There’s nothing more stressful than a broken fridge. Here’s how to find a quick and reliable fridge repairman in the St. Paul area.
Are you looking for a reliable fridge repairman in St. Paul, MN?
If your refrigerator has malfunctioned, you may have a pretty pressing issue on your hands.
Buying a new fridge is usually far more expensive than getting your existing one fixed, and these days it’s not a quick solution. Over the last two years, lead times for appliances have skyrocketed to the highest they have been in 40 years.
However, before you call up the first fridge repairman you find, here’s a word of warning.
Hiring the wrong refrigeration repair service could trigger delays or cost you more than you expected.
So how do you find a good fridge repair company?
Currently, there are over 52,000 fridge repair services in the US. Of course, if you’re specifically looking for one in St. Paul, you won’t have to cast your net this wide. But you still need to do your due diligence.
Fortunately, finding a refrigerator repairman you can trust isn’t that hard once you know what to look for. Keep reading for our top tips on how to find the best St. Paul fridge service company.
Look Online
If you’re stuck with a faulty fridge, one of the first places to start looking for a fridge repairman is online. You can simply type in something like “St. Paul refrigerator repair,” “St. paul fridge repair,” or “fridge repair near me.”
Go through the search results and take a look at the businesses that come up. Start by clicking on their websites and have a look through their Services and About pages.
Does the company seem committed to excellence and top-notch customer service? Do they share reviews and testimonials? Is their site well functioning, easy to navigate, and do they have an active blog page?
If you land up on a site that’s difficult to navigate, looks like it was built in the 90s, or doesn’t give you much information on the services, we’d click away and keep looking.
If you come across a fridge repairman that doesn’t even have a website—or just a Google Business entry, this can also be a warning flag. Nowadays, most professionally run businesses have a website so customers can find them and read up on their services.
Check Reviews
Once you’ve eliminated any businesses that have a poor or unprofessional online presence, make a shortlist and check the online reviews for these refrigerator repair services.
You can start off by looking at their Google Reviews, but we’d take it a step further and also check out reviews on platforms like Yelp and the Better Business Bureau.
Take time to read through some of the individual reviews and get a feel for the quality of service each company offers. Keep in mind that it’s impossible to please everyone, and any business is likely to rack up a low-star review every so often.
Therefore, pay attention to both individual reviews and the overall star rating. If a business has a 4- or 5-star rating, this is a good sign.
Also, watch out for trends in the reviews. Does one St. Paul fridge repair service have multiple mentions of slow service? The last thing you want to do is wait around for hours for a fridge repairman to arrive.
You can also check for replies to reviews. A business that promptly replies to all reviews, both good and bad, and attempts to resolve disputes, is usually more likely to provide a reliable service than one that ignores reviews from customers.
Responses to negative reviews can also give you an indication of whether the bad review was justified or not.
Ask Friends and Family
Besides researching refrigerator repair services online, you can also ask friends and family for recommendations. Has anyone you know had their refrigerator fixed? If so, they might be able to point you to a reputable company.
They’ll be able to give you an in-depth, personal review of the fridge repairman they used. Asking friends and family also allows you to pose your own questions about the service.
For instance, you might want to ask things like
- How long did it take them to come out?
- Was everyone you dealt with friendly and professional?
- What did they charge you?
- Have you had any issues with your refrigerator since?
Although online reviews can be incredibly helpful for finding reliable professionals, one drawback is you don’t personally know the people that are leaving the reviews. When you ask for personal recommendations, you can factor in who the info is coming from.
Make Sure You’re Dealing With a Professional Fridge Repairman
One of the most important things to verify is that the fridge repairman you hire is a trained professional. You definitely don’t want a jack-of-all-trades working on your refrigerator, and you also don’t want a backyard or part-time refrigeration mechanic.
Make sure that the fridge repairman you choose is trained and certified. If you’re working with a larger appliance repair company, only go with one that employs trained staff on their teams.
Licensing and Insurance Is a Must
One of the best ways to make sure that a refrigerator repairman or company offers a professional service is to verify that they’re licensed and hold third-party insurance.
Here in Minnesota, all contractors (and most businesses) are required by state law to hold third-party insurance. This protects you as the customer from any liability.
For example, if an insured, licensed St. Paul fridge repair service visits your home and accidentally backs into your garage door, they’re the ones who assume liability. If a visitor trips over their toolbox while visiting your home, the fridge repair service is liable, not you.
However, if you hire an unlicensed fridge repairman, the situation is very different. In this case, you will automatically assume liability for any damage they do or injury they might cause to third parties.
So how do you know if a St. Paul refrigerator repair company is licensed and insured? Fortunately, in Minnesota, this is relatively easy. Minnesota law stipulates that most businesses have to take out third-party liability insurance in order to apply for a license.
