Super Kent the Service Guy! To the rescue!

Hey, Bud! You need a door to go with this refrigerator!

How many times has this happened to you? An appliance breaks, you call the service line, and a service technician is booked to arrive "sometime between 8 and 12", only to show up just after lunch around 1 o'clock, and missing the part needed to finish the repair. Sound all too familiar? Well, that's why I feel compelled to share my very non-cliché experience yesterday with Super Kent the Service Guy.

Here's the back-story. The hinge on the door to my pricey, two years old, stainless fridge had gone bad. The bushing on the bottom, which rides on the hinge and handles the balance of the door so that it closes by itself, had come loose. It seems that this little silicon piece screws directly into the plastic frame on the underside of the door. Over time, a stress fracture had appeared in the plastic and the result is that the door would bind when you open or close it, giving a great THUMP! Not healthy for either the door or the hinge. Having gone online and finding the explosion diagram (the picture that shows you all of the parts and numbers) it was evident that there was no replacing the plastic frame and that a new door would be required - to the tune of €400!!!

I was ready for a fight. Phrases like, "design flaw", "factory reject", and "consumer rights", all danced in my head. So, like any good customer, I rang up the service number and booked a time for a tech to come and "have a look at the door".  He would be by on Tuesday "between 8 and 12". So, here's the good part. I'm home yesterday afternoon (Monday) working in my home office, when the phone rings. It's Kent, the service tech. He's in the area and wonders if he could come by a day early and have a look at the door. "Sure", I say. "Come on by. I'm here till four". "Ten minutes", says Kent.

Nine minutes later Kent the service guy is at my door. After accepting a cup of coffee he begins to evaluate my busted hinge (on the door). After Kent quickly and deftly lifts out the door inserts without spilling a drop of milk or dropping an egg, he draws his power-drive and unscrews the door from the hinge. With several small bits of black plastic tumbling onto the floor we concur that the plastic is indeed cracked and that the only solution is a new door. "They're pretty expensive", Kent informs me. Duh! So what next?

Before I could even start to wind up all of my complaints Kent says, "I have a new one out in the truck." and off he goes. Ten minutes later there's a new door hanging, Kent has cleaned up, and we're drinking a quick cup of coffee. "Is that under guarantee?" I ask. "Yeah, no worries." says Kent. (note to self: close mouth)  I signed the service order with great big THANKS! at the bottom.

So there we stand, sipping coffee, talking about all the hi-tech kit going into household appliances like LCD touch screens and M2M communications that let you control your fridge from your mobile phone. It's apparently hard for Super Kent and his colleagues to keep up on everything. It's not about just changing a hose or a water pump any longer; soon these service reps will need to be network technicians as well. They do their best, however and sometimes - even a day early. We wrapped up our chat and Kent was on his way to a family of seven that needed their washing machine fixed. He was of course a day ahead of schedule and had a new machine in the truck.

I haven't named the manufacturer, and that is with reason. I wanted to first and foremost give recognition and credit to Super Kent who saved my day in so many ways. It's the people that are in the trenches and meet the customer every day that build the brand. They are the reputation. They are the growth in a saturated market. I know exactly which brand I will be buying when I need to replace the dryer in a few months. Super Kent the Service Guy should get a commission.