This afternoon, I had a technician come by to repair my GE profile series dishwasher for the same back-up problem. At the time of the scheduled appointment, I clearly understood that the repair cost would include a $69.95 trip charge and cost of parts should the repair require. Who would have thought the total bill for a backed up dishwasher be $203.13? The technician spent 20 minutes probably on actual repair, which involved taking three parts out of the dishwasher. He asked me personally to wash the three parts off. I did not mind at all helping, and after this not sure my help would be his labor.

The technician stated the labor per hour is $160 (technician worked a total of about 20 minutes, remainder of the time was spent talking and giving unsolicited advice). He explained the trip charge was supporting their trucks, etc., and that his unsolicited advice was well worth what was being billed.

At his arrival, I listened and empathized with his reported knee problems, which definitely initiated my support of his request to wash the dishwasher components. I thought he was a nice man. While the advice the technician provided was appreciated, it was at his discretion and I should not be paying this hefty price! So much for customer support. I will never again let a technician speak one minute on anything other than the repair and charges. Rapport can cost you. The most upsetting was the technician stated falsely to my husband that he had told me about how much the labor would be in our conversation, and our discussion did not go in the direction he stated. He did tell me that the labor would be quite a bit more expensive if the dishwasher would have been pulled out from the unit, so what he ultimately would charge would be lower. There was not discussion on the amount or range of the lower charge. I could not believe it and left the room.

My husband and I personally selected GE Profile series, assured that these were good appliances and the service support valuable. The dishwasher and microwave have both been serviced since purchase in 2007. I am so disappointed and the monies that have been expensed over the past year and a half for repairs/service calls/parts would have totally replaced my diswasher and microwave.

I have called twice today (4/10/09), began calling the moment the technician left my home. Since the ticket has not been closed by the technician at this time, I have not achieved a resolution. I will update this complaint with GE's response for the reader's reference.

My final advice is to ask more questions in order to have an expection of your range of costs incurred. Also, keep the conversation associated to only the repair itself. Don't let the technician give you advice about your microwave, water heater levels, energy expensed from recessed lighting, etc. Consumers should only be billed for the actual labor, and this needs to change in the industry overall.