When does your appliance warranty expire?

16 years ago

We moved into our new home last August (8/2/2006). We've discovered a crack in the ceramic cooktop. The builder says the cooktop is warranted for 5 years, but after the first year only the part is warranted. We have to pay for labor. (I notified the builder last month about the crack).

Apparently, in our case, the 1 year parts and labor coverage expires a year from the date the builder purchased it (Oct, 2005), so we actually only had the full coverage for three months.

Is this typical? When does your own first year parts & labor warranty expire? Date of actual purchase? Date of installation? Date you take possession of the house?

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Comments (4)

carolyn53562
16 years ago
In the case of a manufacturer's warranty it's the date the appliance is purchased. Many contractor's offer their own warranties, but it sounds like your contractor isn't one of them. I'm sorry you found the crack. I had a similar problem with a prefab countertop that we purchased for our new house and which sat in the garage for months before it was installed. When it was being installed, we noticed it was cracked. I called the manufacturer (ecounters) and explained that we had just been taken it out of the box even though we had had it longer than their return policy and they replaced it even though they didn't have to do that. You may want to try to call the manufacturer--you have nothing to loose. Good luck.
loralee_2007
16 years ago
I don't understand why your builder ordered your appliances soooooooo early in the construction process? Ours were ordered 6 weeks in advance, since we were told 2-3 weeks for arrival. But 9 months early? That really seems excessive.

Besides, ordering them "early" means he/you has to PAY for them "early" - which ALSO doesn't make sense. Why pay for something when it's just sitting in storage for 9 months?

Your builder DEFINITELY should have told you the warranty issues since he bought them on your behalf, so that you have a choice - and if not, then offer his OWN warranty since he ordered so early.

This is just IMHO...but I wouldn't accept that response from your builder.
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While I just bought a washer and dryer and got an extended service plan (5 years on both for $199), I don't think I would spend the same amount on a fridge that hasn't given you any clues of being a problem. It is perhaps the simplest large appliance in your home and the one most likely to give you dependable service. I don't have service plans on my kitchen appliances, but I did just get them for the washer and dryer -- I'm also coming off owning a Calypso and am admittedly gun-shy about another bad experience. For $20 a year for each appliance with elctronic control boards, moving parts and 1300 RPM, it sounds like a reasonable insurance plan -- but I will read the fine print and cancel if it turns out to be less than I was lead to believe. Keep in mind that you are not in control with repairs made under these plans -- the repairmen answer to a big corporation with lots of rules and limitations -- not you. If these guys messed up a repair for me, I could deal with the repair company and refuse to pay for their incompetence and get them to do it right. Instead, I wind up on the losing side of a 2 against one deal. Whatever you do, try to read all the terms and conditions before you buy. If they send them to you after you buy, read them --- make a note on your calendar to contact them if you don't receive them (what happened to us), then read them and make a realistic assessment of what you are getting. There have been consumer articles that tend to say most appliance contracts are not needed and may be a waste of money. They do say that those with complex and expensive electronics or things more prone to breakdown might be worthwhile. That's why I'm going to get it for the new W&D -- that and having been burned twice on the Calypso. But we had already decided not to renew the agreement -- they wanted something like $650-700 for a renewal, and the value they put on the machines and repairs they would be willing to make would continue to decline. It's a losing propostion no matter how you slice it when you are talking about their renewal, but I wouldn't have known that without being able to read the fine print. I posted about service plans on the laundry forum yesterday -- if you want to read a bit more, it is linked below. Bottom line for me -- know what you are really getting and why. Here is a link that might be useful: Laundry Link
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As akchicago said "However, the appliances do not have to be on-site. The specifications are available online and will have all the info that contractors and KD's need." That's true if the specifications are correct. We almost had a disaster because the specs for our FD refrigerator were incorrect and listed the refrigerator depth 9 inches shorter than it actually was. Fortunately, the refrigerator was in the store's warehouse because it was out to be installed elsewhere and didn't fit so it was returned within a week - and then we bought it at a nice discount. It probably was returned not because the builder made a mistake but rather because the specs were wrong. We questioned the specs and an employee went out to the warehouse to physically measure the refrig. and sure enough the specs were wrong. They ended up calling the manufacturer (Amana) to tell them their specs were wrong (which, of course, were posted online on every website!!!) As I said, it's lucky for us that we caught that mistake early on in the renovation because it would have caused major problems in our layout. When the store confirmed our suspicions that the specs were wrong, we got an emergency phone call from the contractor and kd and they came late that night to go over our options. Our contractor ended up recessing the kitchen wall into our living room to make up for the additional 9 inches, just days after they had made a header to support the load-bearing wall at the section. We flipflopped the placement of the refrigerator with a pantry and changed the pantry to an upper cabinet & base cabinet - which I actually like better now because we already had a pantry elsewhere in the kitchen. And the appliance store apologized (even though it wasn't their mistake) and offered to help in any way they could. Just when you think everything is planned out well, something springs up to throw a wrench in the plan. (and, in my earlier post, I didn't make it clear that the date of delivery and installation were the same) HTH
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badin
16 years ago
Have you contacted the manufacturer directly? You may get a different response. We've purchased three new houses in which the appliances had been installed more than six months before we closed (once it was about a year.) I called the manufacturers and explained that we were the first owners of a new home, gave our closing date and registered the appliances. In every case (involving GE, Whirlpool, and JennAir) our the clock started on the warranty on our date of purchase, not the builder's purchase date.

Twice when I called, it was because there was a problem with an appliance. When asked the age of the unit, I said (truthfully) I did not know. The CSR seemed to be able to determine its age by the serial #. Once I offered to fax a copy of our closing statement, to verify when we bought the house, but the CSR decided to take me at my word. Maybe we just got lucky, but it's worth a try.
Happykate
16 years ago
Pacific Refrigeration, in Port Angeles, says that the warranty starts ticking upon delivery. Other manufacturers start theirs with installation, so it sounds as though you should check with the manufacturer. This is really annoying for you; so sorry!

When does your appliance warranty expire?

Comments (4)

carolyn53562

loralee_2007

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badin

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