Dell’s Appliance Sales & Service

I’ve used them many times, for both my own unit and downstairs, for sixteen years. They’ve been absolutely consistently excellent. They always arrive on time, give a fair and honest estimate, have told me when it would be more reasonable to replace an appliance than repair it, and have done excellent repairs over the years. They’ve repaired several dishwashers, washers and dryers and my ‘fridge. They’re the greatest IMO.

I scheduled a washer checkup. On the phone, I was told the rate should be 85 dollars for the first check up. The guy arrived on time. The only thing he did was to open the washer door and closed it. There was no taking apart the cover or anything more than opening the door. He told me the door was broken. I asked him whether he checked the board because I also mentioned that the washer cannot complete a washing cycle. He told me he needs to fix the door lock first before he can check other issues. It would be 330. He charged 130 for the first check. He also tried to charge us for the valet parking downstairs.
The total time he spent was 16 minutes. 20 minutes parking according to the valet.
I called the company later for the rate. I was then told that they charge 100 to show up after the guy on the phone put me on mute and talked to the engineer who came over. And they also charged additional 60 dollars per hour. The time gets round up to 30 minutes. I do not like the fact they don’t stick to the price. I also do not like the fact that right before the guy left, he said we had to pay for the additional valet parking. Moreover, we paid Additional service hour fee while he didn’t take apart anything.
I am also confused that how he spent the time here if the door lock was broken. I knew that from the very beginning by opening the door. He didn’t check anything else, either.
Last time I had the pump fixed from Dell’s about three months ago. It was 260 in total and now it takes 330 dollars to get the door lock replaced? I am not sure about this part, I am open to advice.
I just sense that each technician charges whatever they can charge. There is no standards or management from the company, so if there is a complaint, you are on your own.
I read all the review here. I guess the experience may depend on each technician. Well, mine is not called Steve.

Solid 3 – 4. I’ve used them twice; once to put replace a garbage disposal unit that died (and put in a new one) and the other was to fix a dryer and connect it to the wall. I think I asked them for plumbing, but they told me that wasn’t what they did.
So – pros:
— thought they were competent
— pretty efficient at their work
— made an estimate and stuck to it
— were friendly
— told me what they could and could not do
— didn’t have a problem with their work
— they’ll bring tools and parts (so you don’t have to own all these)
However, cons:
— they are a tad expensive (I think I first used them in 2008 and 2009, and it was between $ 80 – 100 an hour back then)
— they won’t tell you how you might do it yourself for less money
— have a minimum
So for instance, to replace my garbage disposal, I think it ran about $ 300 (including the new unit, which was less than $ 100).
Yes, it was my first time owning an apartment and I didn’t realize that there are tons of youtube videos (now) as well as diagrams and whatever that you can google.
If there was a half-​star rating, I’d give them a 3.5. So they’re good and competent, I wouldn’t say I’m a fan.

When our dishwasher broke, Dell’s was able to schedule a repair visit for the morning after our call, and with a window of only 1 hour instead of the normal 4 hours that many outfits quote. The repairman was prompt, had all the tools and parts needed for the job, and fixed the dishwasher incredibly fast. I recommend Dell’s enthusiastically.

These guys saved me time and money! The top shelves of my refrigerator started accumulating water. I tried adjusting the temp levels and hoping problem would just fix itself. I called Dell’s and they told me I needed to unplug and defrost the fridge for 24 hrs. Did it. Problem solved. Brilliant. Thank you Dell!

These guys are fantastic.
Over the years, I’ve had them come in to look at my oven, to fix (and, eventually, to replace) my dishwasher, and to fix my dryer. Each time the service is prompt and professional, and the prices are reasonable (expect a minimum of ~$ 100/​visit, plus parts). When they fix a part, it stays under warranty from them for a year — which they’re conscientious about. At one point the guy who installed my dishwasher was having a hard time getting it to stay in the oversized slot it has to fit into — he came back three times, each time with successively better hardware — to make sure it stuck firmly.
They’re a real neighborhood gem. I’m glad I found them.

Dells appliance repair are quick and available. They however are expensive, and their attention to detail is not great. After repairing a belt in our clothes washing machine, it began to make a lot of noise. Upon our inspecting it, we realized that they had not refastened 6 of the 8 screws which hold the cover over the machine. When we tried to move the machine away from the wall, the cover bent, and it is very difficult to move the machine at all, with the cover on it loose. We won’t call them again.

First Ken came to fix my noisy dryer. He let me watch everything and encouraged me that I could do it myself one day (not gonna try that! but he’s right it is relatively easy) part kit 80 bucks, labor 160. less Angie’s coupon. He couldn’t help with the non lighting gas burner on the stove so in the next few days I get sent Larry (the guys each take on different roles) and my sealed burners were too filthy to repair. He really tried, including letting me reach my smaller hand under the cook top to unplug the electric to the burner ignitor. Because he couldn’t repair it there was NO CHARGE. thanks Dell! I will be calling you again… probably for the washer next!

