Monday, April 13, 2015

Extended warranty on kitchen appliances; Yes Or No?

When we moved to this house we had to buy new appliances.  We Dh decided to go all out and buy "good" appliances, so we bought all stainless steel Frigidaire Professional in the kitchen and just the regular Frigidaire washer and dryer.  We paid a LOT of money for all of these and figured we would be set for a long time.

We bought this fridge, and paid a pretty penny for it and have to say I have never loved it.  For one thing it's too small..........I know what am I saying, but I am used to a larger fridge.  It has the ice maker and water dispenser which we love.  Back in January though the ice maker starting making a grinding noise.  So in February I called in for a service call and it was under warranty.  Turned out it was a gasket in the ice maker by the motor.  So changed that and all was well......for around a month.  By the middle of March the noise came back, not as noisy but the same noise.  Called the service lot and told them about it.  After a long discussion I was told to listen out for it (as it doesn't happen that often) and before my year's warranty was up to call them in.

Called in at the store where we bought the appliances as we didn't take out an extended warranty on these appliances.  Imagine my surprise when he told me that it would cost around $850 for another four years warranty on all my appliances.  It goes on the amount you paid for them.

I mentioned the problem with the fridge and his advice was to get the service people out as soon as possible and also give Frigidaire a call and tell them what's what.  I asked him if he had heard of this problem and he said no.  Dh looked up on the internet and there are a pile of complaints about this issue???

$850 seems a heck of a lot for extended warranty, but when you factor in $100 for just calling out the service people then the parts on top of that, I guess it could cost over $200.  I have little faith in this fridge standing the test of time.  The stove was also expensive and will probably cost a lot if it breaks down; but $850!!!

I have more or less talked myself into taking out the extended warranty just to be on the safe side; but I am so not happy with the cost.

There will be a call into the service people this morning to get them to come out and a call to Frigidaire to tell them I am not a happy camper!!

Do you take out extended warranties on your kitchen appliances?

21 comments:

January20 said...

I don't actually Gill because I never buy high end appliances, so if it breaks, and it will cost too much to repair, I buy another. Interestingly enough, I find it's the all singing and dancing appliances that tend to have more problems so I go for basic models. I'm a simple girl anyway :)

T'Pol said...

I understand your frustration Gill. I never bought extended warranty for appliances because I honestly think, they are not worth it. I bought my dishwasher and fridge from Bosch back in 2004 and so far, I never needed to have them serviced. I am glad I haven't wasted the money on extended warranty. I bought my Samsung washer back in 2012 and it is a very basic model at a very low price so, I did not buy warranty for that either. I do not know how old my oven is because when I bought the apartment it was already there and so far no hiccups yet. I believe it is pure luck with appliances and cars.

Maggie said...

The short answer, no, never. I don't think things are built to last like they once were so in my opinion it's not worth the money, you may as well just have a fund put to one side in case anything goes wrong/needs replacing and have the interest off the money.

Boopnut said...

I never buy the extended warranty. It sounds like you got a lemon! All of our appliances are pretty basic, except our fridge where we did have a couple of leaks on the ice maker. Hubby was able to repair it. I don't have a water dispenser, no room for that size of model. My stove is older than my son (who is almost 30).
Good luck, whatever you decide!
Deb

Linda aka Crafty Gardener said...

We used to but then the price got so expensive so we haven't had it since then. I guess you have to factor in how many times you would actually call for service in the time period to get your money's worth. Things will break regardless of service contracts and by that time it is usually best to invest in a newer model. You have to do what you think is best for you.

Jane and Chris said...

We never buy extended warranties on anything. Our new stove had so many problems "they had never seen before",that we were constantly on the phone with the manufacturers. Turns out that the fault was a design fault, they replaced the stove with another model.
Jane x

Scrappy quilter said...

No I did only once and had to fight to get it when I needed it. Sales people get a commission on these warranties. That is why they want you to take them out. I learnt the hard way. I wont't ever take another one out.

Unknown said...

We don't buy extended warranties. We have had pretty good luck with all our appliances lasting for about 10 years (or longer) so if it can't be fixed inexpensively, we replace it. I hope you can get the refrigerator issue solved.

slugmama said...

I'm like many here....never buy the high end so we just replace if it croaks.
That being said, we DID get an extended warranty on our new heating system(as it cost about $20K). Good thing too since the original compressor was a dude and it's been replaced twice in 2 years!

If it gives you peace of mind I say do it....otherwise just put some $ aside for repairs for the future.

Cat Lover said...

We always do buy them and it has worked out for us. My washer died 3 weeks before the extended warranty expired and ended up being a major repair which was all covered. I agree with T'Pol. It is pure luck with appliances

Mum said...

We don't take out extended warranties. Appliances are not designed to last indefinitely.
xx

Out My window said...

I would not take it out. My kids are both attorneys and they always say never, they are not worth the money they and often come with clauses that make them worthless.

DeniseinVA said...

When our warranty runs out we don't usually renue it, but we've been lucky and have never had any major problems in all the years we have been purchasing. It is usually when an appliance totally wears out that we replace them. That amount sounds incredibly excessive but I suppose this is how they make their money, among other things.

William Kendall said...

It sounds like you're getting good advice on this one.

Meanqueen said...

Nope, never buy extended warranties. My appliances don't get a lot of heavy use, They sit around doing nothing most of the time. Would be different for a family where the washer was on every day.

~Carla~ said...

Wow... Brutal. I don't purchase extended warranty, but I also don't purchase top of the line appliances. lol!

Rose said...

No, we never buy the extended warranty...I was just going to say in a couple years you could buy a new fridge, but looked at the price of this one and see it might take a year or two longer.

One thing, I wear myself out looking up reviews on anything I am going to buy, plus checking out consumer reports. But even above consumer reports, I won't go with one they recommend if there are a lot of negative reviews.

Companies out to have to make good on something like this. If you have a lot of trouble the first year, they should have to do at least a second year free of charge.

Jane said...

Nope, never. Personally I think places should stand by their products warranty or not! But that's not the way the game is played anymore. So far I have been fortunate with my appliances: my dryer is 22 years old, my washer, fridge and stove are all close to 20 years old. Not one single service call, ever. Yes, I am now touching wood!!

Pom Pom said...

Oh boo! That's a lot of money. Someone told me that refrigerators are only built to last about 5-8 years. Our last one lived to be 25 or so.

Boyett-Brinkley said...

My husband doesn't believe in extended warranties however we took one out on our washer and dryer when it was new. When the washer had a problem they came, fixed and left -- all good. So, I believe in them and he doesn't but that does sound very expensive.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

My answer is yes and no on extended warranties. Way back when, I did buy a couple for one or two major appliances, but have nit in recent years. Thankfully we have been fortunate and a couoke of repairs fell within the original warranty period. And one or two later were less costly than an extended warranty. That said, we DO buy the extended warranty with our Apple products, not because we feel they ciuld fail, but because it would be a soecialized repair and we wiuld not bring them into the average lc repair facility...thankfully, we have never had to send any for repairs.
Hope your fridge issues get resolved and I know about not liking a new appliance as I felt the same about the nes gas stove we bought a few years ago!

{{{SIGH}}}

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