Oakland Appliance, Air Conditioning & Heating Repair

I run a business with 15 employees — I’ve dealt with a lot of suppliers over the years and I’ve never had an experience this bad with a repair person. Things started off bad enough — first he said he’d be able to fix it the same day (didn’t happen), then he said the total repair charge was going to $ 220 (nope), then it went up to $ 365, then he promised that it would be done in four days (nope), a week (nope), he ordered the wrong parts … now two weeks have gone by. I call the guy a few times a day, he never returns my calls, he’s gone — he just disappeared with my money. He is very charming, he tells a good story and will talk your ear off about hard times and the state of the economy, and then once the job starts he’ll tell you all sorts of stories about why the parts are late, why he couldn’t call you back … If you’re lucky like some of the other people who have reviewed him, after all the stories are done and the weeks have gone by, he’ll actually fix your furnace /​air conditioning — there are plenty of stories of people out there who had a bad experience with him but in the end, he did the job. Or you might end up like me with nothing to show for your money. He works under a number of company names including «Langford Appliance», «Oakland Appliance» and «Curtis Latson Services» — those are the names I discovered in my couple of weeks of trying to chase him down, I’m sure there are more. If you’re dealing with a middle-​aged, african american man named Curtis who is telling you stories, you’re in trouble. Wish I had read Unilocal before I hired this tool.

Pick another company to do your repairs, as this one is completely suspect.
I don’t think there really is an office, just various technicians carrying the same cell phone. The name on the cell did not match the name of the technician calling or the signature on the check.
The tech was 5 hours late to repair our fridge. When he got there it was the same song and dance as a previous reviewer. He took the fridge apart, put it back together, promised to call when he got the new part and then left with our check. It has been over 5 days and we haven’t heard from him.
The check was immediately cashed and we figure it is a small cost to be done with them.
I would not recommend these people.

Do not… I repeat… DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY… under any circumstances. I would give them no stars… or negative stars if possible.
My refrigerator started making a loud sound… like a jet engine. I was desperate to find someone who could fix it on a Sunday ASAP. I called around… and Oakland Appliance, Air Conditioning, and Heating Repair offered to come out and take a look at it… only after telling me there would be an $ 85 service charge (on top of any repair charges) and that I had to have it in cash.
The service technician, Langford Brown, came out 30 minutes late and started to tear apart my refrigerator… literally. I could hear cracking and saw pieces of broken plastic flying through the air. He finally broke apart the refrigerator and figured out the fan was seized by ice. He «fixed» the problem… and then tried putting the refrigerator back together… which took him over an hour because the sheet metal was bent and the screws wouldn’t go in right because of his manhandling of the refrigerator in the first place.
For over an hour… while he tried to put the refrigerator back together… he swore like a truck driver… nonstop. Then… when he almost had it back together, my neighbor pointed out that he had forgotten to put a 2×2 piece back in the freezer. Of course, there was more swearing… and manhandling… and broken plastic. IT WAS A DISASTER.
Once everything was together, it still made a loud sound. He had to take it apart… yet again. It now seems to be working but, of course, is put back together loosely because plastic is broken and it is missing parts.
Again…do not use this company… you will be SORRY. I was… and still am. Also, I will be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

Wow, unbelievably bad service. I would not wish these guys upon my worst enemy. Needless to say, I won’t be calling these guys back anytime soon.

