A Good Sign: Solomon's Appliance Repair
Solomon's traffics in the obsolete notion that appliances don't have to be thrown away once they break; they can be repaired! I hear Solomon's can fix almost anything. The store is in Bensonhurst in 86st Street near 17th Avenue, and has been around for more than 55 years. The sign features those words you like to see: factory authorized. They're not kidding. Solomon's is a factory service center for about 100 companies, including Black & Decker, Braun, Dirt Devil, Kitchen Aid, Norelco and Waring.
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11 comments:
so my kitchenaid mixer dies.
see, i live in seattle.
it's 3 years out of warranty.
kitchenaid doesn't repair but is willing to sell me a refurb for $299..okay, half price.
i call Solomon's.
"Yeah, send it on over, should be 70 bucks if it's the gear."
i grab a friend who works for fedex, use her for her discount on ground shipping, and send it in.
"35 for diagnosis, 15 for the part, 15 for laybah. Toldya it'd be 70 or so, miss."
my mixer's good as new. they cleaned out the innards, too. so for about 75 bucks including shipping, i can mix with aplomb. thanks, Solomon's.
That's an amazing story, Gwendolyn.
Worst experience of my life. Not only do they only deal in cash, they require a non-refundable $20 deposit for them to even look at your machine.
I asked the guy behind the counter how long it will take for him to fix my espresso maker he says he doesn't like to say. I presume he's been burned before by promising things he can't deliver so I mention that I'd been doing research online about DeLonghi and I hear they are notoriously slow. He actually says to me "You could be an industrial spy, I represent DeLonghi, I love them".
So I begrudgingly leave my espresso maker behind. A week or so goes by and I don't hear from them so I call in. He tells me that if I want him to go ahead with the repair it'll be about $80. I say go ahead. After a month I start calling and checking in. They tell me they're waiting on parts. I ask if they'll call me when it's ready. They say they don't do that. So after unsuccesfully trying to explain the way it works I just reside myself to calling them once a week.
Six weeks after I drop it off I call in and they tell me it's ready. I take the train out to Bensonhurst pick it up, give them cash, take the train back in, get home plug it in to make myself a coffee. The damned thing is still leaking !
I call Solomon's back and the guy on the other end of the phone says "how do we know you didn't damage it yourself on the way home". I couldn't believe it. So after fighting with the guy and him berating me, I ship him back the machine with my receipt expecting them to fix it.
In the meantime I wander over to Bed Bath and Beyond where the machine came from and they said "oh no!! you're not dealing with those #$%^&*!! at Solomon's are you ? Just bring the thing back we'll give you a new one". I didn't even have to mention who I was talking about and they named them. They said they've been hearing horror stories about these guys for years and actually steer their own customers away from buying certain products because Solomon's will have to do the repairs. This has been by far the worst costumer service I've ever experienced, and I LIVE IN NEW YORK !!
So I'm now in the middle of sending Solomon's postage to get my machine back so I can return it to BB&B and get them out of my life !
The worse experience I ever had with any service company is with Solomon's Appliance Center in Brooklyn, NY ll214. October 2007 I brought them my coffee machine Solis Master 5000 Tyoe 511. I had to pay $100.00 Cash charge for the estimate. I was then called with the actual estimate of $450.00 less $100.00 deposit. For 7 1/2months now I am calling Solomon and get the same answer each time. The part has not come in. The part will be shipped when the container is full. Solis no longer makes parts for Solis machines. It is Saeco who supplies parts for Solis. Finally 2 days ago I sent an email to Solis in Switzerland. I received the following answer: "Did you already contact Empire Fulfillment? They should already have received the container with the spare parts. Please check with them again." I called them and spoke to Mack at 877 855 4540 Ext 2. He checked and the Solis Element as well as a Saeco Element are in stock. He recommended only to use the Solis Element for my Solis Coffee machine, even so, Saeco would be almost half the price. I contacted Solomon immediately. I was told, that they ordered the Solis Element directly and it will arrive next week. Today I mailed them a fax and questioned where they ordered the part and how come today I am told the part is in the mail..... Yesterday, I was still told, that the part has not been found. I informed them in my fax, that I will take them to Small Claim Court if within 14 days my machine is not repaired in perfect condition. I received a follow up phone call from Bruce at Solomon asking me to take the machine back as is. I said OK, but I also expect my $100.00 Cash back. No, I will not get the money back. I followed up with an other fax, that I will file a claim in 14 days if the machine is not repaired. I mailed a copy of the faxes to our attorney. Late this afternoon I received a phone call from Bruce, that the machine is ready for pick up... fixed and in perfect working order. Cash balance #374.15. I asked what about the missing part??? it arrived TODAY.......and it is the SOlis ELEMENT. I will pick up the machine Saturday May 17 before 2 PM. I requested a detailed invoice. Please everybody think twice before doing business with Solomon. As a matter of fact, I mentioned today on the phone that I saw the negative message from David of New York. I was told, if I would be a smart lady, I would not read such stupid messages posted on the net.