This means that all you have to do is check a contractor’s license status. If their license is in good standing, this indicates that they also hold the mandatory level of third-party insurance.
Check for Service Warranties
Another critical thing to vet for when hiring a refrigerator repairman is service warranties. Service warranties offer you a guarantee on the workmanship. Most warranties for fridge repair services run for between 30 days to 12 months.
A repair warranty protects you from having to pay for the same issue to be fixed twice. If the company or fridge repairman made an installation error, they will come out and rectify it free of charge.
If you don’t get a warranty on the work done, you’ll be the one to pick up the bill should there be an issue with the repair job.
Besides offering you peace of mind (and saving you money on potential comebacks), warranties are also a strong indicator of professionalism. A backyard fridge mechanic isn’t likely to offer you a warranty on their work. If you’re lucky, they might be ethical enough to come back and fix any issues with their repair job without charging you, but you have no guarantee.
If an established refrigeration repair company doesn’t offer a warranty on their work, we’d also take this as a warning sign.
Choose a Refrigerator Repair Company That Services All Leading Brands
If you want to hire a repair service that will promptly and professionally rectify your refrigerator issue, look for a company or fridge repairman that has experience with all leading appliance brands.
The more experience a repair service has with your brand of refrigerator, the quicker they’ll be able to diagnose the issue, the faster they’ll have parts, and the more seamless their repair. Instead of learning on the job, the technicians may have already worked on dozens of the exact same model.
What’s more, the last thing you want is to have a fridge repairman come and do a call out, only to tell you they don’t service your particular model or brand of refrigerator.
Here at Ridge Appliance Repair, we service all refrigerator brands and models, including Samsung, LG, Viking, Sub-Zero, Maytag, Kenmore, Ge, Viking, Whirlpool, and more.
Vet for 24-Hour Availability
Unfortunately, refrigerators have the habit of going bust at the least convenient times possible.
Sunday morning when no one’s available? Monday night, when the last thing you have energy for is quickly defrosting food? Those are the times when refrigerator problems usually strike.
Even if you’re lucky and your fridge stops working at a convenient time (but let’s be honest, is there ever a convenient moment for refrigerator issues?), or it’s developing a slow building problem like low gas—we’d recommend you find a service that offers 24-hour availability.
If you’re going through the effort of researching and hiring an appliance repair company you haven’t used before, you might as well make sure they’re going to be there for you no matter what.
You might not have a pressing issue with your fridge right now, but there might come a time in the future when you need an emergency or after-hours call out. If that happens, the last thing you want to do is take the time to go through the hassle of finding yet another appliance repair service.
Instead, see if you can find a fridge repair company that offers after-hours services from the get-go.
We understand that appliance malfunctions can be an emergency, which is why Ridge Appliance Repair offers round-the-clock appliance services. No matter the time of day or night, we are available.
Don’t Settle For Sub-Par Customer Service
If you want to work with the best refrigerator repair service in St. Paul, there’s no need to put up with sub-par customer service.
As a customer, you’re entitled to be treated well during every interaction with a business. If you have to endure long response times, or cold, impersonal interactions, move on and find an appliance repair service that truly values your business.
Fortunately, you can often gauge the quality of customer service during the initial interactions you have with a business. If you reach out to them on the phone, are they quick to pick up, helpful, efficient, and friendly? When you email or fill out the contact form, do you get a response quickly, or do you have to wait for hours or days for a reply?
If the initial customer service is lacking, this might be a sign that the actual repair service, and any follow-ups, might not be any better.
Avoid Flat Rates
Another thing to watch out for when hiring a fridge repairman is flat rates. Flat rates are often anything but flat.
In contrast, they might just be there to lure customers into thinking they’re getting a bargain when in reality, your bill will be a lot higher. Until a technician has diagnosed your problem, it’s very difficult for them to accurately estimate what a refrigeration repair job will cost.
Besides flat rates, you should also look out for services that offer very low rates. If their prices seem too good to be true, they probably are. Most fridge repair jobs require replacement parts or new refrigerant at the very least.
Very low repair prices usually indicate that a company or fridge repairman is skimping somewhere. You definitely don’t want to hire an appliance repair service that’s cutting costs at all corners.
Are You After the Best Fridge Repairman in St. Paul, MN?
If you’ve got a faulty fridge on your hands, it can be tempting to call up the first number you find on Google for fridge repairs. We agree that fridge issues are definitely an emergency, but we don’t believe you should settle for anything other than the best level of service from a fridge repairman or appliance repair company.
Here at Ridge Appliance Repair, we pride ourselves on providing exceptional customer service. We fix all brands of appliances. Our teams are made up of certified professionals, and we’re available 24/7/365 for all your appliance repair needs.
Contact us to book a service today.