Chicago

Pizza Fix Leads to Months-Long Ordeal for Local Small Business

Everyone knows pizza is king in Chicago, but what happens when a major piece of equipment breaks down in a pizza shop and the repairs lead to more problems than resolutions?

That's what happened for Mike Avallone, who owns a pizza business in Wheaton alongside his father.

Avallone said he arrived to work one morning in December to find pizza toppings stored in a make line cooler were hot and needed to be thrown away. The damage amounted to nearly $1,000 worth of cheese, meats and vegetables.

While Avallone was able to keep everything else cold in a walk-in refrigerator, he counts on the make line cooler for easy access to the toppings and fast-pizza building. Not to mention, he had a planned for a busy weekend of business.

“I wanted to get this fixed ASAP,” Avallone said. “That’s when I called around to multiple companies.”

He said he finally landed on Service Solution 4 You and was told the company would be able to come out that night. They diagnosed a bad compressor and replaced it for just over $1,500.

But two days later the cooler stopped working again.

“Compressor’s not working, not functioning correctly; another $1,000-worth of food out the door,” Avallone said.

Avallone paid Service Solution 4 You another $400 to fix a leak. But he said that repair did not hold up. And according to Avallone, getting answers from the repair company was “next to impossible."

That’s when he requested a refund.

“They told me they stand by their work,” Avallone said. “My question was what work are you standing by?”

A spokesperson for Service Solution 4 You told NBC 5 Responds the compressor installation and subsequent leak were not related. However, the repair company said they tried their best to fix the cooler. 

“To find the leak and fix the leak it took us around five visits in around three weeks,” the spokesperson said. “We charged only $400 to fix the leak in 15 hours.” 

Avallone hired a second repair company, which found problems with the compressor’s installation. He said they used high tech sensors and detected numerous leaks. So he paid the second repair company nearly $2,000 to replace the compressor. 

It’s an experience Avallone chalks up to an expensive learning experience. 

“That time constraint really pushed this whole process further back,” Avallone said.

NBC 5 Responds contacted Avallone’s credit card company, which agreed to credit him $400. Service Solutions 4 You also offered to refund that amount. However, Avallone had already received the $400 from the credit card company.

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