HELP! need good affordable service company to fix stack dryers - w burb of Chicago

[Anonymous]

I need a good, reliable, honest, affordable service company to help fix my machines in Oakbrook Terrace, IL. Any suggestions/recommendations?
My previous service company said that they did not have time and resources to fix my equipment anymore because they are short-staffed.

MY MACHINES:
Speed Queen Dryers
Dexter Dryers
Speed Queen Washers (FL + TL)
Dexter Washers
Wascomat Washers
Milnor Washers

I NEED:
I need someone that really know how to troubleshoot dryer issues. I have a 30lb SQ (stack) dryer that has no heat, one has some electrical issue, one needs a pulley, and a 30lb Dexter (stack) dryer that has no heat. I also have a Milnor extracter that is acting funny.

I would do it myself, but I do not have the time right now.

Andy

[MSKLAUNDRY.]

First off let me say that good and affordable have no business being in that sentence together. If you want a parts changer then you will find tons of them and cheap. If you want someone who knows what they are doing they won't come cheap especially if you need a Milnor service tech.

Now I could go on and on about this but I think you get the picture. If you want good you have to either learn how to fix your own stuff or pay someone for there education and experience. Any idiot can change a part, not many can diagnosis a problem.

Like the saying goes "You get what you pay for"

[TTLES]

" good mechanics aren't expensive, they are PRICELESS !!!

[elf1564]

Not to hijack the thread but...

Have to agree with MK here, good and cheap don't walk hand in hand here very well. I should mention that I work for a large dist. in NC as a service tech. And no, I rather not say who. ;)

I should say first that I'm not pointing fingers nor am I trying to take shots at the owners of mats. Many are good folks who do their own work only to have a service tech visit every so often.

A few things come to mind. First, service techs for this type of work are difficult to find. Many of the same sort of folks who will work as home appliance techs won't even consider moving into commercial laundry equipment repair. The reasons vary from overnight travel, working environments (nursing cares, jails to name some) to a perceived idea that commercial equipment is difficult to work with due the microprocessors being used more and more but the end result is that very few folks move into our ranks. Its just a plain simple fact that young folks do not knock the doors down of a service dept wanting a service tech job.

Of the folks that are interested in service work, many hard pressed to work in laundromats. Some of reasons for this include difficulties with getting to the back of equipment. Think small bulkheads for hard mount washers. Ever tried to fit into a 24 inch bulkhead to install a belt on a washer. Of course you can reach in over the top and install the belt from the top. Works for me until you run across that Wascomat that also needs the spring reattached to the motor. I'm not knocking Waso's design but rather to point out that the extra step means you better have a good way install belts in a 24 inch space. I'm lucky enough to have been with the company long enough to convince the top man to sell 36 inch wide bulkheads.

Working with the constant need to watch not only your tools but the young children running around. Having to wait for customers to load and unload the unit on both sides of you when you are trying to install that new part in the front of the unit are two other reasons. Working in the back of a dryer only to step over the old parts and trash along with all the cast offs you pushed behind the dryers over the years. Or better try to squeeze between the 24 inches of space wall and dryer because the you wanted the extra inches for the customer to have more room to move their carts.

Many of the techs I have known over the past 25 years aren't excited by the interruptions found in a laundromat and will steer clear past a mat given a chance. The many different brands of equipment that perhaps separate owners of the same mat have installed over the years making the mat look more like who's who of the laundry world and let's face it, many techs are not happy to see 3,4,5 different brands and to top it off the 10,11,12 broken units that having been piling up because you didn't want to pay for a service call for 1 unit.

The real fun begins with the tech spending a few hours going through the mountain of broken machines only have to tell the owner that many of the parts will have to be ordered knowing full well that the owner will undercut the price on the internet. This right after he calls the service manager to demand why it was the service tech was dispatched to the job without the parts need to fix the machine the first time.
He also manages to get the comment in that the service tech took way too long and only fixed one machine out the 10 or 12 needing repair and will refuse to pay for more than half of the billing.

Normally this occurs on a Friday afternoon, this you know only too well because the mat owner has informed you 4 times in the past 2 hours that they need this equipment up and running for the heavy weekend. You shake your head in agreement and smile as you remove the 2 inch layer of lint buildup from the control box. The same control box that has a rats nest of wiring from left from some joker who seems think black tape will take care of any problem. :)

I'm not complaining mind you, I've been at this for 25 years now. I earn a decent living
doing work that others don't want to or don't have time for. Folks like me aren't cheap and the boss man knows it. He has to pay a very good salary to keep good techs and does so.

Like MK mentioned before, cheap and good really don't apply too well with this stuff.

[MSKLAUNDRY.]

Amen too that!!

