An appliance repair man has been here for over an hour to replace

[mnhtnbb]

the control board for my oven. He can't get the screws back into the holes to reconnect
the top to the range. He's dropped screws inside the stove, on the floor, and has taken two breaks.

I'm going nuts! If I can get him out of here, I'm calling his employer to complain.

:argh:

[mnhtnbb]

1. It took 5 minutes to unplug the control board and plug the new one in.

How can it take --going on 1 1/2 hours-- to remove screws and put them back?

[Kali]

2. here, let me help you with that

get him out of there - do it yourself, I wouldn't pay for the extra time - sure the call, but he is milking the job unless your oven is warped out of shape or something insane

[mnhtnbb]

3. Guess what? The control panel still doesn't work and now I have to call

a factory authorized repair service--only 1 in the entire Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area--to come out
and 'diagnose' the problem and request more parts!

[Kali]

4. I sure feel for you

I have a defective stove too

could be one of 4 things - 3 cost $100 for the parts and the other is the control panel - mine is $200 I think.

Due to location (and expired warantee) I have to do it myself. Just don't feel like playing the $100 lottery for a $400 stove.

[mnhtnbb]

5. Mine is under warranty for the parts--only 1 year old--but not service calls.

[TrogL]

6. Then the guy's milking the service call for all he can get

If he's that bad, he probably needs the work.

Any repairman I've had onsite lately has wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible so as to get to the next job.

[mnhtnbb]

7. I think he's just inept. He only charged me for the original service call.

[MajorChode]

9. Sometimes the control boards aren't exactly compatible

Manufacturers are constantly updating their models (adding more features, etc.). As such the control boards are updated and the older control boards are discontinued. It's possible they put an older control board in your oven that wasn't 100% compatible (I found that one out the hard way).

[MajorChode]

8. Most modern ovens really piss me off

I had to replace the control board and the cooling fan in my oven. The cooling fan cools the electronics. When it goes out, you don't know it and the electronics burns up, so then you have to replace both the fan and the board. The parts alone generally run north of $200 (at least for my oven), and that's doing a lot of searching for the cheapest price.

My grandma's oven lasted for 50 some years and never needed a major repair, ever. She used it almost every day. Everything about it was mechanical. My oven has electronics and it didn't last 5 years before I had a major repair. If you have electronics, generally you must have a fan which is mechanical and involves moving parts which wear out. Who would have thunk that electronics + heat is not a good idea?

If you want an oven that doesn't have electronics, you are talking about a commercial grade oven (even some of those have electronics) and the cost is much more. All to get the same reliability that my grandma's oven had some 70-80 years ago.

[mnhtnbb]

10. I looked and looked for a mechanical --no touch pad--range

when I bought this one a year ago. That's right. The range is only one year old. I had heard
years ago from an older appliance repair person to stay away from electronic parts and to buy mechanical,
low end cost, for any appliance. He is being proved right.

[jmowreader]

11. Well, you could try an Aga...

Aga: simple as an anvil and made exactly like one.