Sears Extended Warranty-Kenmore Elite Dishwasher

[joe233]

Hi all,

I know I've asked you about this previously.
What do you think of Sears' extended warranty?
They now want to charge 118.00 for a 2 year
warranty. It would start now and extend the
manufacturers warranty by 1 and 1/2 years.
They want $348.00 for a 5 year one. It was
$180.00 at at the time of purchase.

We already had one repair in which the buttons
fell off. It would have cost $260.00 just for
that.

I have read a lot of reviews now about the Elite
breaking down. Could this just be the lemons that
are found in a product line?

I am leaning toward not buying their warranty.

Perhaps I can fix it myself with all your help if the
need arises.

thank you

 

[xraytech]

I dont think that the Warranties offered from sears are worth getting, on every one we have purchased on things ranging to vacuums to garden tractors, any time we went to use the warranty it was usually a fight trying to have them repair or replace.

 

[yogitunes]

FOR $348.00 you could get a new one for a few more dollars, at that point I recommend Lowes, got a few appliances there, the washer/dryer pair cost me 149.00 for a 4 year plan, for the set, ths takes effect after the 1 year manufacturers warranty runs out, Sears extended cancels the original warranty and starts you with the new one, th dshwasher only cost me $50.00 for a 4 year plan, again, only after the first year warranty expired, I used to deal with sears alot, and had all their extended packages, which they claimed, they would come out, as requested, and clean the unit out completely once a year while covered, they never showed when scheduled, I've had many issues with them, only when you call Chicago home office will you get anything done.....

best buy is another one with the extended, they hire these outside firms that screwed up my machine worse than when they started....

best advice is shop around, and compare, we have a little appliance store here, they have excellent service and any warranty for a major appliance is $30.00 a year, after the original expires, for the washer and dryer you didn't have to pay twice, one price for the pair, I bought a 9 year plan, with the original thats 10 total for my frigidaire FL set, let the bearings go, there covered for 10 years, you won't get that from SEARS, at that price, trust me!

 

[jons1077]

Plain and Simply

NOT WORTH IT!!! I won't touch Kenmore Elite anything either. Very expensive junk. Extending my warranty still left me without a stove for 4 months, without a dishwasher for 1 month, and had to fix the fridge myself. The only appliance that didn't actually break down at any point was the microwave. Well, not true...the disposer did quite well.

The warranty is VERY limited in what they will actually do. You will not get service right away. A tech will come out and figure out what the problem is. Then they have to order the parts which, for me, took weeks. If that part doesn't fix it then guess what? Yup, gotta order more parts and wait again. You may not even get new parts. They might be off of other machines that broke down. They will go to all lengths NOT to replace your machine even if it means completely rebuilding it one part at a time. (That is what the tech actually told me. He was right too!)

Don't send another dime towards that junk. When it breaks and you can't fix it yourself, get an old Kitchenaid.

Jon

 

[xraytech]

That sounds like my experience, and with our last run in the parts were on back order and stated it would be 3 months for parts, you have to threaten them for an exchange, also when calling for service they always cancel most of the time, last year they cancelled on me 6 weeks in a row. after that I refuse to buy another Kenmoreor Craftsman product and I try as hard as possible to keep as many people from buying anything there.

Also my last dishwasher was a $600 Kenmore Elite and lasted 2 yrs and 3 months and Sears would not repair under warranty, I replaced with a BOL and am searching for an older Kitchedn asid for a replacement

 

[toggleswitch2]

Having worked for Sears selling appliances.....

The money from the extended warranties (actually "maintenance agreements") goes RIGHT TO THE STORE. It is generally pure profit. Customers don't like that is overlaps the manufacturer's warranty. Good thing is if they cant fix the item (even ddcades later) you'll get a new one or an equivalent one. Bad thing is you pay for that appliance many times over.

OTOH, the way these computerized conmponets die after 2 years or less, one sort of has to have an extended warranty /maintenance agreement "or else". Self-insuring is said to be wise, but the cost of these components being so high makes it risky.

At this poiint I'd rather buy used off Craig's list!

 

[laundromat]

burned once shame on them

I have always purchased it except for a new Frigemore set I bought at Sears for $1299. After 14 months,the baring seal went and so did the washer. The entire assembly and labor would have cost me $799!!! I feel it's better to have it and not use it then to need it and not have it.

 

[joe233]

Wow! I feel like we're doomed

And we dumped our 1994 Kitchenaid :-(

Tell me something good about the Elite.

 

[dj-gabriele]

118 dollars for a 2 years warranty? That's a rip off! You get 2 years warranty as standard over here. It's unbeliavable how much they ask for it! Do people really get it?!
We got 5 years warrany for all the kitchen appliances (hobs, oven, dishwasher, sink and hood) from SMEG for 125€! And that was expensive to me!

 

[joeinfl]

I just got the offer to extend the warranty on my Jenn Air Dishwasher. It will be 5 years old when the warranty expires in Sep 09 and they are asking for $74.20 for one year and $189.21 for a 3 year. I've had no problems except for the bottom rack rusting through and they covered that and brought me a new one. It's the TOL Stainless Steel model and it was $1,200 new from The Maytag Store. The extended warranty was through them. Wondering if I should extend the warranty or not since there have been no problems.

 

[launderess]

For What It Is Worth

Consumer Reports has stated repeatedly and often that extended warranties are a waste of time and money. If an item such as an appliance, computer or such is going to malfunction or "break", it normally will do so within the first few weeks of service, or surely before six months to a year.

Considering the build quality of most things these days repairs of items out of warranty are normally so dear that one might was well purchase new, which is why most extended warranties exclude major repairs and or give consumers a hard time with what would amount to major repair work.

CR did recommend extended warranties for new models/types of things such as when large LCD and plsama televisions came upon the scene. Such units cost upwards of three or more thousand dollars back in the days, and thus obviously were'nt going to be chucked out if they malfunctioned after the warranty. However enough data has come in on such appliances that reliablity can be measured. Of course if one follows the old adage of never purchasing the first year model of a new product and or design, it is easy to wait and see what problems if any for early adopters.

By and large extended warranties are cash cows for all involved in selling them. As with all types of insurance, the object is to take in as much in premiums as possible, while paying out as little in claims/work. So if the thing never has an issue and or it is made as difficult as possible to get service or much is excluded, money stays firmly in the company's pocket.

Prices for many former "big ticket" items such as major appliances and electronic goods have been falling for years. Add to this competition from online/non brick and mortar venues, selling extended warranties has become a tidy profit center for many stores. However even many online stores now try to push the darn things. IIRC, Circut City, Best Buy, Sears and others did or still do pay commission to salespersons for each EW they push.

L.