After years of hearing about Maytag's great, unbreakable products, and the fact that the Maytag Repairman was "out of work," I remodeled my kitchen and installed new cabinets based on the company's appliance dimensions. I had more or less become a captive buyer.
Not long after, my first two Maytag dishwashers had leaking problems, so I upgraded to a higher-end stainless-steel model. I thought I was free and clear from appliance trouble, but no such luck -- Maytag sold out to Whirlpool. After that move, it was one problem after another in my house. The company moved to outsourced production, which included cheap labor, parts, and maintenance.
I had problems again with the new Maytag stainless-steel dishwasher, and as luck would have it, I neglected to buy the extended warranty. That was a big mistake. After one year and two weeks to the day -- when the standard warranty ran out -- it stopped working. After about three days, I got in touch with the designated Whirlpool maintenance company. They came and installed a new electronic starter that cost north of $300. I kept the old part and went online to find that I could have bought the replacement part for $50 from a store in Boston.
This entry was submitted by Dan McCarthy and edited by Jennifer Campbell.
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#1) Isn't ROLLS ROYCE now part of the VOLSWAGEN family of companies? So, I would NOT think that using a $100K to $150K priced vehicle IS necessarily a good analogy.
#2) I have owned several VICTORINOX pocket knives in my life, and I would agree w/ the other blogger. I don't think their price point is necessarily optimum. In fact, purchasing one with only a few basic functions is somewhat pricey.
#3) Is SPEED QUEEN still in business? IF SO, why does one NEVER hear of them, OR see any advertising for their products?
#4) In the 1950s / 1960s/ 1970s /1980s, we had a HAMILTON gas dryer. It ran & ran & ran, and NEVER got a "checkup" or saw the repairman in all those years, until one day part of the gas ignitor system failed. Unfortunately, HAMILTON had ceased operations, and this particular part was NOT available as a generic replacement. We bit the bullet & purchased a replacement, BUT not without much wailing & gnashing of teeth, as the it was carted out of the basement. I'd be willing to bet that the carcass served as a source of parts for other malfunctioning HAMILTON drtyers until it was picked to its bones.
rick, I've had the opposite kind of luck with extended warranties. Bought way too many of 'em I never needed, even on big-ticket items like washing machines. Sounds like you've had the kind of luck that makes them a necessity.
I have a nominal "rule" for those things now. I made a mistake in buying a 4 yr extended warrranty on my first (and still only) plasma flat screen. About $2800 a the time, I worried that I would have an early failure and be faced with a buy/repair decision. What I neglected to consider is how fast prices would plummet on flat screens over the next 18 months. And the plasma is now 6 years old and running without incident.
My rule now is pretty soft, but it generally goes like this: If the device is likely to be superceded by newer cheaper models in the next few years, and/or the cost is $500 or less, and I wouldn't be terribly inconvenienced by a failure (or I might be able to fix it myself) -- NO EXTENDED WARRANTY. So flat screen TV's, smart phones, laptop PC's under $600, home audio and appliances like vacuums don't rate an extended warranty.
A high end laptop PC ($1200+) on the other hand, would probably rate the warranty, but for no more than 3 years, and perhaps only 2.
I'll still probably buy one on the next washer we buy, because I don't expect its design to be obsolete in 5 years, and I don't expect replacement cost to decline by much over time.
Now cars are another matter. I almost bought the maint. agreement for my last new vehicle, and then decided to cancel a couple of days later. After all, one of my reasons for choosing that particular vehicle was low maintenance costs and high reliability. And it hasn't disappointed me.
I have a nominal "rule" for those things now. I made a mistake in buying a 4 yr extended warrranty on my first (and still only) plasma flat screen. About $2800 a the time, I worried that I would have an early failure and be faced with a buy/repair decision. What I neglected to consider is how fast prices would plummet on flat screens over the next 18 months. And the plasma is now 6 years old and running without incident.
My rule now is pretty soft, but it generally goes like this: If the device is likely to be superceded by newer cheaper models in the next few years, and/or the cost is $500 or less, and I wouldn't be terribly inconvenienced by a failure (or I might be able to fix it myself) -- NO EXTENDED WARRANTY. So flat screen TV's, smart phones, laptop PC's under $600, home audio and appliances like vacuums don't rate an extended warranty.
A high end laptop PC ($1200+) on the other hand, would probably rate the warranty, but for no more than 3 years, and perhaps only 2.
I'll still probably buy one on the next washer we buy, because I don't expect its design to be obsolete in 5 years, and I don't expect replacement cost to decline by much over time.
Now cars are another matter. I almost bought the maint. agreement for my last new vehicle, and then decided to cancel a couple of days later. After all, one of my reasons for choosing that particular vehicle was low maintenance costs and high reliability. And it hasn't disappointed me.
rick, my rule is very similar, with the same cutoff amount (although that's a moving target). I learned the hard way, thankfully on small inexpensive consumer electronics. I also don't buy extended warranties on any white goods, even ones that cost more than $500. Good point about computers--they're a different animal.
I agree with your "soft rule" on all counts, rickgtoc. A lot of stores make their money on selling warranties for products that will be superceded by better, cheaper models in a few years. They know that in 3-4 years, most people won't want to repair the old product. I also agree about warranties on cars. Today's vehicles are much better than those of 30 years ago. I'll take my chances with them.
Al, you did luck out. The only thing similar I've experienced is when Microsoft gave me a free replacement of the entire MS office package, back when it was even more hideously expensive (in relative dollars) than it is now, in recompense for a tech support screwup. Those were the days...
Clinton, thanks for the info on SpeedQueen. My GE washer and dryer are still working fine, although we've had to do some minor repairs here and there. But they're both 12 years old and I know someday maybe soon I'll need to replace them. Red sparkly appliances? Wow. That sounds over the top. I'm not fond of white appliances either (my fridge is a black Kenmore), but since the white GE W&D are out in the utility room, at least I don't have to look at them often.
Getting full recompense on something as big as Office is impressive, Ann. With big products, you usually have to dig your heels in and be ready for a battle.
Chuck, I was completely amazed. It was retailing for somewhere between $400-600 at the time, which would be equivalent to probably twice that now in inflated dollars. This was during a short period when MS was actually trying to improve their notoriously bad telephone customer service. I think it was in the mid to late 90s, but don't quote me on that.
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