Totem Appliance & Refrigeration Ltd

Called them 3 weeks ago because my main oven wasn’t working. The first tech came amd broke the griddle ( remember issue is the main oven )and then a second tech came 1 week later because the first one never gave it’s report back. I have been waiting for the quote from the second tech 4 days . Then call them back today and apparently the parts I need are discontinued . So I called the manufacturer... guess what ?! The parts are in stock !! Call back Totem appliances and now the supervisor John is telling me that the boss ( who he is not allowed to tell the name and phone number) told him that they wouldn’t fix my oven and or give me any kind of compensation for the broken griddle because it was a too complicated situation! HA !!! You must be joking John I said ! Mmmmm no I am not he replied that’s what the boss said !!! I wonder how these guys are still in business!? I gave one star because you have to or else it would be a zero !!!!!!!!! Do yourself a favor , don’t hire them !

Washer machine serviced. Technician while servicing poured water out into a turkey pot & water flooded into the floors and came poured through celing
Gagan was the technician. He poured water stuck in the machine into a turkey pot (not sure why he thought this was a good idea). We offered to get him help 3 times with someone to help him. Gagan declined the assistance all three times. He proceeded to empty the machine and water poured out all over the floors. It then leaked downstairs and water was pouring out of the light fixtures and ceilings getting all over our floors furniture and counters. The rep admitted fault (on a recorded call) and said that Totem has insurance and accepts responsibility for the accident and would talk to his manager and get back to us. Its now been over a week no word. VERY unprofessional. I called the Head Office in Calgary and spoke to a call center lady who also wasnt helpful. She said there was no manager on and no way to get a hold of them. I asked if they could call their cell or email them and she said she wont due to it being Friday. Again terrible service. Was told a manager would call me back on Monday. That was over a month ago! We want a claim filed through their insurance the insurance company details provided and a restoration company sent out to our house to do an estimate and evaluation on the damage.

Unfortunately somethings never change - please read my most recent review.
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Below was my initial review of Totem. However after I posted my review management did contact me and apologized for the poor service as well as fully refunded me everything I paid. As a customer I consider that an honorable thing to do from a business and show that they do stand behind their service.
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I had an issue with a Beaumark dryer that made loud noises every time I used it. I scheduled a service call and technician came by the first time and didn’t check the dryer but assumed it needed a roller. He came back for a second visit with the roller but Discovered That this Model Does Not Have Rollers. So only changed the dryer belt, inspite of the fact that he had it on him all along at the first visit. He charged me for 2 visits inspite of the fact that he said that he will only charge me for 1 visit. $268.26 later for replacing a belt that cost $10 & the dryer is not repaired and made the same noise!!
I called Totem and explained what happened and here is what receptionist who was super unfriendly told me :-
1. Sorry the technician made the wrong diagnosis but we still have to charge you for 2 visits
2. We guarantee our work for 30 days only so yes we will send you the Same Technician again but if he finds out that it’s a different problem we will charge you again for his visit !

To summarize they will charge me for every visit regardless; even if the Technician makes the wrong diagnosis every time! I asked to talk to the manager, she said I can’t but she will talk to him and get back to me. She came back saying the same thing.
At this point I decided to end the bleeding and I called an another service company who did look at the machine before deciding what was wrong. Ordered the parts needed and the dryer is repaired!

The tech arrived and it was an easy fix. It only took one hour to do the entire repair. The repair involved easily replacing the heating element which was a part that could just be snapped out and replace with a new one much like you would replace your smoke detector. I was charged their minimum one hour diagnostic charge plus an additional hour. The cost of labour was $245. The part was $113. I also spent time helping him turn the power on and off so he didn’t have to go up and down two flights of stairs. Anyway I feel I was overcharged beyond belief for the labor. I will not be using their services again. It would make more sense to take that money and have my appliances replaced .

Guess what folks, the washer died two weeks ago and I replaced everything with top of the line appliances. I will never use Totem Appliances again. The dryer I paid to have fixed it now junked. Lessons learned....

