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daven_gw

I am getting an extended warranty. Which company is best?

daven
16 years ago

I know all the arguments against the warranties but I am in a rural area where it is often difficult/impossible to get service. The aggravation that I have had in the past has driven me to an extended warranty.

With that understood, which company is best? GE, Reapairmaster, others? I want to get a Samsung FD, a Fisher&Paykel double oven, and a Bosche dishwasher covered.

I would appreciate any good experiences or adverse experiences with extended warranty service. I need to act in the next week.

Comments (15)

  • rgillman
    16 years ago

    My appliance guy said they use G.E. for everything; thinks they are the best. I got extended warranties on everything but the hood.

  • cpovey
    16 years ago

    The manufacturer or another major company.

    Not too long ago, a warranty company in Florida went out of business. All the warranties they sold, more than a million of them, were instantly completely worthless.

  • lindawink
    16 years ago

    I just had my Advantium fixed under a GE warranty. The service was great.

  • paul_ma
    16 years ago

    I don't understand. Does the 3rd party warranty company provide the service, or just pay for it? If they just pay for it then you are no better off.

    A warranty is generally just an insurance policy. You know your payment is more than sufficient to pay the average cost of the repairs you are going to need. So like most insurance, if the cost of the worst thing that could happen would not do you great harm then you should probably self insure.

    OTOH, if the warranty payment is a retainer fee on somebody who is competent to actually do the work, and guarantees availability in a market where availability is scarce, then it makes more sense to go for it.

  • daven
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Paul,

    My understanding is that the warranty company pays for it. If they can't get the unit fixed then they pay me for the appliance at a prorated amount. At 6 years I would get 62% of the purchase price back.

    http://www.geappliances.com/service_and_support/warranty/terms.htm

    I think that they would have more leverage getting a repairman out than I have had in the past for electronics hurt by a power surge.

  • pecanpie
    16 years ago

    daven, do read the fine print- often damage caused by power surges are not covered by warranties.

  • chipshot
    16 years ago

    The nice salesman at Lowe's said their extended warranty covered power surges. Now if I could just get Lowe's to carry more appliances that interest me.

  • lindawink
    16 years ago

    I would read the fine print on your warranty, rather than trust the salesman. I'm not implying that he is intentionally misleading, but rather he may not be accurate in the info he is telling you. Just think about all the inaccurate things the salespeople say about the actual appliances, and you get an idea about how in depth their knowledge might be about the extended warranty. Ask me how I know :(

  • daven
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Good points. GE does not cover power surges but I believe that Lowe's does. Unfortunately, we didn't get the oven from Lowes. The "NICE SALESMAN" had told us that Lowes warranty would cover any 3 appliances even if they weren't purchased from Lowes. I bought the warranty and then checked with Lowes warranty department. Long story short, they refunded my $ and reamed a salesman.

  • whenzuc
    16 years ago

    fyi- when you buy on AMEX charge- your originsl waranty is doubled!

  • daven
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I believe AMEX will add one year to the original warranty, so a Fisher & Paykel oven would go from 2 to 3 years. I have used this before and it is of real value.

  • chipshot
    16 years ago

    Other cards also offer warranty extension. One caution, however, if you have a GC and purchase the appliances separately using a card, the appliances probably won't be covered by the contractor's insurance against losses during construction. Reading the fine print is always good advice.

  • chipshot
    16 years ago

    The source for our appliances sells RepairMaster extended warranties (the last time we purchased from them they sold National Electronics Warranty). Daven asked about them in his original post, but I don't believe I saw anything posted as far as experiences with them, etc. Does anyone have anything specific to share?

    What about purchasing an extended warranty independently? Are there companies I can contact on my own to purchase what may be a better policy (or an equally good one at a better price)? Has anyone here done that?

  • peggross1
    16 years ago

    fwiw, we are having a "whole house" surge protector installed in our house. Not sure the expense of this item alone, since it is wrapped in our too expensive entire renovation, but it is worth looking into to protect your expensive appliances/tvs/computers from needing a repair from power surge in the first place!

  • jessyf
    16 years ago

    What about calling local or your closest repair companies and see what they recommend?