I would give zero stars if I could. For those of you who are considering using this business for…read moreappliance repair, please read my review before you do so. Rusticane Appliance was recommended to me by a friend, and I've always found recommendations from people you know to usually be favorable. In hindsight, I wish I had done my own due diligence.
On May 17, 2022, I reached out to Rusticane (I believe Cane is the owner of this business) via text message, asking if he did microwave repair, which he confirmed that he did. He said he would be able to come out the following day, on May 18, for an initial diagnostic (he charges $79). But the day of the scheduled diagnostic and potential repair, he canceled last minute, stating that he could not make it out to College Park from Baltimore without running into traffic. Fine. We rescheduled for the next day, May 19.
On May 19, he sends me a text message stating that he had done the diagnostic and repair. Please keep in mind that he never reached out to me to ask me if I wanted to have my microwave repaired by him. Cane just went ahead and did it, claiming that he had to uninstall the microwave and reset the main control board and reinstall. He said that he would be charging me $149 (labor/diagnostic/trip charge). Again, Cane had never mentioned anything about a trip charge, just a diagnostic charge. If it's something that's always included with the diagnostic fee, as he claims, why not just be transparent and say that?
Cane acknowledged that he should've reached out before he completed the repairs and told me that it was up to me if I wanted to just give him the diagnostic fee, the $79, or the total, $149. Personally, I hate when service providers do this. You know you messed up but are putting the onus on the customer. Because he did the work (or so I thought), I paid him the $149 via Zelle (more on this later). It was only fair to pay for services rendered.
On June 14, my tenants (this is a rental property, FYI) told me that the microwave was still experiencing problems and only worked intermittently. I reached out to Cane again on June 15 and informed him that the microwave was still experiencing problems. Cane said he would be able to come out on June 21. But on that very day, as I was texting him to confirm he was still coming, he sent a text, canceling again because he was sick. Fine. We rescheduled for Friday, June 24. At 11:08 AM that day, Cane sent me a text saying that he was on route from Bowie to College Park. This is the very last text message he ever sent me (look at the update below).
I texted him that same day at 11:11 AM to let him know the tenants were home, at 5:30 PM to ask for an update, and on Sunday, June 26 at 11:21 AM, asking him to let me know if he couldn't do the repair he should tell me so I can find someone else. What's worse, I had to reach out to my tenants and ask if Cane came by. They told me he did, it was a quick visit where he asked them what the problem was, and then told my tenants that he would reach out back to me to get confirmation that he could proceed with the work. Once again, Cane put the onus on me (and to a certain extent, making it seem like I'm holding up the repair with my tenants and not him).
It's Monday, June 27 just after 11 AM (over a month since I first reached out to Cane) and I still haven't heard from him. I'm in the process of looking for someone else. I can only assume he didn't know how to repair the microwave or didn't want to and instead of informing me, he just went silent. I spent $149 that I can't get back for B.S. service and the microwave still does not work. For those still reading this, DO NOT USE ZELLE to pay Cane your money. Zelle rarely provides refunds and once the money is gone, it's gone. DO NOT USE ZELLE with him, even if he insists.
I could never in good conscience recommend this person and his business to anyone else. Please do not use him. I don't want what happened to me to happen to someone else.
UPDATE: FYI, Cane reached out to me just as I was about to post this review. Based on the subsequent conversation with him and a separate conversation with my tenants (which you can see for yourself), my review will stay at one (wishing it could be a zero). Just in case, I waited all day for him to respond to my last message and he didn't. He is a liar, he took my money, and instead of admitting he didn't know what the heck to do, he keeps trying to direct me to find someone else instead of offering me my money back or some other mutually acceptable alternative.
I hope anyone reading this NEVER considers using him. I will be reporting his business to the Better Business Bureau or any other review platform I can find.
Edited for grammatical issues.