Charge me $600 to fix the washer and labour for 45 minutes for the labour $400 then the washer didn't even get fixed I had to go to the laundromat on the weekend because they have no weekend service. Don't give them your money rip off

Had the service guy come out, he was very friendly, efficient, and on time. I would recommend them to anyone with a Samsung fridge, as they can be difficult to fix. This was under warrenty so price is not accurate.

This is one of only 2 companies that services Samsung fridges. They were able to have a tech come out the same day my fridge went down. Unfortunately, they did not have the parts in stock and had to return another day. The first diagnosis was incorrect as after 12 hours my fridge stopped working again. It would have been better for them to try multiple swaps of parts to rule out certain issues, as in all they had to make a total of 4 trips to my place.

However, I am still giving them a 4 out of 5 as the tech did everything to ensure the costs were minimal and answered a lot of technical questions I had. Also, the second time my fridge stopped working they sent a tech the same day again.

The service charge is higher than some of the other companies but I don't mind this because it means that I was not charged additionally for their returning visits and labor is not billed by the hour but by job. So even though the first diagnosis was incorrect, which I think was somewhat unavoidable due to the unusual root cause of my fridge issue, I did not incur any extra charges.

The service charge is good for 30 days - so if something goes faulty in the meantime and they need to return you don't pay more which is great because I don't feel like I'm being taken advantage of on cost of labor.

The tech was very courteous and would phone me in the morning to let me know when they would arrive. He also made a very appreciated effort to come back as soon as possible knowing that I have a medical condition that makes not having a fridge very difficult.

Only negative is that they don't service on the weekends so would be a pain if you have to take time off work to stay home.

WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!!!! Never purchase or have anything serviced by these people. Was charged $425 for a new machine that was still under warranty. The service man came to my house 5 times for a brand new machine and still never fixed it. WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!!! I called Frigidaire myself and they said all parts covered for 2 years. They did not tell me the truth and said the company didn't cover them, but said they were going to talk to Frigidaire to try to cover them, but Frigidaire told me they never had anyone from Totem call about this appliance because they track all calls with the serial # of the appliance. So they never called Frigidaire and then just charged my Visa a month later without calling me or emailing me, zero follow up, not even calling me back on my messages. I put in a request to talk to a manager twice, and they said sure I will get him to contact you and no one called me back EVER. Worst service of my entire life. I also found out that the machine could have been warrantied after the second visit. Now I am stuck with a new machine that STILL does not work and a charge on my Visa of $425. I had to call them to send me a copy of the receipt because I never even got one, and now I have to try and work with Frigidaire to try and get a refund of the parts that were charged to me that should ever have been. At least Frigidaire was good to see that Totem totally messed up and are trying to make it somewhat right. DO yourselves a huge favour and never ever use this company.

My fridge was picking up ice last December. It cost $180 to have a tech even look at the appliance. I agreed and asked if they would look at a problem with my dishwasher while they were here. Only if I paid another $180 dollars even though the technician would already be here. I bought a new dishwasher as it would have been cheaper if it needed much repair.

It took almost three months before they could look at my fridge including defrosting it twice. After following their instructions the top of my fridge was completely melted and they refused to fix it or even acknowledge it was they had any fault at all.

I paid $800 for their tech to come out and spend a couple of hours on my fridge. It is eight months later and the ice is building again. It was not repaired at all, it just took this long for the ice to build up again.Totem wants another $180+ dollars to even look at it and refuses to acknowledge that it is the same problem.

I have never written a review before but felt this is such a brutal company, it borders on criminal.

Absolutely the worst customer service. job was not done correctly, they don`t care about their customers. The lady on the phone even told me ``if I don`t like it go somewhere else``. even though they charged me for a job they didn't complete.

* I would recommend anybody but this company. Absolutely terrible! If I could give 0 or negative stars I would *

i called to have washer repaired in October and it took until Dec. 12 to get part and fixed. In May it broke down again, had them out to fix, same problem but NO LONGER UNDER WSRRANTY 30 DAYS on parts, if part was new why such a short warranty. I don't think it was diagnosed correctly the first time. cant afford to throw good money with expensive company. what is the advantage.