The day I had to explain a $400 repair on a $500 fridge

Got a call for a no-cool fridge in a rental unit. Found the compressor shot, which is basically a death sentence. I mean, the part alone is like $300 plus labor, so I quoted the owner $400 total. He just kept saying 'but the fridge only cost five hundred bucks new' over and over, like I was trying to scam him. Took me twenty minutes to walk him through why it's sometimes cheaper to replace, but he still went with the fix. Anyone else get tired of justifying the math on old appliances?

2 comments

2 Comments

james_clark6d ago

Honestly that math is just brutal for people to accept sometimes. They only see the price tag from years ago, not the current repair market. Maybe it's just me but I've stopped trying to convince them and just lay out the two options flat.

stellafisher6d ago

Ugh, that's sunk cost fallacy everywhere.