I could copy and paste Lance M’s review — it says it all. To the person whose appt. Dells missed due to computer error, you not forgiving this glitch hurts you way more than Dells — you’ll do yourself a favor to reconsider next time you need an appliance repaired — these guys are the best.

The folks at Dell’s appliance are the last of the rare breed of honest local professional service. Steve fixed my Maytag dishwasher with a minor adjustment and did not try to sell me any expensive parts; he arrived right on time, even though I made him wait while driving to meet him. I am now a customer for life…

When my oven broke I called these guys. They came out and told me I needed a fan blower and a thermostat, and they had to order them. I waited until they finally got them, and they said they’d come a few days later, but they wouldn’t commit to a firm time. I couldn’t wait around for them, and went out and must have just missed their tech, because when I came home there was a nasty message from the boss saying the tech had come – without calling ahead.
When the tech came back, he was surly: angry that he had to remove the oven from the wall (had he never encountered this situation? how else could he fix it?) and spent 10 minutes grunting and sighing in my direction while banging the oven around.
The bill for parts and labor came to $ 388.00.
After he left I noticed that in his banging he had broken the glass in the oven’s window. Not only that, but the new thermostat has never worked: when I open the oven door, the temperature drops 50−100° and takes 10 minutes to return.
I called the boss and he argued with me, saying it wasn’t their fault – that the glass broke from the heat of the oven. (How does the heat of an oven break glass specially made for an oven?) He offered to install the part, but not to pay for it. He would not address the defective thermostat: he basically said, that’s how it works, like it or leave it.
I decided not to allow these guys back in my home, and you shouldn’t either. I heard the Home Depot does appliance repairs, and I called them for the replacement glass. They charged $ 54.00, while Dell’s had quoted me $ 84.23 plus labor. I ended up spending an afternoon taking apart the oven door to install the glass that Dell’s broke.
The thermostat still doesn’t hold the temperature.
If I had known Dell’s «repair» would cost $ 388 (plus the price of the new glass,) I would have thought twice about investing that much in a 7 year-​old oven. Instead, Dell’s took my money, were rude to me, and left me with an oven that still doesn’t work.
I prefer to use small, independent, local companies, but I’ll never call Dell’s again.

Our oven recently broke so we called Dell’s. We were able to get an appointment pretty quickly. They came on time. The repair man was great. Figured out what was wrong within 20 minutes. They ordered the part i needed and the oven was fixed within a few days. The prices are reasonalbe and they are very friendly. We will definatly use them again if we need to.

$ 70 for a under 10 minute service call seems more than a bit steep for me. To be fair though, the technician did give what seemed to be a fair estimate of the expense of repair versus the expense of buying. Still, next time I’ll call my stepfather or figure out how to diagnose the problem myself rather than shelling out $ 70 for very little.

I am in the middle of trying to get Dell Appliance to fix my dryer. A technician came out on a Wednesday and said that our control board needed to be replaced. The visit was $ 70 and with parts and labor the whole thing would be more than $ 300. We decided to do it and they came back on a Friday with the part and intalled it. When I came home, there was no note, no invoice — no nothing. I called and they said it had been fixed. When we tried to use the dryer over the weekend, it had exactly the same problems.
So, I call on sunday and leave a message. On Monday, I’m at work and get a voicemail from the technician saying he tried to get in to the basement and it was locked. Ummmmm. That’s because i didn’t know you were coming!
So, they come back tuesday. I come home to a note on the dryer saying «don’t use the low setting». I call — they give me some explanation about the button sticking and if I just don’t use that I should be fine. BUT, the machine was left on the low setting so you can’t use it. They tell me to unplug it and plug it back in and it should be fine, but that doesn’t work.
I call on thursday and arrange for them to come back on Friday. I come home on Friday and nothing has been done. I call and they said they stopped by twice and they couldn’t get in. I ask them why they didn’t call me when they couldn’t get in and he says «not sure».
They come back the next day, do exactly the same thing and surprise, surprise — it still doesn’t work.
Almost two weeks, $ 300 and no working dryer. Now I am fighting with them to get a refund. I am not impressed.