Not really all in order — Dec 2, 2008
Long story short — lots of details out of place — stories not adding up, promises not delivered, prices raised, and accountability missing.
Feel free to read on if you are interested. Most of the individual issues wouldn’t phase me normally, but when they are all piled up on top of each other in rapid succession, with a flat out lie as the cherry on top, then it’s time to cut losses and do business with someone else.
By the way, this company is not located at this address — this is just a rented mailbox.
After an initially positive experience with the tech for an evaulation of my broken oven, things got really weird when it came time to fix the thing. The written estimate, promised that evening, finally came a week later, after multiple calls on my part. The estimate did not include ANY itemization — no breakdown for parts, labor, or the «visit charge» that had already been paid, but for which no receipt had been given. And the estimate was written on a different company’s letterhead. (Who was I dealing with here?) The technician wanted all calls to go through his direct celphone, not through «the office.» When he returned my message asking for help understanding the estimate, he didn’t have any of the paperwork with him, so he couldn’t clear anything up at all. But I want the thing fixed, so I make an appointment for the repair.
An hour before the repair appointment the tech called to let me know that he wouldn’t be there on time — he had to pick up parts and an assistant to do another job instead. He also told me that «The Office» had approved a $ 20 credit for the $ 35 I had already paid for the initial «visit charge.» Then he said «they had approved a $ 40 credit, and you will be getting $ 20 of that.» When I asked him to explain what he meant by any of this, he told me the visit charge should have been $ 40. Then he said that the visit charge should have been $ 50, then he said the visit charge should have been $ 59. As if this conversation wasn’t weird enough, he then announced that I had only paid him $ 35 «because it was all the money you had at the time.» (This wasn’t true, and it hadn’t even come up — where he could have gotten this idea I can’t imagine).
I was frustrated and confused up until that point, but this last statement really rang my bell because it was just a bold-​faced falsehood — I had neither said such a thing, nor was it true. If he had asked me for a hundred and thirty-​five dollars I could and would have paid it at the time, because it seemed like I was getting my oven fixed!
All I can confirm about this mysterious «visit charge» is that it’s not specified addressed anywhere on their website. Here is everything specific relating to prices as of today, Dec 2, 2008:
«1. Free service call with any repair or service.
2. We will perform the repair or service only after you approve the job, based on an itemized estimate that is provided by our technician.
3. You will not be charged extra for our need to travel in order to reach you; you will also not be charged extra for repairs done at night or on the weekend.»
I told the tech I wanted to speak with someone in the office who could better explain what was going on. (Thinking maybe he’s a gifted mechanical person, and just fails with communication). He told me, great, someone will call you in 10 minutes. In 10 minutes I got a call from someone else coming from the same cel phone. Thanks but no thanks, I didn’t pick up. They called back ten minutes later with the called ID blocked — I answered to get it over with. The person on the phone had a story that I would have accepted a day earlier, but my trust was lost and I told her I would look elsewhere.
initially I was willing to pay the price for professional service, but because of the delays I called an appliance parts company to get some information — during a 5 minute phone call I learned I could get the part for 25% of the cost these people wanted (not 25% less, 75% less!)
In the end it took me less than five minutes to install, including unwrapping the thing from the box.

If I could zero stars I would. I had them over last Saturday to fix my gas oven. After 30 minutes of looking at the oven the technician said he had to go get the part from their shop and he’d call us with the cost to replace it.
He never called. I called their 1800 number and left a voicemail about the situation on Sunday. No one ever called me back.
On Tuesday I sent an email, asking what was up, and never got a response. (It’s important to note that I initially emailed the company to set up an appointment and was responded to within 3 hours).
We still have not heard back from this place since the technician left our house over a week ago. I’m kind of at a loss as to what sort of customer service this is, especially a couple weeks before Thanksgiving. I mean hey– if they couldn’t fix my oven they could have at least told me up front and I could have had someone else come out.
I do not recommend this Oakland/​SF appliance repair if you actually want an appliance fixed.

