited.
But the biggest benefit is we feel that this program helps to form a closer relationship with the customer. Trust is huge! When we spend time in their home they get to know the company and the technician; they become comfortable with us. If they are pleased and satisfied with the service that we performed, our highest praise is when they refer us to a friend. And a new customer is is the biggest benefit of all!
