Why there is a fee at all
A diagnostic fee pays for the part of the job that has no parts in it: getting to you, and working out what is actually wrong. On built-in cooking appliances that second part is most of the value. Anyone can replace a bake element. Knowing whether the element is the problem, or whether the board that drives it is the problem, is the difference between one repair and two.
We charge $129, flat, anywhere in the service area. It does not change with the drive, the appliance or the difficulty of the diagnosis, and it is credited toward the repair if you go ahead with the work.
What we actually do in that visit
It varies by appliance, but the shape is consistent.
We start with the supply. Voltage, and on 240-volt appliances whether both legs are healthy, because a lost leg produces symptoms that look exactly like half an appliance failing. Skipping this step is how people end up buying parts for a problem that was never in the appliance.
Then we reproduce the fault, or get as close to it as we can. A convection fan that howls only when hot has to be heard hot. An oven that drifts has to be measured across a full heat-and-hold cycle with a calibrated probe, because the display tells you what the oven intends and nothing about what it achieves. A hood that is loud and ineffective gets an airflow check at the baffles before anyone talks about a blower.
Then we separate causes from symptoms. This is the part that takes experience rather than time: a sagging hinge presenting as a baking problem, a blocked cooling intake presenting as an induction element that quits, a partly damaged board presenting as a failed element, a warped pan presenting as a broken cooktop.
And then we tell you, in writing, what we found and what it would cost to put right.
What happens to the fee
If you approve the repair, the $129 comes off the total. In practice that means the diagnosis is free on any job that goes ahead.
If you decide not to proceed — because the appliance is not worth the repair, or because you want to think about it, or because you would rather get another opinion — the fee covers the visit and that is the end of it. You keep the written diagnosis. There is no pressure attached to it, and we would rather tell you an appliance is not worth repairing than sell you a repair we do not believe in.
When the answer is not a part
Some of our most useful visits end with no parts at all. A wet igniter electrode that needs drying and a burner cap reseated. A drawer packed to the ceiling under an induction cooktop, blocking the cooling airflow. A hood whose baffles have not been washed in three years, so the blower is working against a restriction rather than a fault. A backdraft damper seized half open at the outside wall. A moisture vent in a warming drawer that has been in the wrong position since the day it was installed.
Those are real answers and we give them plainly. We are an independent shop — not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by any manufacturer — which means nobody is measuring us on parts sold.
The rest of the terms, in one place
The diagnostic is $129 flat, credited toward the repair. The estimate is written and comes before anything is ordered or replaced. We fit genuine OEM parts. Labor is warranted for 90 days and parts for 365 days.
We work Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm and Saturday 9am to 4pm. We do not offer 24-hour or emergency service, and we would rather say so clearly than have you find out at 9pm. Our service area is 40 miles by road from Fruit Cove, and every distance we publish is drive distance on the route we would actually take, not a radius drawn on a map.
Common follow-ups
Is the $129 credited if I go ahead with the repair?
Yes. The diagnostic fee is credited toward the cost of the repair when you approve the work. If you decide not to proceed, the fee covers the visit and the diagnosis and there is nothing further to pay.
Do you charge more for a longer drive?
No. The diagnostic is a flat $129 anywhere inside our service area, which is 40 miles by road from Fruit Cove. Neptune Beach costs the same as Mandarin.
What if the fix takes two minutes?
You still pay the diagnostic and nothing more. Some visits end with us drying an electrode or telling you a drawer is blocking a cooling intake. We would rather give you that answer honestly than invent a part to justify the trip.
Do you give the estimate in writing?
Always, and before anything is ordered or replaced. It covers parts, labor and what the diagnosis found, so you can decide with the full picture rather than approving work over the phone.