Questions we are asked
The same handful of questions comes up on the telephone every week. Here they are with the answers we would give you in person.
Reaching the shop
When can I reach the shop?
Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, and Saturday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. We are closed Sunday. A call placed after hours is returned the next business morning; we do not advertise a round-the-clock or emergency line, because we do not run one.
What it costs
What does the first visit cost?
A flat $80 diagnostic fee covers the visit and the diagnosis. If you approve the repair, that $80 is credited against the invoice. You receive a written estimate before any part is ordered and before any repair work begins, so nothing is spent on your behalf without your say-so.
Do you charge by the hour?
No. The visit is a flat $80 diagnostic, whatever the fault takes to find, and the repair is quoted as a written figure for the job rather than as a rate multiplied by a guess at the hours. Where a part has to be ordered in, the return visit to fit it is not charged as a second diagnostic.
What makes one repair dearer than another?
Three things, in order: which part has failed, how much cabinet has to come apart to reach it, and whether the part is keyed to a production run and has to be ordered. A seal or a fan is the cheap end; sealed-system work in the $920–$2,420 band is the dear one, because refrigerant has to be recovered and the circuit reopened.
Is it worth calling somebody out at all?
If the appliance is one we accept, the figure is usually smaller than people fear. The everyday faults — a condenser fan, a door seal, a defrost part, an ice maker — sit in the $260–$570 and $230–$670 bands for a completed repair, and the $80 diagnostic tells you which end of the book you are in before you commit.
What we will take on
Which appliances do you take work on?
Sub-Zero refrigeration only: built-in and integrated columns, undercounter drawers and refrigerators, wine storage units, and ice machines. We do not take work on other manufacturers, we do not take work on cooking or laundry equipment of any make, and we do not take heating, air conditioning or ductwork of any kind. That last one is a separate trade with a separate licence, and it is not ours.
Do you do heating, air conditioning or ductwork?
No, and we never have. Old City Cold Storage Co. is a refrigeration shop: Sub-Zero built-in and integrated cabinets, undercounter units, wine storage and ice machines, and nothing else. Furnaces, heat pumps, air handlers, mini-splits, ducts and whole-house air conditioning are a different trade under a different licence, and we do not take that work in World Golf Village, St. Augustine or anywhere else on our map. Where the heat of a kitchen is part of why a condenser is labouring, we will write that down in the estimate and tell you to call an air-conditioning contractor. We will not quote for it.
Are you allowed to work on the sealed refrigerant system?
Yes. Sealed-system work requires EPA Section 608 certification to handle refrigerant lawfully, and our technicians hold it. That covers recovery, evacuation and charging on compressor, condenser and evaporator faults.
After the repair
What is covered after the repair?
Ninety days on labour and three hundred and sixty-five days on parts, on every completed repair. Parts are genuine OEM. If the same fault returns inside those windows, the return visit is ours to make good.
Who we are not
Are you sent by the manufacturer?
No. Old City Cold Storage Co. is an independent appliance repair company. We are not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by Sub-Zero or its parent company. We name the brand only to say plainly which appliances we service, and every brand name and model number belongs to its owner.
Where to read more
- The schedule of charges, in full.
- The guarantee, including what it does not cover.
- Whether a repair is worth it — the bands set against what a replacement cabinet costs, with the sum written out.
- The repairs we accept — Sub-Zero refrigeration and nothing else.
- The districts we travel to, written one ZIP code at a time.
- Terms and disclosures. The full affiliation statement is printed in the footer of every page on this site.
Something not answered here
Telephone the shop during working hours and ask. Nobody will read you a script, because there is not one.