Even the best household appliances run into difficulties every once in a while. A part fails because it was faulty or simply through wear and tear over time. The bill for parts and labor can end up being more costly than you might sometimes expect. Then you have to scramble to find the money to pay for it, so your washer/dryer, cooker, or another Appliance can be repaired.

It’s also important to find some good servicemen, otherwise, you’ll have to pay more than once if the first repair is shoddy. Let’s first look at some sensible advice for a good repair service and then ways to deal with an unexpected bill for the appliance repair.

Get a Good Appliance Repair

When you need an affordable, quality repair done on a household appliance, you don’t want to have to pay twice because it wasn’t done right the first time. Dealing with Zanussi repairs, for instance, you must ensure that the parts used for replacement are official Zanussi ones and not copies or alternative parts from other manufacturers that may not work inside their appliances.

Also, check how much experience the appliance repairers have. You don’t want to discover that they’ve only been in business for 18 months or aren’t authorized repairers for the brand of appliance that you own.

Check If Your Warranty Has Expired

In most cases, you will have been given a reliable warranty from the manufacturer if you purchased your household appliance new. These run for different lengths of time. You could have purchased an extended warranty too, so check your paperwork for the machine to see what your cover is and when it runs out.

If you’re able to submit a claim under the warranty and you found that it covers the problem that has arisen, then you’ve gotten lucky and saved yourself from a repair bill.  If the warranty has already expired, then you must look at raising the money to pay for the repair.

What Money Do You Have?

Check any savings accounts that you have to see what balances and interest might have accrued without you knowing about it. See if there’s anything spare in your bank account too. Do you have any spare change that you’ve been saving up?

Beyond that, do you have money that you’ve lent out to a friend or relative that you can ask to be returned to help pay for your appliance repair? You can certainly explain the circumstances and your family member or friend is likely to respond to that.

Other Financial Options

If you don’t have enough cash on hand or savings, then it’s time to consider using your credit card to charge the repair cost. Another option is to use an existing overdraft facility with your bank or if your account is in good standing, then perhaps applying for an overdraft limit that will allow you to cover the bill.

However, if you’re really in dire straits, then using the services of a pawn shop can allow you to temporarily trade in valuable goods for 2-3 weeks to get a cash amount to help get the appliance repaired. Then use money from your next salary to repay the amount, plus their charge for the service, and get your other goods back. Bear in mind that if you fail to repay the balance owed, the shop will keep your goods permanently and sell them for a profit. It’s not an ideal situation, but when you really need to get your appliance mended, you need to think outside the box too!

It’s always a good idea to explore all options when you have a critical appliance out of warranty that you must get repaired quickly. There’s a surprising number of other ways to deal with an upcoming bill – even doing some part-time work in the evenings or weekends for extra cash and/or getting a salary advance – can help resolve the matter quickly.

The post How to Cope When Hit with an Unexpected Repair Bill appeared first on Home Jobs by MOM.