Times "extended service plans" actually paid off

[Johnnycage46]

So we have a pretty old furnace (20+ years old) and it wasn't kicking on for the year.  A tech came out yesterday and had to replace the inverter motor and got the furnace running.  When paying for the service he was trying to sell me on the Gold Seal program and I was hesitant but I said what the hell ($22 a month for 2 years and it's an old furnace so I figured it's like another streaming service).

 

About 2 hours after he left the furnace stopped working and it started to faintly smell like burning plastic.  Called them up and they sent someone out this afternoon.  Apparently the ancient electronics board burned out yesterday after he left and they had to replace it today.  All told it would have been $1,600+ to fix...but it was all free (trip out, diagnostics, parts, labor, etc.) because I'm the proud owner of a Gold Seal lol.

 

Anyone have any good stories where a seemingly unnecessary add-on service plan actually paid off big time?

[Draconator]

Happened to me last night, but not on nearly the same scale. I had a tablet holder for my iPad when I play out. The bracket that held the holder to the mic stand broke. I usually don't buy a protection plan, but for this one I did. Already got the refund and a replacement tablet holder and a case of printer paper for my wife (she prints material for her business, and she's home more than in the office) is on its way to us. 

[WotAGuy]

My first wife wasn’t working out and I got new one. No service contract needed. 

[Johnnycage46]

31 minutes ago, Draconator said:

Happened to me last night, but not on nearly the same scale. I had a tablet holder for my iPad when I play out. The bracket that held the holder to the mic stand broke. I usually don't buy a protection plan, but for this one I did. Already got the refund and a replacement tablet holder and a case of printer paper for my wife (she prints material for her business, and she's home more than in the office) is on its way to us. 

 

It's nice when it actually pays off.  If you think of all the money we've all spent on insurance over the years (homeowners, car, etc.) that we (thankfully) didn't need most of the time, it's nice when it comes in handy!

[f0neguy]

Bought a dehumidifier on Amazon 5-6 years ago.  Reviews said it worked great but to get the extended warranty because they only last a few years.  After a while the unit kept coming up with an error that the filter was dirty (it wasn’t, my basement is pretty clean).  If I turned it off and on it would reset and keep working.  Contacted the company that sells the warranties and the gave me a full refund in Amazon credit.  I bought a timer for $10, plugged the unit into that and it’s been working great for years.

I just have it reset a few times a day.

[Just Jack]

6 hours ago, WotAGuy said:

My first wife wasn’t working out and I got new one. No service contract needed. 

 

Same.  I was able to get a newer model with less mileage.  

[Johnny Hammersticks]

On 10/18/2023 at 4:32 PM, WotAGuy said:

My first wife wasn’t working out and I got new one. No service contract needed. 

 

On 10/18/2023 at 10:37 PM, Just Jack said:

 

Same.  I was able to get a newer model with less mileage.  

…but I’m sure you both paid and/or are paying handsomely for that “fix.”  😂 

[Just Jack]

3 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

…but I’m sure you both paid and/or are paying handsomely for that “fix.”  😂 

 

Nope. It's was pretty cut and dried that we were separating. 

[Bill from NYC]

We bought an expensive Samsung refrigerator approx. five years ago and purchased a warranty. Within the first 2 years it had to be repaired 7 times. It sounded as if there was a Harley Davidson in my kitchen. My wife actually found a website that had other consumers complaining about this product. To their credit, Samsung refunded our money.

 

Approx. two years ago, we purchased a Frigadare for around $2,700, plus the cost of a warranty. The technician was here twice for this other piece of garbage. The first tech said that he had to order parts. We waited 3 weeks and the second guy came and said that our repair needed at least $1,800 woth of parts, and he might find more after he removes some part. This took place yesterday. He wrote a report saying that we need a replacement and we will find out Monday what will happen. Certainly it will be replaced with another fancy looking pile of junk, and who knows how long it will take? This after I replaced 80 dollars worth of filters last month.

 

My friend's son in-law has a business repairing these things and told me that they ALL suck, and to always have a warranty. All of these worthless (imo) bells and whistles cause the refrigerators to break. The ones that I used to buy with a freezer on top and the fridge on the bottom were fine and lasted 15 years. I don't even know if you can buy one like that anymore.

 

In any event, my sincere advice is to buy the warranty on these expensive junk boxes and get the longest one they will sell.

 

Fwiw

 

 

 

[NoSaint]

13 minutes ago, Bill from NYC said:

We bought an expensive Samsung refrigerator approx. five years ago and purchased a warranty. Within the first 2 years it had to be repaired 7 times. It sounded as if there was a Harley Davidson in my kitchen. My wife actually found a website that had other consumers complaining about this product. To their credit, Samsung refunded our money.

 

Approx. two years ago, we purchased a Frigadare for around $2,700, plus the cost of a warranty. The technician was here twice for this other piece of garbage. The first tech said that he had to order parts. We waited 3 weeks and the second guy came and said that our repair needed at least $1,800 woth of parts, and he might find more after he removes some part. This took place yesterday. He wrote a report saying that we need a replacement and we will find out Monday what will happen. Certainly it will be replaced with another fancy looking pile of junk, and who knows how long it will take? This after I replaced 80 dollars worth of filters last month.

 

My friend's son in-law has a business repairing these things and told me that they ALL suck, and to always have a warranty. All of these worthless (imo) bells and whistles cause the refrigerators to break. The ones that I used to buy with a freezer on top and the fridge on the bottom were fine and lasted 15 years. I don't even know if you can buy one like that anymore.

 

In any event, my sincere advice is to buy the warranty on these expensive junk boxes and get the longest one they will sell.

 

Fwiw

 

 

 

same feedback on fridge experiences and advice… only problem, last time I needed warranty work they told me it’d be like 6 weeks to get anyone out for diagnostics. Obviously that doesn’t work with a room temp fridge and a house of people that generally enjoy owning food that needs to be cooled. 
 

had to go on an absolute warpath online for 2-3 days. sending demand letters to every email in the company I could find quoting laws on repair vs when they become required to replace if they can’t service timely. May favorite was a lightly viral social post looking for frontier era food preservation techniques that I think actually moved the needle
 

Repairman came on day 4-5. I don’t want to deal with that every repair. I don’t know the solution there.