A guy in a fancy kitchen told me to just 'make it work' on his broken fridge

I was on a call for a Sub-Zero in this huge house over in the West Hills last month. The compressor was clearly shot, making that awful clicking sound. I explained it needed a full replacement, about $1200 with labor. The owner, some guy in a silk robe, just waved his hand and said, 'I don't care about the parts, just make it cold again by tonight for a party.' He literally said, 'Can't you just bypass something? Make it work.' I had to tell him three times that you can't 'bypass' a dead compressor, it's the heart of the unit. He acted like I was trying to upsell him a new car instead of fixing his $10,000 fridge. Ever have a customer who thinks appliance repair is just magic?

3 comments

3 Comments

benc531mo ago

Oh man, that reminds me of the time a regular at my bar asked if I could just "un-sour" the milk for his coffee.

henry6041mo ago

Tell me you actually tried to explain it to him, @benc53. Some people just have a total blind spot for how food works (like they think you can reverse spoilage). That request is honestly kind of amazing.

danielb4322d agoTop Commenter

Three years of working at a diner taught me people just don't get that some things have a one-way door. You can burn toast but you can't unburn it, you know? @benc53 your un-sour milk guy is probably the same type who thinks you can microwave an old sandwich back to fresh. It's like they think food follows video game rules where you can just hit undo. Honestly I blame cooking shows that make everything look reversible with just a little extra butter.