AK

My LG fridge stopped cooling so I called an appliance repair company on August 16th 2022. They told me they were booked up but said they will see if they can squeeze me in. I got called back and they said the technician will arrive around 1pm. Soon the technician arrives and says his name is Tom from RA Appliance Repair, he said he works with the company I initially called sometimes as they send him business. Ok fine, he starts diagnosing the fridge and tells me that it might be the control board that is fried, he then asks if the compressor is still under warranty, I told him yes, he then says he will make a call to his supplier so he goes out to his car. He comes back and says yeah the control board is fried and that they can order one but it will take 2-3 weeks as they need to contact LG to build a completely new board since this one is not made anymore and its on back order. It was a bit suspicious that only after he confirmed the warranty he confirmed it was the control board, but I digress. He charged me $123.17 for the diagnostic and then says it will be $429 for the parts and then $280 for the labour and that he needs a $400 deposit to make the order on the part. I said ok and sent him the deposit. Since we need a fridge I was forced to buy a small mini fridge to get us by for the next 3 weeks. After 3 weeks I called him and he said the part was still not ready, so my wife calls him and he says to her that he never told me 2-3 weeks he said 4-6. I specifically remember it being 2-3 weeks since it was written on the initial invoice he supplied me, but since i never saved it, it got overwritten with the $400 deposit I made so I could not find the original invoice. So fine, ok MAYBE I heard him wrong we will wait the 6 weeks now. But I cant go without a fridge for that long so now we buy another full size fridge as a backup since this is taking way too long. After the 6 weeks, we call him, again he says its not ready but hes on his way to the supplier and he will follow up and call me back. Of course he never calls me back so I call him the next day he said its still not ready and then tells me if we dont get it by end of this week we can get a refund on the deposit. End of week comes, no part, no communication from Tom. I call him again no answer, call again tells me he will call back. Never does. Finally get a hold of him and he tells me lets just wait another week and if nothing he will do the refund. Of course theres no part at the end of the week so I call him but still cant get a hold of him. I called the initial company that sent him and explained the situation and they were very accommodating and helpful in trying to get a hold of Tom and to tell him to initiate my refund. So finally on November 1st (it has now been almost three months since Tom placed the order for the part) I get a hold if him and he says he will start the refund process and it should take 2-3 days. Of course no communication from him for 3 days, I call him on Friday November 4th and he says hes still waiting for the refund? How does it take this long to get a refund and cancel something? So I called the initial company again and told them they need to deal with this guy to get me my money back asap because this is absolutely ridiculous at this point. So FINALLY on November 11th I get my money back only after the initial company apparently threatened to sue him. Apparently I wasnt the only dissatisfied customer he was jerking around (not surprising). But still I have a broken fridge, and just to remind you Tom began his diagnosis on August 16th. I called a local Repair tech to come look at the fridge, without even looking he tells me the compressor needs to be replaced. Excuse me!? for months Tom has been telling me its a control board issue. The new tech tells me to call LG directly and they will replace it since the compressor has a 10yr warranty. I call LG, they send a tech within 2 days. The LG tech swaps out my compressor and my issue is resolved!!!! All within a WEEK. In the end, Tom had given me a fake diagnosis or has no idea what he is doing but still charged me for the incorrect diagnosis. Made me wait 3 months with a broken fridge for a part I NEVER NEEDED. And then had to chase him for a refund for a part I never needed. Stay away from this guy and save yourself the headache. He never answers calls, or when he does he says he will call you back and NEVER does. I dont even know if he actually placed an order on the control board because initially when he diagnosed the issue I tried to ask him for the part number to see if maybe I could find it but he would never tell me, kept beating around the bush, super shady.