The interior lights in our GE Profile fridge kept flickering on and off. I called the company that GE subcontracts their Warranty work to (Mabe Canada), and was told it was past the warranty date. I asked if they could recommend an appliance repair company in Oakville. They gave me two names, one of which was Les, owner of KCL. Over the phone, I was very emphatic that if the fridge had to be moved, he could not damage the solid oak hardwood floor underneath (new, in mint condition). He said he had a 'slider' to protect the floor. He showed up for the appointment without a slider. When I asked about the slider he said a previous customer 'would not return it'. That seemed weird. He diagnosed the problem and said he had to completely replace the 'mother board' (needed to move the fridge). He had the part in his truck and asked if he could do the replacement without the slider. I said absolutely not since there was no slider and the floor could not be damaged. (Should have realized he was not listening to me and really didn't care.) So he came back two days later with a 'slider'. It looked pretty flimsy and dirty (mistake #1) and I asked if it would protect the floor. He said yes the slider would be fine, "but there are no guarantees". He did not have me empty the fridge (mistake #2), and I watched him move the fridge using the slider. The wheels never left the slider, so I felt pretty good. He called to me after he was done, and asked if I wanted 'the good news or the bad news'. The slider had not stopped the fridge wheels from gouging the floor. There were two perfect parallel channels/divots across the floor where the wheels had tracked! I was furious. He was completely calm, shrugged his shoulders and said, "You can claim it on your house insurance". My husband is in the insurance industry, and I knew we would only make a claim for something serious. I said he should claim it on his insurance, and he refused. Said he never guaranteed there would not be damage. He took no responsibility for what he did. And he wanted to be paid! I said no way until we found out what it would cost to repair the floor. He agreed to return the cost of the replacement part, but I knew it would cost more for the repair. So we gathered all the information and got quotes to fix it. We had to buy a carton of hardwood ($120 - not a perfect match as they don't make the same premium grade anymore), get quotes from repair people ($500 - $800 depending how many boards are replaced), and we have to hire a specialty moving company to move the fridge out and back in (est. $500) because the hardwood repair people will not take the responsibility. This is well over $1,500.00 with taxes! When we told Les the total estimated cost he refused to pay anymore than the $408.00 we paid for the repair. Les claimed he had never had this problem in decades of doing this, but he was so calm and quick to tell me to claim it on my insurance, I doubt that is true. And now I know why he made sure to say there were no guarantees. But I trusted him as an experienced professional that he would not take any chances damaging the floor knowing how adamant I was about communicating my expectations from the beginning. My husband tried to reason with him and asked him to put it through his insurance, but he refused. Then he got nasty saying it was a cheap floor, so it was our fault.
I tried to contact a senior person at Mabe Canada where I originally got his name from. I could not get access to anyone. I even tried the BBB in the Maritimes where they are based. All I wanted to do was get them to take KCL off their recommended vendor list to spare other people the heartache, stress, and expense of what we have been through. Watch out for this guy!!
