Reliable Stove Exchange

Our old 1950s stove needed a little attention - a little attention - because two of the top burners had ceased to light automatically. I called Reliable Stove Exchange and was told that they could be here within the hour. Great! The guy came, spent 20 minutes on the stove, no replacement parts were needed. Great!
Unfortunately I hadn't inquired about the price beforehand, and the bill for the 20 minutes was $279.50.
This seemed high to me. Perhaps I'm wrong. Does it seem high to you? A recent house-call from a plumber was charged at $85.00.

Have a Wedgwood? These guys know what they're doing. After calling around a bunch of highly rated appliance repair businesses in the city, we FINALLY found someone who works on antique Wedgwood stoves, and do it well. Lem unclogged a valve and had our oven working in no time. We are grateful that we now have a reliable, knowledgeable business to turn to for our quirky but mighty old stove.

The absolute best! I have a 100 year old stove and Mac has kept it going into the 21st century. He even installed a special earthquake-safe hose when he saw I needed one.

Lem and Mac came and fixed my 1950's Okeefe & Merritt stove. They did a great job, and now the oven works and the door to it seals perfectly . It was fun to watch these two who knew exactly what they were doing!

Mac is so fantastic and a gem. I have an antique Wedgewood that he just tuned up and made perfect for new tenants coming to live at my house on Winfield St.

He is an expert stove repairer, always on time, and just a super nice guy!!! I feel so lucky he's in my list of go to's.

Mac at Reliable is a great guy and very knowledgeable range repairman.

Our 70 year old Wedgewood has been in the family since new, and we've always managed to revive it when it gets cranky. But recently, it was showing some really concerning behavior - overheating, not shutting off, leaking gas. We shut it down and were looking at options for replacing it when we decided to give it one more shot (and by the way, pricing on 36" replacement ranges was a great motivator!)

Called Reliable, Mac came out the next day, gave our range a quick once over. He suggested several things to bring the unit back up to snuff: a replacement oven control, repacking the burner valves, and replacing the oven door springs. We agreed to go for it, and Mac said he'd order the parts and get back to us. The oven control itself was $350, but well worth it, as was the rest of the repair.

Our Wedgewood is now good for another decade or two, and we are so happy to have had help from the folks at Reliable.

Mac has helped me with my BEAST of a vintage stove (1930's coal/ woodburning stove I got on Cragslist years ago) several times. I have had a love hate relationship with this old stove...it looks sooo cool and is built to last forever (with the minor tune ups it's needed over the years) but...finally, this ancient, lovely thing is revamped, cooks amazingly, has no gas smell, and looks better than anyone else's stove I know!! That's what counts...I now have the coolest (working) stove.

This guy is old school...a good old fashioned skilled pro in his field. He is charming and professional and patient with me and my stove drama.

He even deals with my cat trying to play with him and his tools while he is working...though, like most servicemen who have been barked at alot, he's not into dogs much...so, I always tuck them away when he comes over.

Thanks Mac - it's been a pleasure to work with you. You are the vintage stove HERO!!

After agreeing to the $60 service call we had an appointment for 9:00 Thursday.
Mack calls @ 9:30 to complain he cant find a place to park - and that would have been a good time to say - "I'm not coming" instead Mack apparently blows off appointments if parking is difficult, he never showed up, answered or returned my calls. Really bummed I took morning off work and got stood up by this guy.

No show for scheduled appointment. No call, no indication whatsoever. Me thinks a better name would be Unreliable Stove Exchange.

Mac is THE MAN. The vintage stove man.

My 1930s Wedgewood stove is truly my baby. When it developed a leak and PGE shut it down and required repairs, I was distraught. Who to call?! The standard appliance guys turned a deaf ear once they heard "1930s".

The property "management" team for my building usually "manages" to turn any repair into some kind of profit for them and downscaling for the tenants. Last time a kitchen was "improved" in the building, the Wedgewood stove - probably worth 15,000 or so was ripped out and a nice, cheap, ugly one took its place. I heard through the owner's son they charged 27, 000 for their "renovation". So, it was up to me to find a doctor for my Depression era baby stove.

After calling another round of so-called vintage stove repair guys who by turn wanted to over-charge me, misrepresent their questionable skills, and *gasp* sass me! - I finally found the aptly named Reliable Stove Exchange.

Mac to the rescue!

He quoted me a more than fair price based on what PGE had stated in their inspection of the leak from the burner valves- around 175. When he came out he found a very cost-effective fix (20 dollars) for an additional problem with the oven. After 80 years, a part of the broiler frame had shimmied loose. Another repair guy wanted to essentially ruin the old design, re-route a pipe and had quoted me 1500 to ruin my stove with his fix. And by the way, that would have been in addition to 200 he wanted for the burners. For 20 Mac machined a part in his shop and custom-repaired it. Hmmmm 1500 dollars for chaotic non-essential re-do or 20 bucks for an elegant effective fix? I did the Mac math. 20 was good for me.

When PGE came out to inspect it again, they found one other problem with the thermostat, something new the previous inspector missed. I called Mac and he came the next day, ordered the part with a 50% deposit and installed it as soon as it came in the next week. PGE said it is now working perfectly! No leaks whatsoever.

Having called and screened most of the appliance repair places in the city and all of the local vintage stove guys about my Wedgewood woes, I can say for sure, Mac is THE BEST repair man for vintage stoves in the bay area. Heck, maybe the complete old stove world.

And for anybody who thinks that people who literally labor in their work, traveling, lifting heavy items, working in oily, greasy, dirty metal boxes, and learning those what-seems-to-you 5-minute assessments through decades of work, shouldn't charge for their time coming to assess your problem...
Have some compassion. Or have an Ikea. Either way.

In any case, I highly recommend Mac for anyone with a vintage stove that needs repair. Give him a call. Give him a minute to get back to you. He and his wife run the shop. They're not from the text and run generation. And that's the good news. They are indeed reliable!