Alco Appliance Inc - Beltsville, MD

J Budjevac

I called and left a message I quoting about repair for my washing machine. ALCO called back during business hours on a Wednesday; I explained I was on a work call. They requested I text my address. I did. Apparently they never received my text which I do believe! They called the next day and I called back. Phone tag happens. The Friday morning of the day they were supposed arrive a man calls and starts the conversation with “You didn’t text us the address. You were supposed to do that and you didn’t.” He continued aggressively accusing and blaming. I was really taken aback and tried to diffuse the situation and stated I did and had called and he wouldn’t desist. I finally asked why are you arguing? Thanked him for calling and he hung up on me. Abusing people isn’t ever appropriate let alone considered customer service. I had multiple other contractors come that day to fix the toilet, HVAC, no problem. What a difference. Called Rudy to repair my washing machine instead and they were professional and polite, definitely didn’t accuse, yell, abuse. People don’t have to be mistreated and have choices thankfully!

I noticed poor reviews in Next Door that service has gone done but they came recommended. My experience would support that something has changer as the experience was awful and unnecessary.

Melissa Davey- Keller Williams Realty Center

Jason came out in our scheduled window. Off the bat, he was courteous, knowledgeable, and well prepared. He not only repaired the problem (blower wheel), he checked all the other components to make sure they were in good condition. Turned out one of my heating elements was broken and he was able to fix that too. Kudos also, that my dryer is a 1964 GE (yes, 1964) model and they carry parts for older dryers. I highly recommend them and plan to use them in the future for any needs.

purplenova

Alco came highly recommended by many members of my community, so it pains me to have to write about an awful experience. I called Alco to come out and look at my Jenn Air oven and dishwasher. John came to my home, diagnosed that the oven's main computer would need to be replaced at a cost of $4000--he didn't recommend doing the work, but that is what he estimated the cost to be if I wanted to keep the oven. We both knew that the cost was more than I paid for it, so I quickly passed on that. He also looked at my dishwasher and advised that some components would need to be replaced. He ordered the parts and sent a repairman to come out a few weeks later. Unbeknownst to me, the repairman used two screws that eventually rusted. One of the screws broke into several pieces and damaged the dishwasher. I was able to catch the other screw before it caused any further damage. The dishwasher is inoperable at this point because the rack is hanging and the door won't close. I called Alco and spoke to John--he asked for pictures, which I gladly sent as we spoke. He called me back after reviewing them and told me that the screws should have never been used and that they were probably used to secure the plastic parts. He advised me that he would need to order new plastic parts and charge me to come out. I objected because the plastic parts are still fine and that I did not have an issue until the screws broke. Further, the repairman, nor John ever advised me that the screws were being used to provide support, or that the plastic replacement parts weren't going to fix the real issue--I still don't know what that is, but John insists that ordering new parts and paying him again to come out will fix it. This is when John became very condescending and very, very rude. He called me a liar and told me I was exaggerating. I objected to having to pay for this again. John advised me that there is only a 1 year warranty on repairs, but that should be null and void if your repairman used screws that rusted, and no one communicated to me why the screws were being used in the first place. John hung up on me--I had to call back multiple times to get someone to pick up, it was clear that John was avoiding the truth. Eventually, I spoke with his equally rude receptionist. She proceeded to give me a lecture on being nicer to John if I wanted to schedule a repair appointment; however, John was rude to me first! She did tell me that the repairman that installed the screws no longer works there--I wonder why? What idiot puts screws that will rust in dishwasher. She was also patronizing and condescending to me by calling me "love" and "honey". I was not in the mood at this point for any more of their unprofessionalism. If I could give 0 stars I would. I have never experienced terrible customer service on this level. I will be pursuing other avenues of resolution.

Stephen Ganote

I had used these guys for many years for many services but something has changed. Prices have definitely gone way up, and responsiveness down. My last appointment they agreed to a time, did not call or show up (so I stayed home from work for nothing) and they did not return 3 calls first to try to confirm time, and then as to why they didn't show up. I finally got an answer (which surprised me) calling the 4th time. They aren't what they used to be and I'm moving on.

Jenny Wesberry

I just had the best experience with Alco. Their technician, Jason, was right on time for the time frame that I asked for! Not only was the price for the visit plus repair reasonable, the total was less than what another company quoted just to come look at our oven. Jason was friendly, professional, and efficient. It was apparent that customer service is important to him and he represented his company very well. I will recommend Alco to all of my friends that need appliance repairs!

Don Gray

If I could give negative stars, I would ! John came to check our new speed queen washer to check on the leveling, since it was unbalanced. He also checked an older dryer, and in the process of evaluating it, he caused the motor or heating element to short out. We saw a an orange glow coming from the back of the dryer into the drum. He said the heating element might be going bad and we might want to replace it sometime in the future. When we tried to use it the next day, sure enough, the dryer would not get hot. This was a dryer that was working PERFECTLY until he caused it to short out. We called, left a message and he returned the call the next day. He spoke to my husband and said he would return to fix the problem for $270.00. After talking about it, we decided that since he broke the dryer, he should return to fix it without charge. I called the next day and said that since the dryer had been working very well before he "evaluated" the heating element, I though it was fair that he return and fix the dryer at no cost to us. He denied that he broke it and refused to repair it unless we paid the $270. When I objected to this, he hung up on me. I called him from another phone so he would answer my call, and told him I thought it was rude to hang up on me just for discussing a complaint. He said he had seen the orange "sparks" but would only fix it by returning and charging us for the repair. I asked him about having seen the "sparking" and not evaluating the cause while he was here and he just said he wasn't going to argue with me about this and did not want to discuss it any further.

#1: He broke a dryer that was working perfectly.
#2: He saw the "sparking" that indicated something was wrong.
#3: He admitted to seeing the "sparking".
#4: He refused to take responsibility for disabling our dryer.
#5: He would not return to fix the problem he had caused .
AND
#6: He hung up on me when I called to complain about his unwillingness to correct the situation he had caused.

I advise anyone thinking about using his services to beware.

Tony Tubiolo

Great service. After contacting 3 other businesses about getting our Speed Queen washing machine repaired, Alco Appliance came through. Alco was very responsive by phone and email. They did the part replacement under warranty and it did not cost me anything.

Audrey Travaglini

Just amazing. In this day and age where most places are incompetent and try to upsell instead of fix, this place exceeded my expectations and set the bar even higher.
Quick. Great value. Great job. Great customer service. I'm as picky as they come. So impressed. I'm a customer for life now.