I’ll probably never hire these guys again.
Our fridge broke in September 2010. The refrigerator section stopped working. Dell’s fixed it, and charged us $ 180. I believe they said it was something having to do with the thermostat — I will check my original bill and update this review. We thought it was a bit on the expensive side, but it was an almost brand-​new fridge, and we figured it was worth the investment.
Then in very very early January 2011, it broke again. Same issue — fridge section stopped working, freezer was working fine. We called Dell’s again, and they came to evaluate the fridge. They said that this time, it was the thermostat (again) and the heater (I have the bill right in front of me), and charged us $ 60 for the evaluation alone.
Of course, we *assumed* that they would provide some sort of guarantee of their work in September — we were experiencing the same external symptoms, and if they ‘fixed’ it only 3 – 4 months before and did their job right, nothing should have broken, and they should guarantee their work and not charge us to fix what they ‘fixed’ before.
Or, if there was something *else* wrong, given that the symptoms and causes were both the same the 2^nd time around (waiting to double check my first bill), plus given the fact that it was only 3 – 4 months later, the tech should have seen the problem the first time he looked at the fridge, and fixed it then. And if due to either oversight or negligence, they didn’t, WE should not be charged for the labor — although we would have been happy to pay for any parts. But I think that in order to compensate for their oversight the first time around, and the inconvenience it caused us (hello, rotting food), they should have made the labor free. And the evaluation being free should be a given.
Well, I called Dell’s, and the owner was absolutely unsympathetic. He didnt even bother to recall the details of the situation and/​or take the time to explain it to me. He just refused and said that there was nothing he could do.
I spoke to a friend of mine who is in refrigeration about this whole mess. (I wish I’d thought to mention it to him to begin with — but I didn’t want to burden the friendship and figured Dell’s would do right by me.) He said to me that these «big guys» usually *want* your appliances to break in order to stay in business.
So of course, if the tech saw something that he could have and should have fixed then, he figured it would be more problematic (ie costly) to wait, and fix it later. At the very least, he gets to charge us another $ 60 for the evaluation ALONE.
Or, how the heck am I supposed to know that the tech himself didn’t do something to sabotage the fridge on purpose, just so he can create more work for himself?!
I am now going to have my friend look into the situation and will update the post once he does.

Based on several glowing reviews that popped up in various online forums, I called Dell’s after Kitchenaid’s preferred service techs said it would be days before they could even diagnose the problem.
Steve from Dell’s came out the next day to diagnose the issue. He ordered the needed parts, came back and had the fridge back up and running like new. During the downtime Steve even gave great tips on how to find and use dry-​ice for a stretch.
The biggest thing was Dell’s had everything working before my would-​be scheduled diagnosis appointment with Kitchenaid’s folks!
So happy to be back out of the stone age and enjoying cold food and drinks again.

We had Dell’s in to repair our washer. They gave us a service appointment the day after we called, and did a perfectly fine job of the repair, as far as we can tell. They came outside the agreed service window, which was somewhat annoying but not tragic. What really troubles me about the repair, however, is that they charged us $ 120 for a part that is $ 70 shipped from Sears. I’d recommend either ordering the parts yourself or at least doing some detailed research before letting them go ahead with the repair.
Part: $ 120
Labor: $ 110 (about 1 hour of work)
Promptness: B–

I had never hired repair for my appliances before, so I was understandably nervous about how much this was going to cost. My dishwasher kicked the bucket, and I had no idea what was wrong. I found a couple good reviews of Dell’s on Unilocal,and decided to give them a try.
Not only did the repairman show up in the designated window (which was only 2 hours, instead of the 4 I’m used to from other services), but he diagnosed the problem quickly and (as it turned out) correctly: I needed a new control board. He called in to the shop, and had them place the order for the part right then, so he was able to bring the part back two days later and my dishwasher has run perfectly since (I waited a month to review so that I knew the repair worked/​lasted). Also, Dell’s only charged me for one service visit: I was sort of expecting to pay for two since they had to come back. The price on the part was competitive with prices I found for buying the part myself online: their markup isn’t bad.
Part: $ 150
two Service visits: $ 110
Courtesy & Promptness: A

We’ve used Dell’s twice in the past year or so, once for a broken washer (the motor burned out) and once for a dishwasher (I won’t go into that, it’s too embarrassing). In both cases, Dell’s showed up on time, solved the problem, charged a reasonable fee, cleaned up after themselves, and were approximately courteous and friendly, by Somerville standards anyway. (The guy who fixed our dishwasher said he’d be skipping lunch, he felt so sickened by what he’d seen, but I can’t hold that against him — I skipped lunch that day as well.)
So I’ll call Dell’s again the next time something breaks.

Dell’s is a find. If you are in their area and need someone to fix any of your major appliances you’ll find that these guys are quick, reliable and do good work.
Nobody greets you with the bright and cheery sales stuff, but they really do work with you and your schedule. You get none of this «we’ll be there in two weeks and call in the morning to let you know if it will be between 6AM and 3PM or between noon and midnight.» I tried Sears and one other independent before Dell’s, but have stuck with Dell’s for years. Their rates are very reasonable. They are so much faster, cheaper and better at getting it done right that when something needs a repair I’m almost glad to know its out of warranty.