A couple of years ago, my refrigerator stopped running and I of course grabbed my tools and went to toil on something I knew utterly nothing about. I spent about 5 hours total getting my refrigerator up and running. Of course, I couldn't have accomplished it without the internet. I'm not sure why it started working again other than the fact that I gave everything a good cleaning, but once the cool returned, I sat down and thought about all the cold hard cash I just saved by doing my own appliance repair. Not only was I was thinking about how much I saved, but I had this feeling of man over machine macho thing. After only 5 hours of having the refrigerator torn apart, I packed up my tools and went to bed. As I lay asleep that night dreaming of being a appliance repair technician, the refrigerator stopped running.

I had to rush out the door the next morning because I overslept. It was a pretty late night from staying up working on the refrigerator, so I didn't even think about checking to see if the refrigerator was still running or not. Later that morning, I'm telling everyone how I'm a master appliance repairman.

When I got home late that evening and head to the fridge to get something to eat, all I found was a box full of warm food. I was able to save a few items, but everything else went into one of those large trash bags and out to the curb.

After packing the remaining food into a cooler full of ice, I called an appliance repair company. It didn't take very long for the repairman to have my refrigerator running again. The repairman grabbed his invoice pad and my knees wanted to buckle. I'm expecting this huge bill since my refrigerator didn't break down during normal business hours, but the real appliance repair technician promised me he would let me know if the cost of repairs made it more beneficial to just go ahead and purchase a new refrigerator. As I'm standing there feeling the cool air coming out of the refrigerator, I realize he's fixed the unit before he told me how much it would cost.

I was just about to start complaining about him fixing my refrigerator before he gave me a price when he explained there was only a loose wire. I wonder how that happened? I was still expecting a very large bill since I called for after hours service, but he explained to me that his company had only one service charge no problem what time it was.

As I'm sitting there writing a check to pay the technician, I realize that the trash bag sitting out there on the curb cost me way additional than I was paying for the appliance repair technician. That was a costly lesson, but a lesson I learned from. I'm not going to try to repair my own appliances. I'm calling a professional.

The next time my refrigerator, stove or dryer breaks down, I'm calling my local appliance repair specialist to get it back in running order because I know from experience that a professional repair service offers a more inexpensive way to repair my appliances without the hazards of my DIY repair.