I will also notify the Better Business Bureau of NY.
I should have been a "smart lady" because at the time when I brought the machine to the Solomon, a elderly couple complained bitterly about the problem they are having with Solomon. They came a long distance to pick up their machine, and it was not ready after month and month of waiting. I also warn everybody, that Solomon is almost impossible to get a hold of on the telephone. If some one finally answers, one has to leave a call back number.... the call back never comes............ judge for yourself...and make a wise decision of never do business with Solomon.
The ugly situation with Solomon had a happy ending. My appology and my wish I could undo the previous comments. Yes, I lost my temper after a 7 months long wait.
Thank you Solomon.
Thank you again Solomon. My Solis Coffee Machine works better then when it was new. The brew comes out piping hot now. A perfect cup of coffee. We all should realize, the difficulties Solomon faces to receive parts for appliances. We all should be as patient as Bruce. I enjoyed talking to you when I picked up my machine. I now realize the patience you have to deal with difficult and demanding customers like me.
I was surprised to read David's negative comments because of my very positive experience with Solomon's (and because I can't believe Bed Bath & Beyond, like other big chains, gives a rat's ass about anything it sells after it they've gotten paid for it and it leaves the store). But anyway....
My beloved, 40-year-old Hamilton Beach kitchen mixer was acting badly (if I tried to mix heavy batter with it, it would start smoking, smelling like it was going to catch fire, and making grinding noises). Not only do I love the way it looks and its tremendous heft, but I wasn't looking forward to dropping $350+ on a new mixer, especially since most of them, even at that price, are pretty disposable.
So I was really happy to discover that somebody nearby actually fixes this old stuff, and that they were totally professional. Took my mixer head into them, and the guy at the counter told me right up front that the estimate was $25, stressing that it was non-refundable, and asking me if I was sure that I was willing to risk losing that money. In fact, he was so adamant about warning me that I was sure the mixer was going to be a goner. But I figured, what the heck.
Fortunately, they called me a week later and said they could overhaul the motor, and that should fix the problem. The cost was $105 minus my $25 deposit, which I considered very reasonable. I told them to go ahead, and a couple weeks later they called, telling me to come pick it up. That was a few weeks ago.
I've been happily mixing since then, the old girl seems to be as good as new, and I'm looking forward to another 40 happy years. By the way, their repairs are guaranteed for 90 days. One last bulwark against the complete triumph of the disposable society. Thanks, Solomon's!
The worst. You can never get a straight answer from this guy. It may or may not be ready next week. He may or may not have the parts. It may cost you one price but it may be another. And so on and so on.
VERY UNSATISFIED CUSTOMER
Solomon's is too old-fashioned and way too pushy! Beware, no free estimates ($30 non-refundable) and repairs are too over-priced!
I have to agree with some of the comments here, but they do have a great selection of parts that you probably will not find anywhere else all in one place. The man that helped me did have "character", but not necessarily in a bad way if you know how to handle it. Superficially, he might seem a bit meddlesome, but then I came to recognize that his definition of being honest is to be over-protective and not have me spend on anything unnecessarily. Where some people might regard him as impertinent, I considered him confident, which I suppose comes with being extremely knowledgable and having years of experience with small appliance repair. As far as him not allowing testing of his repairs in the shop, I would not know about that. He did test my cutting assembly with water to test for leakage right then and there, but it was not a repair. I would agree that I would not be too pleased if I could not test a repair before walking out of his shop, but I am sure that that is something that can be arranged before agreeing to hire his services. However one wants to regard him, one thing I noticed is certain: he is bold, and will be very straight forward with any information he provides. Which again I do not necessarily think is a bad thing, unless you have difficulty handling those personalities. As for me, I thought of him as refreshing and was very pleased with his help, and will be returning to Salomon's next time I require their services.
Great Place,
did a fine job on my mixer. I read some of the other comments and I am really surprised! I am sure for those people who are working no-one does it for free!
An estimate is done by taking the machine apart and seeing what are the issues and then putting it back together again, that takes time! Which means money.
A great place Jason
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