Deception when repairing washing machines
Recently, the number of companies offering to repair household appliances has increased sharply. Most of them are deceivers who engage in outright scams when repairing washing machines. You won't get any help from them - only forever lost money and time.
Fraudsters mainly target older people, but often other people fall into their “nets.” To protect yourself and your loved ones, you should understand deceptive schemes and learn to recognize criminals.
How does “divorce” happen?
It's easy to deceive the owner of a washing machine. Knowledgeable people rarely contact the service, and it is difficult for housewives and elderly people who are uninitiated in repair subtleties to soberly assess the situation. Especially when it is not just individual scammers or local companies that work, but entire federal networks with representative offices in many cities across the country. The latter have a clear and streamlined “work” strategy that brings criminals a lot of money. These “federal” companies operate according to the same scheme:
- in a large city, St. Petersburg, Ufa, Kazan, a company is organized (room is rented for an office, a staff of operators is hired for a functioning call center);
- vacancy announcements are published in local media (an example text looks like this: “We are looking for a washing machine repairman, no experience required, the ability to communicate with people is important, training is free”);
- approved candidates for repairmen are sent for vocational training (they quickly teach how to disassemble and assemble a machine, give superficial knowledge about the design of the washing machine, and teach psychological sales techniques);
- the company’s services are actively advertised (prices are lowered, creating the illusion of benefits);
- The technician who arrives on call “repairs” the equipment, inflating the price of services and not worrying about the quality of the work performed.
The main requirement in such a company is not to repair the washing machine, but to scam the client out of a large sum. Therefore, “masters” are trained not in the technical part, but in the psychological part. So, an employee who comes to your home, instead of simply cleaning the garbage filter, insists on a more expensive procedure for replacing the pump or motor. As a result, the owner of the machine pays not 500-800 rubles, but several thousand.
Fraudulent washing machine maintenance companies attract customers with too low prices and free diagnostics.
They lure customers with low prices. All so that the owner of the washing machine agrees to have a technician come home. Then the psychological “processing” begins: the service employee competently “dusts the brain,” the price tag skyrockets, and the equipment often remains unrepaired until the end.
Often the call center operator promises free diagnostics. But in reality, you have to pay for it, even if the client decided to refuse the services of the master. The trick is that the proposed service does not require payment only if the “integrity” of the machine is preserved. When the technician arrives, he will immediately remove the front or rear panel of the unit, which is in fact considered disassembly of the equipment. Accordingly, an invoice will be issued for 500-1500 rubles.
There are many similar methods of deception - they are all prescribed in special instructions. The company’s management also sets standards for the amount for each departure. More often, the minimum starts from 3-4 thousand rubles.If the swindler fails to trick the client into paying a certain rate, the company breaks off cooperation with him and stops delivering orders.
Often the deception lies in the selection of components. As a rule, cheap parts skyrocket in price, which increases repair costs several times. Service workers explain the high cost of spare parts with the following arguments:
- high quality (although the components are bought in a regular store, where the owner of the washing machine can buy them at several times cheaper);
- a long-term guarantee for replacement (this is a lie, since after a while there will be no one to file a claim - the client will be added to the blacklist or the company will be “closed”).
Attackers will constantly claim that they belong to a “federal” network of services, which in fact will be a lie. The company is not officially registered, the name is fictitious, and the real address of the head office remains unknown. True, the repairman often names the street with the house for reference, usually in the central part of the city. But you won’t be able to find an office locally – it simply doesn’t exist.
It is worth understanding that such a company is a maximum of 2-3 craftsmen for the entire city. They accept applications from the call center, go around houses and lure money. That's the whole business - with high profits and minimal costs.
How to recognize deception?
If you don’t want to pay exorbitant prices for poor-quality repairs, you should carefully choose a service center. It’s not difficult to recognize scammers; you just need to pay attention to a few points. So, when looking for a repairman, it is recommended to follow certain instructions.
- Try to figure out the problem yourself. This is not about disassembling the machine and fixing the breakdown.In the absence of experience, it is better to make do with theory: Google the “symptoms” of the problem, clarify the possible causes, find out the cost of components in online stores and the prices for replacing them. If the craftsman who comes to the call greatly inflates the price or, in case of problems with the drain, insists on replacing the engine, this is a swindler.
- “Punch” the name and phone number of the company on the Internet. Deceived people often leave negative reviews on forums and social networks.
- Clarify in what cases free diagnostics cease to be so. If the operator claims that the initial inspection is a “gift”, do not pay.
- Do not leave a stranger alone with the washing machine. It is necessary to monitor all his manipulations.
When replacing parts, the technician must present receipts from the store for the purchased components.
- Analyze the amount announced by the repairman. After diagnosis, the service employee will tell you the cause of the breakdown and the approximate cost of fixing it. You need to remember them, go into another room under any pretext and call several competing companies. If other specialists charge only 1500-2000 rubles for replacing a pump, and not 6000, it means they want to deceive you.
- Please immediately warn that receipts for purchased parts will be required. Fraudsters begin to “bust”: they say that it is impossible to provide receipts, they do not buy anything, they supply components from the warehouse. Naturally, there is no wholesale purchasing. It will simply be difficult for a swindler to present an invoice if the real cost of spare parts differs from his version.
- Ask for documents confirming the repair. With a list of works, a blue seal and a warranty period.
You can’t trust expensive equipment to strangers—everything needs to be monitored and checked.It is better not to give money without making sure of the quality of the work performed. The ideal option is to use the services of only those masters recommended by close friends and acquaintances.
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Unfortunately, there are plenty of scammers of all kinds in all areas of our lives. However, I would not immediately and unconditionally slander people. We are generally full of “Uncle Vasya” from garages who repair everything and everyone for a pittance, in such a way that then the craftsmen actually have to remodel their collective farm for crazy money. Moreover, often these craftsmen are also not so far removed from the Uncle Van garages, but they work honestly and do everything with high quality. But they are not part of large services, but work on their own behalf at their own peril and risk and in their own good name.
And yet, I personally don’t feel sorry for those clients who, from the very first day, do not read the instructions and do everything so that the equipment breaks down in the near future. If you can be punished financially for this, I don’t hesitate, but I always give instructions on how to handle the equipment.
Yes, I didn’t think that this could happen. Such impudence. I fell for such a scam, now I have no money, no car - it’s broken. And they’re not afraid to go from house to house and do this, those bastards.