On Tue, 5 Aug 2003 14:54:14 -0500, Tony wrote:
A little over a year ago I had some work done on my garage door opener. The
opener itself is a Craftsman 139.53615SR. It was made in 1990. It was the
unit that was in the home when we bought it, and we have no documentation
for the unit.

When it stopped working, we had a local company come out to assess the
problem. They were recommended to me by a colleague. They said that our
door spring was not properly carrying the weight of the door and that as a
result the gear inside the unit was stripped. They indicated that they
could replace the gear, but fairly soon the same problem would likely recur.
(I had tested the spring before they arrived and knew it was problematic.)

They said the door (which is double wide) should have been installed
originally with 2 springs instead of one. I went ahead and had them change
out the doors to 2 new springs and all the related equipment, and then also
repair the opener. They had a package which came with a lifetime warranty
on the door and the opener motor. Cost $468.

The above experience was my first time dealing with a repair company after
purchasing our home, and I learned a lot for the future. I've always felt
like I may have been ripped off, but I wasn't sure. The breakdown on the
bill was as follows:

Service Call $48
Gear Kit $68
Set 218 tor spr $178
set 1000cc tor dru $48
1 c bearing $18
1 set 10 neo rollers $118
Lifetime warranty parts and labor

By buying the above "package" I got a lifetime warranty on the motor and the
door and components. If I hadn't purchased the entire thing I wouldn't have
gotten the warranty. Turns out, that may not have been worth it.

Based on the above, does it look like I was "ripped off"? In particular,
the rollers seem absurdly high, but I wasn't sure about the rest of this.

I ask this, in particular, because it now appears that our opener _may_ be
on its last legs. The remotes no longer work very well. One of them only
works within 6' of the opener unit and 1 of them works further away but
intermittently. I called this company and they said that although my motor
is covered by the warranty, that doesn't cover things related to the remote.
I'm not sure whether it would be worthwhile to have work done just related
to the remotes (which are very old) or if I should just replace this with a
new opener unit.

I asked them for a quote on a new unit. They said their lowest cost unit
would run $295 (that includes installation). They recommended a screw drive
unit with a 10 year warranty for $349. They also said that if I bought a
unit elsewhere it would run $95 to install a Craftsman and $125 to install
any other type opener.

I'm hesitant to deal with this company for a new install if they've taken
advantage of me before, but their prices on new units seem reasonable.

Any advice? I'm located near Pensacola, FL, if anyone has a specific
recommendation of a company in this area.


Well, what were the competitive quotes? If they were relatively close
for the same work and parts, then you probably weren't "ripped off", since
that's the going market rates.

What makes you so sure that you were ripped off, in the first place?