[Boxer]

That's why I gave Coinwash $275.00 they and eveyone on it has save me mucho deniro

thank you techs I just wish you were here years ago

[pete f]

Elf1654

Wow> No words. Thanks for the post! I have grunt both sides, not exactly this particuarly trade.

[elf1564]

Thanks Pete,

In my previous posting I mention some of the reasons that many mat owners will find a difficult time finding help for equipment problems. I find the subject of much interest as I've seen changes over the past 10-12 years or so within the coin-wash trade.

The problem of course lies on both sides. We in the business seem to have a hard time finding young folks to come in learn a trade and more and more coin-op owners seem less inclined to learn how to repair the machines themselves.

Let's face it, society is changing. Fast going to the wayside are the folks who came out of high school and went to work at the local factory or garage, perhaps learned to work on equipment and offers to do a little side work on the weekend for the local owner of a mat. That leaves them with few options, call the distributor and pay the prices they need charge to keep quality service techs or fix the problem themselves.
Remember that we as trade also depended upon some of those same folks to enter our ranks.

I'll let you in on a little secret here, many distributors sell more than just coin-op's. Indeed the core of their business may actually be in the OPL (On Premise Laundry) market. While they care about their laundromat owners/customers and want to see them succeed they also have many, many customers who have typically 2 to 4 machines to handle for laundry chores for entire hotel or living assistance center. Many of the maintenance folks in recent years for these sort of places are ill equipped or have no desire to learn laundry equipment repair or just simply too busy to work on a broken washer. As a result, we get a lot more calls to handle problems.

If one of their machines have a problem, then their abilities to keep up with laundry are severely curtailed. As I've said many times over the years, "The old folks don't quit pooping just because the washer is on the fritz.". :)

I'm here to tell you folks that the soiled laundry area in a nursing care facility will quickly back up with over flowing carts and bags of bed linen and worst if one of their two washers go down. All that is needed for a totally bad day for these folks is a state inspector to happen by or a angry relative to call the state tell them how Mom's sheets are nasty.

This situation many times leaves us with a choice, fix the OPL customer quickly or go to the laundromat with 5 or 6 machines out of order that have been down for a week or longer. We don't mean to put you good folks on a bottom rung here but it is something we deal with quite a bit. As a result you will hear the comment of not enough resources when it comes to getting a tech out. In my humble opinion with the changes in society I spoke about above this will become more and more of an issue with future mat owners.

But you good folks who are interested in protecting your investment have access to help that even a few short years ago was unavailable even on the internet. You have access to manuals, information, some factory reps and even a few service techs who don't mind trying to answer questions in time of need. I've known people over the years in the mat business who would have gladly good sums of money for the ability to
have a good source of honest information 24 hours a day and weekends.

But still I see folks who come here looking for answers but refuse to give a even a good days turn over on a front load washer to have the Premium membership which affords them access to the education that many of us have had to learn the hard way over the years. Of course I'm not naive there will always be those sort of folks who want something for nothing and that's just the way the world turns.

Now while I'm being honest here, I'm not a Premium member, Why? I'm a service tech not a laundromat owner, not even the owner of the company I work for. I don't get paid as a contributor here nor do I desire such as I earn my living by fixing those things people can't or won't.

But I can come here and answer a few simple questions in the free section to help folks along as I would in my everyday job to further your chances of operating a business that perhaps will induce you to purchase more equipment. The more you buy the more chance the manufacturers and their distributors will need someone like me to keep it running.

Good Luck!

[Jonathan]

But still I see folks who come here looking for answers but refuse to give a even a good days turn over on a front load washer to have the Premium membership which affords them access to the education that many of us have had to learn the hard way over the years. Of course I'm not naive there will always be those sort of folks who want something for nothing and that's just the way the world turns.

Now while I'm being honest here, I'm not a Premium member, Why? I'm a service tech not a laundromat owner, not even the owner of the company I work for. I don't get paid as a contributor here nor do I desire such as I earn my living by fixing those things people can't or won't.

But I can come here and answer a few simple questions in the free section to help folks along as I would in my everyday job to further your chances of operating a business that perhaps will induce you to purchase more equipment. The more you buy the more chance the manufacturers and their distributors will need someone like me to keep it running.

Good Luck!


Thanks for your honesty.

I guess you think that coinwash is not a business and we do this as a hobby.
We have no income unless we get a mere $55.00 contribution from our members.

We do have Sponsors who see the value of placing ads and we are getting more Sponsors all the time. And we hope you all use them too

If $55.00 is too much I understand, that’s why we have a FREE area too.

But yes we depend on funds to operate and we figure it to be worth approximately 0.17 cents a day for a year ,we think its well worth it.

How many members has Coinwash.com helped?

Threads: 6,105, Posts: 49,113

We must be doing something right.

I just wish I had a tool like this when I first began

I’ll get off the pulpit now ;)

Thank you all

Jonathan