Warranty periods

[washingpowder]

Just noticed each and every manual now states they only cover 1 year and thats it.

A month ago manuals would still list that e.g. transmission would be covered for 5 years(excluding labor) and basket for 10 years, etc.

Also, GE added a "truth or myth" page that covers valuable summary of what customers were already flashed with, say "front-loaders will not fill to the top of the basket".

Some new laws that skipped my newspaper?

 

[brucelucenta]

OMG!!! Someone will soon chime in that coveted Speed Queen has a longer warranty than that! Just wait.

 

[askolover]

I thought the same thing!!!  I was just waiting for it!

 

[johnb300m]

With that said.....a lot of the warranties on appliances out there are paltry at best. And then you have the scammers covering things like stainless drums and motors....things that hardly EVER break. But the really crappy components like control boards are NEVER covered.

 

[washman]

At any rate

SQ 3 year warranty on parts and labor still trumps the junk that is out there today. And 10 year on tranny, mine anyway, indicates some measure of confidence that the bigger companies lack in their designs.

 

[mamapinky]

Bruce..LOL as for someone chimming in about Speed Queens longer warrenty, you already did..and it does Haha...I couldn't resist messing with you...Cheryl

 

[kb0nes]

Overall all I remain unconvinced that a shorter warranty reflects "lack of confidence" on the part of the manufacturer. I also don't buy that because a machine has a longer warranty means that machine will be better/more reliable/longer lasting etc. just because such coverage exists.

Manufacturers are ditching the warranty coverage because its expensive. I'd bet there are a lot of early calls that are just due to user error/misunderstanding too. Add into the mix that most everyone falls for buying the extended coverage from the retailer, so why not shed those costs as a manufacturer?

The products that offer longer warranties are quite likely to be products that just have more profit built into them initially.

Also as mentioned up thread the warranties often apply to thing that will NEVER (in a conceivable machine lifetime) fail, stainless drums, motors or the Speed Queen transmission.

While the warranty does offer some piece of mind, it is really probably more of a sales gimmick then an ultimate indicator of quality.

 

[washman]

FWIW

My plastic fantastic GE had a 10 year warranty on the tranny, lifetime on the inner and outer plastic fantastic tub, and 2 year parts labor on the whole thing, out of the box.

 

[washingpowder]

Am just mostly surprised at the ridiculously sudden change, among *all* manufacturers.
It might be a gimmick but worked on me, would prefer the 5 years on transmission over nothing after all!

 

[robliverpool]

My hotpoint has a 10 year warranty on parts and 1 year on labour and some hoover washing machines I've seen have 5 years labour YES 5 YEARS LABOUR and ten year warranty.

 

[liamy1]

Dont know if you have anything similar stateside, but in the UK we have the Consumer Rights Act.

Over here, a lot of people are surprised to learn manufacturers dont have to offer ANY warranty at all. All do offer a year or two (some upto 10 as Rob said)

However under the CR act (which is law), a product must be as described, fit for purpose, free from defects and last a '' reasonable'' amount of time taking into consideration price paid and usage.

The RETAILER is responsible under this law, NEVER the manufacturer.

A common misconception was that products must last 6 years (as we have 6 years to bring a claim against the retailer) however this is 6 years to bring a claim if we can prove the product did not conform to contract when the sale was made.

Other than that, its all down to it lasting a reasonable time (what a reasonable person would deem reasonable).

Eg if you bought a light bulb for £5 and it lasted a year, most people would agree this is reasonable, if you bought a washer at £500 and it only lasted a year, most would be furious and would agree it is not reasonable.

Now the issue comes when people expect a £150 washer to be considered to perform the same as a £1000+ machine.

In that case, my Vaxhall should be the same as a ferrari

Our law doesnt state exactly how long any particular product should last.

 

[combo52]

Warranty Coverage Periods

On major household appliances were suddenly and drastically shortened to just one year about 10 years ago. All the 5 year compressor, sealed system, electronic control boards,washer transmissions etc from WP, GE-HP, Frigidaire and Sears were all shortened to just one year with a few exceptions like Kitchenaid appliances, AND almost all warranties were changed to LIMITED warranties so in almost all cases the manufacturer was off the hook for property damage etc that was caused by the faulty appliance.

 

Longer warranty's are always nice, BUT often products with longer warranties are trying to make a name for themselves or trying to improve a bad past reputation for poor durability.

 

Speed Queen currently has a 5 year P&L warranty on most W&Ds for home use. This includes 5 years on the W&D motors and yet the motor in a SQ TL washer is far less durable than the motor in just about any other FL or TL washer on the market today.

 

SQ also has a very generous 15 year W on the TL washers transmission [ parts only ] after the 5Y P&L period is over and again the transmission is not one of the best and most reliable parts of the washer and when you consider how difficult and expensive it is to replace the transmission in a 7 YO SQ TL W I wager that most will just be junked rather than get fixed when they are between 5 and 15 years old when the transmission fails.

 

John L.

 

[ronhic]

Australian consumer laws echo the UK in that warranty is really limited by 'reasonableness'.

 

It is reasonable to expect a $2000 product to last significantly longer than a $500 product.

 

[johnb300m]

Reasonable

I wish we were 'reasonable' in the United States.................