Asked on the phone
Questions
The dozen we are actually asked, answered the way we answer them when the phone rings.
- Are you affiliated with Thermador?
- No. We are an independent repair company. We are not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by Thermador or its parent company, and we do not hold any appointment from either. If your appliance is inside its manufacturer warranty, call Thermador first — work we do could affect that coverage.
- What does a visit cost?
- Flat $129 diagnostic, credited in full toward the repair when you approve the work. Written estimate before any part is ordered or any labor is billed. If you decline the estimate, the diagnostic stands alone and there is nothing further to pay.
- Do you work on other brands?
- No. Thermador built-ins only. A one-make shop carries one make's parts, reads one make's service literature and recognises one make's failure patterns. If the appliance is another brand we will say so on the phone rather than send someone out.
- How long is the work guaranteed?
- 90 days on labor, 365 days on parts, genuine OEM parts only. The warranty covers the part we fitted and the labor to fit it. It does not cover a different fault that appears later on the same appliance.
- Do you use genuine parts?
- Genuine OEM parts only. In a sealed water or refrigerant circuit a generic substitute is a repeat visit with extra steps, and on a built-in the labor to get back in costs more than the part did.
- Which areas do you cover?
- Ponte Vedra Beach, Nocatee, Palm Valley, South Ponte Vedra and the St. Johns County coast, plus the Jacksonville side of the Intracoastal. We are based in Ponte Vedra Beach and work roughly a 30-mile radius from it.
- When are you open?
- Mon–Fri 8–6 · Sat 9–4. Those are the only hours we work. We do not advertise a 24-hour or emergency service because we do not run one, and a refrigerator that has already been warm since morning is not helped by someone arriving at midnight without the part.
- Will you have to pull my built-in out of the cabinet?
- Sometimes, and we will say so before we start. Most faults are reached through the front: the toe-kick panel, the door and its hinges, the filter and sump on a dishwasher, the service panel on a coffee system. A refrigeration column has to come forward on its rails far enough to reach the machine compartment, which needs the doors clear and the floor protected. A wall oven is a two-person lift out of its stack. Where cabinetry, stone or flooring has been fitted tight to an appliance since installation, getting it out is part of the job and part of the estimate.
- Can you still get parts for an older built-in?
- Often, but the answer depends on the serial number rather than the model. Thermador built-ins run for years across production changes, so two appliances that look identical can take different boards, valves or seals. Photograph the rating plate and we check availability against that serial before the visit rather than after it. If a part is on a long lead time, or no longer made, you get told at the diagnostic — along with what the alternative is.
- My refrigerator runs warm. Is it low on refrigerant?
- Usually not. Within sight of the Atlantic the common cause is a condenser fin pack packed with salt-laden dust, so the machine cannot reject its heat. We check airflow, the fin pack and the condenser fan before anyone opens a sealed system. EPA Section 608 certified for sealed-system refrigerant work, so when a system genuinely does need opening it can be.
- Can a storm damage a built-in appliance?
- It can. This coast sees around 68 thunderstorm days a year, and the damage is rarely dramatic — a control board that survives a surge but comes back with one dead output, so the oven heats and the fan does not. Tell us if the fault started on a stormy afternoon; it changes where we look first.
- What should I have ready before I call?
- Open the door and photograph the rating plate. The model and serial let us check parts availability before the van is loaded, which is often the difference between one visit and two. Say what the appliance does now, and when it last worked properly.
- Do you sell appliances?
- No. We repair, and when a repair is not worth doing we say so plainly and tell you why. There is nothing on the van to sell you.
Still unanswered
The rest is easier said out loud. Call during shop hours and describe what the appliance is doing; if it is not a Thermador, or if the answer is that a repair is not worth the $129, you will hear that on the phone.