Appliance Repairman

My experience with the Appliance Repairman company is a story of holding a damaged washer machine as hostage and asking for ransom to make it usable again.
Our washing machine stopped agitating the clothes for washing. We called the Appliance Repairman and they sent Tony as an expert to fix it. Tony examined the machine and gave a diagnostic of a part to be replaced to make it run again. The price for the part and labor totaled $457.65.
The price for a new machine of same brand and similar model was about $600.00, but I naively believed Tony’s argument that old appliances are much more durable than those recently manufactured. Fixing the one I had would make it work longer than a new one would. I wanted to get the problem solved quickly and authorized the repair.
After replacing the broken part and doing some “wiring and motor service”, Tony put the machine to work with a light load of clothes. When the agitating stage of the washing cycle started, all seemed fine. Tony said he couldn’t wait for the complete cycle to finish because it was long and he had many other customers to service. Since the washer was properly agitating the clothes, Tony asked me to sign the papers stating that the machine had been repaired, which I signed, and also asked me to pay for the repair. Tony said his collecting machine was blocked for credit cards, so I had to use my debit card.
When Tony and his assistance were storing their tools and preparing to leave, smoke started to come out of the washer. Tony opened the washer again and said the motor was burned and needed to be replaced as well. The estimated cost for that was about $500 more.
I argued that I had paid the amount asked to have my washer fixed. I did my part of the agreement. But Appliance Repairman did not, since the washer was not fixed and ready for use. After some inconclusive discussions, Tony and his assistance got their tools and quickly went away. Telephone calls to the Appliance Repairman Co. were also unfruitful, as the representative simply repeated the same requirement of additional payment to have the washer fixed, with no guaranty that the next payment would ensure complete resolution of the problem.
We felt we had our washer held as hostage and a ransom was being asked to release it to work again. We decided to buy a new washer.
I wish I had checked the HomeStars website, that shows 436 reviews of the Applied Repairman company with an average customer rating of only 0.7 on a scale of 0-10.