Sounds like he saw you coming a mile down the road!

But on some things, and now that I am older and have a little bit more cash, I do buy these maintenance plans.  Not because they save a dime, but because we are then first on the list to get it fixed.  And my wife would die with no AC!

But I still would not buy one.  If I need it, then the product stinks and I will tell them that they will never get a referral from me.

how so?  I didn't buy the warranty when I was first asked last year.  We skipped it. 

I feel stuck between a rock and hard place.  We don't seem to have a choice now knowing what we do. 

If we don't buy the warranty, we may end up with the same problem our next door neighbor is going thru now.  He's spending $700 (labor only) on a problem that is totally different than what we have now.  They have the same system we do. 

So we either take another chance and hope nothing happens in the next 10 years or we spend the $731 now and everything will be covered for 10 years.  

What other choice do I have? 

My A/C went out two years ago (compressor). I paid $1050 to have it replaced (It was 6 years old). Things happen. The people that service these things know how long they typically last. When you buy a service agreement, you are betting the product will fail while the seller is betting it will last through the warranty (remember they know when most items will fail). It boils down to do you feel "unlucky". The warranty sellers know a small percentage of items will fail, but not enough to cause a monetary loss.

Do this, ask yourself how many things do you have in your home that have passed the life of any warranty. I have a color NEC 15" monitor (don't use it much anymore, but it makes a good emergency TV) I bought in 1984, my Sony TV is 8 years old. Never bought a warranty for these and if I have it would have been money wasted. In most cases will the warranty company even be around? Seems most stores try selling a "protection" plan for everything these days, even software.

If you do feel the need for a warranty shop around, you might be able to save some cash. You can also do yearly plans that cover most anything.

Back in the 1920s was when the appliance revolution so to speak started.  In 50s and 60s, was when it took off.  Many companies learned something from the 20s.  In the 20s companies made products that last.  Now, when I say last I mean they last.  I've seen several appliances from the the late 20s that still work and can be used if they weren't antiques.  Most of them have been used, so its not like a lack of use for still working.

During the 50s and 60s, companies realized they could make more money if the appliance didn't last forever.  Then they also realized there is money to be made for warranties.

Like Nitro said, this is very much science and math at its best (or worst depending on your perspective) when it comes down to warranties and products.  Most manufactors can accurately esimate how long their average product should last.  Some products are going to be duds/lemons that give out way way too early and then some will be on that other end that last longer then they should.

We could easily make products that last for who knows how long but there is no money in that if you have to buy that product once in a lifetime.

I think Toyota has a lifetime warranty offer now.  I'm not sure how much it is but this is very very wise move considering the acceleration pedal problem and all the bad publicity that gave Toyota.

Which leads me to a question not entirely related to this post.  I feel that the only reason that this (the acceleration pedal problem) was brought to the forefront was the fact that the government runs the U.S. auto industry now.  Think about it, its been going on since I think 1996.  Granted, I guess the problem could have just snowballed and got worse.  Thoughts?

Warranties are always interesting topic of discussion.

'We bought a Hyundai'  That's as far as I could make it through the article.

HAAHAHHAHA, I guess it wasn't a good/sweet driving experience?

I thought we were told that the new home warranty originally said our compressor was good for 10 years.  I do know that parts are good for five and labor for two (we're now 2 1/2 years into this) but I'll have to check on just the compressor.  So this time we're only paying for labor for this module problem.  The part would have been around $300 he said.  So thankfully we're not paying that.   

That's what we're doing now.  In the meantime my AC is NOT fixed yet and sounds very sick.  It's now doing a skipping noise.  Another weekend to go through and it's supposed to be very very hot.  Hopefully we'll make it thru this weekend with air.  So even when this does get fixed I'm wondering the two weeks of running rough might jar or wear out another part somewhere along the line causing us more trouble later. 

I did call one  Home Warranty place and they quoted me $485 a year with a $100 deductible.  That would include all the appliances in the house plus air and heating system.  I mean what's the chances I'll lose my fridge or microwave?  And if so, $485 a year (minus the deductible even making it $585) is over $5,000 in 10 years.   I could buy quite a few appliances outright with that money saved. 

But still thinking the $731 for 10 years for just the air is a good gamble because they seem to be so suseptible to problems and we use it for a good part of the year. 

yes, to buy or not to buy.  I've pretty much avoided them this far.  My friend down here just bought a camera and got the two year extended warranty for $35 bucks.  I told him I'd bed him dollars to donunts he wasted his money.  He told me I sounded just like a Yankee! 

I had a Kenmore Washing Machine that lasted and lasted and lasted.  The barrel was rusting out  but she still worked.  I bought it when my eldest son was newborn and got rid of it when he was in college.  It worked fine right up to the end.  I also had a large counter microwave (another Kenmore) that lasted and lasted.  I actually was waiting for it to die for a few years before it did because then I was planning on buying another that went over the stove.   We were too frugal to just go and buy the other with a perfectly good one still in working condition. 

why is that bad Anthony?  We bought it for two reasons.  Gas mileage and warranty. 

Another thing I just thought of.  When we bought this home all the appliances were warranteed two years completely.  Right from the get go I had problems with my DW.  It was making a loud grinding noise and wasn't cleaning my dishes properly.  I kept calling GE to come and fix it after each guy tried their best at replacing some small part. 

Nothing was working.  I kept telling them I thought it was the motor but they kept thinking it was another thing and would order a diff part and come a week later to put it in.  This happened about a half dozen times over a few months until the last guy who came the last few times did put in a new motor.   He said he was bound and determined to get my DW working.  I was thinking maybe I just needed to get another new DW.  But it was the motor afterall.  The grinding noise stopped. 

It's been working ever since but it's still not great at cleaning my dishes like I think it should.  So I've got this new DW with a whole bunch of new parts including a motor.  It's quiet but I always seem to have a few dishes in there that have food on them still.   

It's true they're not making em' like they used to.   

My home came with all GE appliances (and I added a refrigerator and washer dryer) the products are OK, but I believe I will look elsewhere as I replace things. I have replaced the cheap GE DW with a Bosch, one of the best moves I ever made. I can barely hear it operate and it does a fantastic job. Besides I'm not thrilled with GE's recent political motivations and the fact that they were selling to Iran while the Iranians were sending IEDs to Iraq.

I try to read a lot of user reviews on various sites. One can get a pretty good idea about the reliability of a product before buying. I believe that is the best you can really do. I was reading about some issues with Samsung refrigerators. When a few people mention the same issues, that sends up a red flag. A/C is supposed to be a durable item, I would expect a name brand to stand behind there product. 

got some interesting news. 

Like I said the extended warranty we've been offered is $731 and we're thinking of it while we're waiting for the part to come in.  They should be here next week hopefully to put the part in and talk about whether or not we want to get the extra warranty. 

Unexpectedly, yesterday, we got a certified check in the mail for almost exactly that amount from someone who owed us that money 10 years ago!!!!  We never expected to see that money again.  It seems as tho we've got our answer.  

God is good! 

and the news just keeps on coming...

Woke up today with NO air at all.  It died this morning.  Thankfully we made it thru the weekend.  Hopefully they'll be coming out soon.  Today is supposed to be blistering hot out. 

Not the warranty, the repair.  They are going to "teach you a lesson".

Computers were later, but the ones that never seem to die are the originals!  IBM PC XT and ATs, and Apples II series!  I had people 10 years later refusing to give them up because of how much they cost and because they were still running!!!!!