Appalling service from E14 Appliance Repairs and Air-Conditioning

Justin told me he was sure he had the right boot to replace the moldy boot in my Hisense washing machine. He came with a boot on Monday 6th May 2024, removed the machine’s original boot and replaced it with the boot he brought even though it was clearly the wrong boot and looked nothing like the original boot. He assured me it would be fine. They put a load in and watched it for ten minutes, said everything was fine as it wasn’t leaking, so I paid him R1250 as per his quote and he left. I let the machine run the full cycle and it started leaking ten minutes before the end of the cycle all over the kitchen floor. I immediately messaged him and he assured me he would be there the next morning at 9am to sort it out. I pointed out that it was the wrong boot, and that it was in skew, and that I wanted the correct boot installed as that is what I paid for. I messaged him on Tuesday at 9:30 to see where he was and he told me he couldn’t come because some guys were fetching some stuff. He asked if he could come at 9am on Wednesday. I told him yes as I had no choice. On Thursday he delayed again, telling me he couldn’t make 9am, would come sometime after 11. I couldn’t do that as I had meetings.

I was frustrated and told him if he was going to keep blowing me off and couldn’t get the original boot, I had a different provider who could do it and would service the machine for the same price, so could he please return what I paid as he had broken my machine which has not leaked since I got it, instead of fixing it as promised. He told me the machine needed mew springs and that it wasn’t the boot he had installed that was the problem. I told him that I disagreed with that.

He asked me to give him a time for Friday. We agreed he would come at 9am to sort things. On 10 May he came and he opened the top of the machine, he could see how the machine had leaked all over the towel I put under the machine. I had told him from the start that it was leaking from the middle towards the front of the machine. Again, after telling me they were the professionals, and to let them work, after running the machine while tilting it significantly backwards causing the drum to vibrate a lot more, and then twisting out the feet because “all washing machines should lean backwards”. They put a load on watched it starting to fill up, packed up and left after telling me that he would source the original boot to replace the one he put in and that if it leaked I must take videos and photos and send it to him. It leaked at exactly the same point in the cycle and so I did as requested and sent footage at 10:41.

On Tuesday 14th May 2024, I messaged him asking for a way forward as I had not heard back from him. On Wed 15 May I messaged him again following up, and laying out two options - that he bring and install the correct original part from the supplier as it was available or he pays my R1250 back for failure to provide the promised service and breaking my machine and I would get someone else to fix it.

Ge told me he had flu which is why he hadn’t responded yet I’d seen him on whatsapp regularly between Friday and that morning when I followed up again. He told me they had been back at his cost and the machine didn’t leak while they were there and that he would phone around to suppliers to find the boot.

He also told me to stop being rude.

I was never rude, I asked for communication, and for the service I paid him for to be done, and the damage to the machine caused by the incorrect installation to be repaired. He should not be telling me he did me a favour coming out when he broke my machine by installing the wrong part.

On Friday 17th of May, a full 11 days after he installed the wrong boot, caused my machine to leak (causing who knows what additional damage) he told me that he had not had a reply from the shop in town and that I must look for the right part myself.

I was naturally very angry at that suggestion, and told him so and sent him my backing details, insisting that he refund me so I could get it properly fixed.

If you tell a client you can replace a part on their machine, and you can see before you remove the part that they are not compatible, you should immediately say “I’m sorry I was hoping this was the right part but it isn’t so I can’t do the job”. You don’t go ahead and then cause damage to the machine.

Bear in mind he had multiple photos of the original boot and the exact model number of the machine before he started. A quick google search will also show you where to get the part and what the correct one looks like.

You should not leave your client without a safely working machine for two weeks, nor should you make out that she’s being rude, mansplain her and make like she’s stupid and can’t tell it was a botched installation.

I had a second provider come round on Saturday and after inspecting the installation stated the new boot was not aligned when it was installed which is the first problem, told me the machine should be level not tilting back, and after aligning that boot to see if it could maybe work and seeing it leak exactly as I said it did, ordered the correct boot which will be fitted today as we waited for the stock from the factory. He is going to do a service on the machine too as part of his service and says that should always be done when opening machines up and identifying problems.

He agrees that unless the drum is removed, you can’t see where it is leaking internally, which was never done by Justin.

To date Justin has not refunded my money nor made further attempts to fix what he broke or communicated further. I only give 1 star because zero is not an option.

I have saved all comms, everything here is fact based. I am now having to pay a second provider to fix this mess, the same rate Justin charged me, potentially more if further damage was caused. Use him at your own risk.