Michigan Attorney General Complaint

On June 26, 2020 I noticed that my home refrigerator’s upper cabinet was not cooling properly. I moved my food to a small secondary refrigerator to ensure the food didn’t spoil and to buy myself some time. I am quite technical (Engineer by trade) and have performed multiple repairs on refrigerators and other appliances in the past. I used the fridge’s diagnostic / service mode and a service manual I found online to identify a potential cause for the issue: a defective fan responsible for circulating cold air. This small fan is readily available online for $30-50. I was not completely confident that this was the issue or the only issue so wanted to bring in a professional to confirm my findings or provide additional insight before I ordered the part and replaced it myself.



I looked online for local appliance repair companies and found Papa Joe’s Appliance Repair with a large number of positive reviews. I called them and was pleasantly surprised when the woman who answered the phone (Sandra) told me a technician could come out the same day to diagnose the issue. She informed me of their $139 trip / travel fee and mentioned that this fee would be applied to any work I authorized upon the technician identifying and explaining the issue to me.



The technician (John) arrived later that day. He quickly diagnosed the issue as one he claimed to see regularly (on a weekly basis) but provided me with very little specific detail as to what the problem was. I explained that I had previously run diagnostics on the fridge and asked whether the issue was the fan I identified earlier (I had the part number pulled up on my phone and referenced it).



John gave me an answer that glossed over any real detail. He called the problem significant and complex in nature and steered our conversation away from the specific part I asked about. He told me that the necessary fix would involve an “upgrade” to the refrigerator to solve a common manufacturing defect with this model. He told me that he had the parts on his truck and that the fix would cost $200 for labor and $375 for parts.



The large delta between what I knew to be the retail cost of the fan I identified and the $375 he quoted led me to believe he was referring to one or more different parts that needed to be replaced. In addition, $200 for replacing just a fan seemed rather steep so I assumed the work was more involved. I provided verbal agreement to have the work done and he proceeded to begin the repair.



While I was curiously watching him do the work, I asked more questions about what he was doing and which parts were being replaced. John continued to provide nondescript answers and repeatedly changed the subject. As he made more progress, it became clear to me that he was in fact replacing only the single small fan I had identified as the potential issue. I asked him to show me the defective fan he had removed and confirmed it was the same model I had researched and directly asked him about earlier.



At this point, it had been about 30 minutes since he arrived. He was finished with the repair and had put the fridge back together. I began to feel as though I had been misled and calmly asked him if marking up a $30-50 part to $375 or charging $200 for 30 minutes of work was typical for him or in his industry.



John very sternly responded with “We’re a business, we can charge whatever we want”. I was taken aback and told John that I was unhappy with the way this transaction had been conducted, specifically with the lack of transparency in describing the issue or the price of the fix. He was unapologetic and quickly wrote up a bill. I begrudgingly signed it, gave him a check for $575, and escorted him out of my home.



Afterwards as I thought more about this series of events and the conversation with John, I became increasingly displeased with how I was treated and what seemed like an egregious charge for such a simple repair. Had I been told that the only problem was this fan, I would have gladly paid the $139 trip fee and politely declined further service – knowing I could fix the issue myself. Again, I was confident in my ability to access and replace this particular part and was not in urgent need of the fridge working as I have a spare that fits all of my food.



I decided to call the office back and express my concerns. Sandra answered again and I asked if I could speak with a manager or the owner. Sandra informed me that John Shoemaker is the owner and that she is his wife. I recounted the earlier events and conversation I had with John. She stated that there was nothing wrong with any aspect of how the transaction was handled and that I was charged standard rates. I politely attempted to explain my concerns with customer service and transparency in different words although was seemingly not making progress in building empathy for my case. I told Sandra that I felt responsible for letting other potential customers know about my experience and that I would be leaving a review online. She stated that I’m free to do that, mentioned that John responds to all reviews, and abruptly ended the conversation.



Shortly afterwards, John called me and exclaimed “It seems like we have a problem! You threatened my wife.” I told him that I’m not sure how my words came across as threatening, assured him that this was not my intent, and apologized if I had somehow offended his wife. I expressed the same concerns about customer service and price transparency. I relayed that I felt misled and that I would not have had him perform the repair had he been up front and directly answered my questions about the defective part. He responded with “I’m in the business of making money, not acting as a consultant”. It was clear we were not going to see eye to eye on this matter and I again mentioned that I would be leaving a review online. John immediately became irate and told me that he would reply to any review I posted and provide my personal information, including name, address, and phone number – clearly in an attempt to dissuade me from making a public account of my experience.

I was quite shocked by this response and was now even more convinced I wasn’t getting anywhere by speaking with John. I let him know I wasn’t interested in discussing the issue any further and we ended the call.



