In a small town most repairs are arranged on a phone call and a recommendation. Here are the criteria that tell you whether a technician is worth trusting — criteria you can apply to us as easily as to anyone else.
If your AC stops cooling in Sasaram or a pipe starts leaking in Bikramganj, you do not run a tender process. You ask a neighbour, you call a number, somebody arrives. That is how home services work in a small town, and mostly it works fine.
The trouble is that when it goes wrong, it goes wrong quietly. Something is replaced that did not need replacing. A part is charged for that was never fitted. A job is done in a way that holds for two months. None of it is obvious at the time, because the whole transaction depends on the customer not knowing the trade.
So it is worth having a few criteria. What follows applies to anybody, including us. If we fail one of these on a given day, hold us to it.
Published prices, and the same price for everyone
The single most useful signal is whether prices exist before you call. When a technician works out the price after seeing your house, your car and your furniture, the price is about you rather than about the work. When it is written down and public, the same job costs the same in every mohalla.
Ask for the rate before the visit, and ask whether GST is included or extra. Ask what happens if the job turns out to be bigger than expected. A published rate list also gives you something to check the final bill against, which is the real point. Ours is on the rate list page, with GST extra and travel charges beyond 5 KM stated separately.
Diagnosis before quote, not the other way round
A technician who names a price and a repair before looking at the machine is guessing, or worse.
The right sequence is: look at the problem, explain what is wrong in plain language, then say what it will cost. You should be able to understand the explanation. "There is a fault in the PCB" is not an explanation. "The fan is not starting, and the capacitor that starts it is weak, which is why it hums and stops" is.
And ask what happens if the diagnosis was wrong. A technician who replaces a part, finds the fault is still there, and then charges you for the next part as well is passing the cost of their own mistake to you.
The one habit worth insisting on: ask for the old part back whenever something is replaced. A technician who readily hands over the removed capacitor, tap, valve or motor has nothing to hide. One who says it was thrown away, or gets irritated at the question, is the one to watch. This single habit prevents most of the billing problems in this trade.
Parts and paperwork
How spare parts should be billed
Parts are where the money quietly moves. A few reasonable expectations:
- You are told before the part is bought, not after it is fitted
- You are told the cost before it is fitted, and it appears on the bill separately from labour
- The part is charged at what it actually cost, not at a private markup that is never mentioned
- You get the old part back
- If a second-hand or refurbished part is being fitted, you are told that clearly and in advance
This is how we do it, and it is how it should be done anywhere. Spare parts on our jobs are billed at actual cost after telling the customer, and they are a separate line on the bill.
Ask for a bill, every time
A bill is the record of what was agreed, what was done, what was fitted and what it cost. Without it you have nothing at all if the same fault comes back in three weeks.
A proper bill should show the business name and a contact number, the date, the work done, parts listed separately, and the amount. That is not a high bar, and a business that cannot meet it is telling you something about how it intends to handle a dispute.
We give a bill for every job. With anyone else, ask directly on the phone whether they will, and listen to how the answer is given.
Warning signs of a bad job
Some of these show up before the work starts and some after:
- A quote given on the phone with no questions asked about the problem
- Pressure to decide immediately, or an offer that is only good today
- A diagnosis that keeps expanding as the visit goes on, with new problems appearing after each repair
- Reluctance to show you the old part, the new part, or the sealed packaging
- Work done without switching off the mains, or a plumbing job done without closing the supply
- Electrical joints twisted and taped instead of properly terminated, and wires left hanging loose from the board
- Refusal to give a bill, or a bill with no breakdown at all
- No answer on the phone once the money has been taken
The last one is the reason a fixed business address and a number that is answered during stated hours matters more than it appears to. We are in Sasaram, we work Monday to Sunday, 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM, and the number is +91 96315 11974.
What to ask on the phone
- What is the visit charge, and does it come off the repair cost if I go ahead?
- Is GST included or extra?
- Will you tell me the fault and the cost before you start the repair?
- How are spare parts charged, and do I get the old part back?
- Will I get a bill with parts and labour listed separately?
- If the same fault comes back, what happens?
- Do you cover my area, and is there a travel charge?
- When can you actually come?
The answers matter, but so does the manner. Someone who answers eight straightforward questions without irritation will probably behave the same way when something goes wrong.
What a fair visit charge covers
People sometimes object to paying for a visit when nothing gets repaired, so it is worth understanding what it pays for. The visit charge covers the technician's travel, time and diagnosis. That has value even when the answer is that nothing needs fixing, or that the problem is your voltage rather than your appliance, or that the unit is beyond economical repair. An honest "this does not need a repair" is a useful answer, and a technician who cannot charge for their time has an incentive to find something to sell you.
What is fair is that the charge is stated beforehand, that it is the same for everyone, and that you are told clearly whether it is adjusted against the repair if you proceed. Our charges are published on the rate list, and travel charges apply beyond 5 KM.
Timing and reach are part of the judgement
A technician who promises to be anywhere within an hour is either exaggerating or about to leave another customer halfway. Ask honestly when they can come, and prefer the person who gives you a realistic window over the person who gives you a flattering one.
We attend same day across Rohtas, Kaimur and Aurangabad districts — Sasaram, Dehri-on-Sone, Nokha, Bhabhua and Aurangabad among them — and beyond those districts visits are scheduled rather than same day. The full list is on the service areas page.
The short version
Published prices. Diagnosis before quote. Parts declared and billed at cost. The old part returned. A bill every time. A number that gets answered afterwards.
That is the whole test, and it applies to us exactly as it applies to anyone else. If you want to see what we cover before deciding, the services page lists it, and there are more practical guides on the blog.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, provided it was stated before the visit. The charge covers the technician travelling to you, spending time on the job and diagnosing it. An honest answer that nothing needs repair, or that the real problem is your voltage supply, still took that work. What matters is that the charge is fixed, the same for everyone, and explained in advance.
Always. Asking for the removed capacitor, tap, valve or motor is the simplest check there is that the part was actually replaced. A technician with nothing to hide hands it over without being asked twice. Hesitation, an excuse that it was thrown away, or irritation at the question is worth taking seriously.
Compare the bill against a published rate list rather than against what a neighbour paid, since prices set after seeing your house vary by customer. Check that parts are listed separately from labour, that you were told the cost before the part was fitted, and that GST and any travel charge were mentioned in advance rather than added at the end.
Ask the visit charge and whether it adjusts against the repair, whether GST is extra, whether the fault and cost will be explained before work starts, how spare parts are billed, whether you get a bill with parts and labour listed separately, what happens if the fault returns, and when they can realistically come.
Want a hand with this?
Book a technician at home across Sasaram, Rohtas, Kaimur and Aurangabad. Prices fixed up front, a bill for every job.