I was planning a dinner party at my house when of course disaster struck and my old gas stove/​oven suddenly stopped working.
I spent FOREVER trying to find someone to fix my old gas stove. Were were getting the most ridiculous quotes like $ 160 just to give us an estimate! I was stressed and I needed same day service and I finally found Oakland Appliance Repair (it seems to also be called Oakland Fremont Appliance Repair or San Francisco Oakland Appliance Repair) I am so totally happy with the service and price I got from Oakland Appliance Repair. I called around and they had by far the best rates and were willing to service a broad area. There is also a $ 10 off coupon on their website for you bargain hunters.
The had the best estimate rates and we got the whole thing taken care of for $ 200. Langford, who did our repair was a nice older no nonsense kinda fella.
So there ya go Unilocalers, when your oven breaks the night before a dinner party, you know who to call :)

Truly awful. Set an appointment, never came, never called. Numerous phone calls to track «J» down. When reached, had no idea of what I wanted repaired, where I lived, he simply said he would get to it Saturday evening.
When I asked for him to give me some idea of what I might do, he went into a whole «Wizard of Oz» routine about needing to do diagnostics that were well beyond the understanding of mere mortals.
No refrigerator is worth this aggrivation. Called A1 Appliance in Hayward (they have folks all over the East Bay) who came exactly on time and fixed the problem in 30 minutes. Can’t say enough good things about A1.

Horrible experience. Would give this guy 0 stars if I could.
First of all he missed the appointment I had set up. I wish I would have stopped there and not pursued it. I called him back, after several calls pestering them trying to find out what was going on, I finally had a call back and they came out to look at the drier + fridge.
He gave me a rough estimate on how much it would cost and at that point I figured it wasn’t going to be worth it to fix the drier because with rebates I could likely get a newer more energy efficient model for just a bit more. I decided to go with fixing the fridge though as it just needs a water line replaced. I was then informed that there would be a 50.00 service charge for this visit, something that was only mentioned AFTER I had him come out — had I known that I certainly wouldn’t have arranged for him to come out! So considering that I didn’t want to be out 50.00 for nothing I decided to find out exactly how much it would cost to undergo this repair.
I was then informed that the quote was for the fridge and the drier. I asked how much the breakdown would be for each and he wouldn’t say. He said he’d have to look up the parts to give me an exact answer for each and would give me a call tomorrow with that information. Tomorrow came and went with no call. I called them on Monday and asked for the parts quote, he said he’d call me back that day. Monday came and went with no call. I called back on Tuesday to ask what is going on and he tells me the parts are ordered. I informed him I hadn’t approved the ordering of the parts as I still haven’t been informed of the cost. He said he’d call me back when hes at the office. I bet I don’t receive a call.
Also they are very unprofessional and usually have no clue what you’ve spoken about in the past and half the time get you confused with another customer.
DO NOT USE!

Had another company come over for a 2^nd opinion — turns out the problem wasn’t at all what JD Mechanical for Oakland Appliance said it was and the repair ended up being simple and quickly fixed by a true professional. Oakland Appliance owes me a refund of $ 54.95.

Do not give this guy a call to fix anything! I wish I could give him zero stars.
I called to have him come check out my fridge because the freezer had stopped blowing out cold air. He told me over the phone that it would be $ 54.95 to diagnose the problem and that if we used him that money would go toward the cost of the repair. Then, he came over told us he didn’t know what to do on refrigerators but would call his other buddy Dr. Brown. They proceed to diagnose and fix the problem without giving us the estimate. This took all of about 20 minutes. He then comes to me and says that the total cost is $ 400! The part was $ 95 and $ 305 for the labor! They gave us some crazy story about how CA code allowed them to charge that much in labor and not by the hour. (I mean $ 600/​hour give me a break!) We told him that our landlord wouldn’t go for that and we’d have to find someone else. He then tried to extract another $ 45 rewiring fee from us since he’d fixed it and now had to unfix it. We refused to pay the $ 45 and told him he was only getting the $ 55 estimate fee.
I just called a few other places and they said it would be $ 120 plus parts to fix most problems. I looked up the part and the part costs $ 15.95.
I can’t stress to you enough not to call this guy. He will only try to rip you off and then continue to take as much money from you if you decide not to go with him.
Oh and the best part… Dr. Brown slipped my husband his card on the way out and put it on the door next door. Does he really think we might call him?