No part of this experience seemed to align with the large number of positive reviews I saw online for Papa Joe’s Appliance Repair. I dug into the reviews a bit further and noted that most reviews were glowingly positive. Many of the very positive reviews were from individuals / accounts that have never reviewed other businesses and the reviews share common verbiage and word patterns. It seems likely that these accounts were setup for the sole purpose of increasing the business’ online rating. In one particularly brazen case, John S used his own named account to review his own business with five stars and provided a detailed account of an exemplary service appointment (in the third person).



Other reviews were incredibly negative. I found multiple scathing reviews including accounts of the owner verbally threatening customers, customers feeling as though they had been taken advantage of / overcharged, and customers reporting that the business would not honor their 30 day warranty on service. I also found numerous examples of John replying to these negative reviews and doing exactly what he threatened to do to me – including the customers’ personal information in a retaliatory manner.

Here are some examples of those negative reviews:

• “I left a 2 star rating on Google reviews, which was an honest review of how I felt the service was. John then called my phone and left an intimidating voicemail, and left a very rude response to my review including my full name, phone number, and address. He is an intimidating man, and seems to not allow people to leave him honest negative feedback without getting revenge.”
  
  
• “Hired this company to replace a part on my dryer. While fixing this part Joe broke my vent. When I called him to inform him of this he said they dont fix it and to call someone else. I cant comment on the repair he did because we haven't been able to use the dryer since.
  
  UPDATE: The owner of this company called my phone after reading my review and threatened me and my family. A police report has been filed. Dont let this man into your house.”
• And John's response: 
  (Response from the owner: “This review is from:
  NAME REDACTED, PROFESSION REDACTED, ADDRESS REDACTED, PHONE NUMBER REDACTED
  
  Dennis, I am sorry that you felt it necessary to be dishonest on your review. …”)
• The personal customer information I redacted above is publicly accessible online at google.com here as a result of John posting it) 
  
  
• “Just had Joe at my rental. What a terrible experience. Unfortunately my handyman showed up at the same time before I got there he discovered dryer needed a belt. He was going to get it. Hearing it needed a belt Joe literally BULLIED his way into the house insisting he would repair it without even asking or consulting me raced down to the basement put a belt on again without even asking my permission was extremely rude when I attempted to negotiate with him he got very belligerent and hostile. Told the handyman he would buy him a beer which seemed extremely inappropriate. He was there for less than 10 minutes and charge me $219. I told him I thought the 135 service call went toward service he indicated it did . Again he did not discuss anything with me. I think both my handyman and myself were somewhat fearful of him. DO USE THIS GUY”
• And John's response:
  (Response from Business Owner: “This review is from:
  
  NAME REDACTED
  
  ADDRESS REDACTED
  
  Ann Arbor
  
  PHONE NUMBER REDACTED
  
  I guess if you are going to blatantly be dishonest and lie, yelp would be were you would go. …”)
• The personal customer information I redacted above is publicly accessible online at yelp.com here as a result of John posting it) 

I later became aware of THE JOE GAGNON APPLIANCE REPAIR ACT2002 PA 468 which aims to protect Michigan residents against poor home appliance repair practices. I filed an online complaint with the Michigan Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division using this form.



Multiple aspects of this transaction do not meet the requirements stated in the act. Namely:

• I was not provided with a written estimate of the cost of the repair before I verbally approved it and service was performed.
  
  
• The only / final bill provided by Papa Joe’s Appliance repair definitely does not meet the criteria found within: The final bill shall separately state in writing the following:

• (a) The name and address of the service dealer as described in section 3(2)(a).
• Name included, address NOT included
• (b) Service call charges, if any.
• Not specified separately from the overall charge
• (c) The labor charge.
• Not specified separately from the overall charge
• (d) Parts charge, if any, including whether the parts were new or used and the actual part number and manufacturer.
• Not specified separately from the overall charge, no mention of whether parts were new or used or the actual part number and manufacturer.
• (e) The warranty provided by the supplier of the part. If the service dealer has no knowledge of a supplier's or manufacturer's warranty or knows that no supplier's or manufacturer's warranty exists, he or she shall so state.
• No mention of warranty provided by the supplier of the part.
• (f) The service dealer's labor warranty.
• Does mention a 30 day guarantee on parts and labor
• (g) Other charges, stated in detail.
• Only a single $575 line item is included for “Replaced non functioning upper circ fan”
• (h) Sales tax.
• No mention of sales tax
• (i) A statement that the customer, in order to enforce any warranty provided by this act, is required to notify the service dealer in writing, in person, or by telephone not later than the time period of the warranty for the part or labor.
• No such statement
• (j) The right of a customer to bring an action under this act.
• No such verbiage

I strongly believe I was coerced into thinking I needed to pay an exorbitant fee to restore my refrigerator to service and am compelled to take action to prevent this from occurring to others.

I am distressed when I consider my personal experience and the substantial online evidence that this business and its owners have established a pattern of predatory practices and highly questionable ethics in order to increase profitability. I am hopeful that the Attorney General can help stop or at least dissuade this business from continuing to harm other consumers.