This isn't something I usually do. I'm the sort of person that only carries liability insurance (no collision) on my cars. However, given the widespread repairs reported on modern appliances, I opted to spend $179 at Lowes, which covered 4 additional years (five total) on my LG fridge and my FisherPaykel dishwasher drawers. When I bought my induction range from AJ Madison, they threw in their 3 year (additional 2) warranty for free.

eleeny - I've seen complaints about PC Richards online, but here are some of my positive experiences: - I bought a TV, the bottom of the picture was ever-so-slightly distorted. They sent a repair man out who tried all sorts of adjustments but could not fix it. So they sent some guys over to pick it up and left me a loaner. A couple days later they called me to say it was not repairable and gave me the option of a replacement or exchange for another TV. - I bought a DVD player that they didn't have in stock. They were honest up front that it would take several weeks for them to get it so they offered me a loaner in the meantime. - I bought a 3 handset phone system, for some reason I "wasted" my money and bought the extended warranty. When it stopped working a couple years later I brought it in and without question they looked up what I had paid for it and gave me that amount credit towards a new set. - Wife bought me a camcorder for Father's Day. She hadn't shopped around at all. I found an internet price of about $150 less, took a copy to the store, they shrugged their shoulders and refunded the difference. - A month or two ago my parents bought an LG Fridge from them. There were several different creaks and groans and misaligned parts, etc. Within days they came out and fixed them with no issue. Here's the one negative: The icemaker seemed to be working incredibly slow, they didn't seem to know how to correct that so they said they'd just order a new one. To date my parents haven't heard back, but they haven't pushed the issue because now that the tray is full they never have a shortage of ice for their needs. And at this point they aren't really sure if there is in fact an issue anyway. One word of caution on their extended service, should you choose to go against everyone's advice and purchase a policy. When I exchanged my phone they asked if I wanted to buy a new policy with it. I asked why, since I already had a 5 year (or whatever) policy. They said because the exchange "satisfied" the original policy so it was no longer in effect. I'd want to be real clear on their policy with an appliance, which will likely get repaired not replaced.

My first advice is always to go to a store where you can see and touch the merchandise. We have a place locally that carries hundreds of knobs/pulls mounted on boards so you can do just that. Some pulls have unfinished backs that are just scratchy. Some will be too close to the drawer so that your knuckles bang the drawer/door. Some will be too short side to side for the width of your four pulling fingers. Some knobs are unfinished on the back. Others will just feel funny to you. Some hardware will snatch your pockets when you brush by them. It's the kind of thing you can't tell just by looking at a picture. When we had spent a couple of hours touching and feeling, we ended up choosing Amerock knobs and pulls that were on the least expensive side ($2 and $3 each?), not for the price, but for the look and feel. If you order online, at least order samples before you commit to ordering for the whole kitchen.

Our local Ferguson’s showroom for the bathrooms...toilets, sinks, faucets and medicine cabs...and the faucets and sinks in the kitchen. All ceiling and wall lighting in the house is from a local lighting store, in Huntington, Long Island... except for a few Mission style fixtures, which were made for us by Meyda. Our appliances came from Appliance World, also in Huntington. Like @chispa, we prefer to buy from local stores, which is why we bought all of our appliances and lighting from independent stores. The service we got at both the lighting and appliance stores, and the knowledgeable staff, is not something duplicated at big box stores. And, certainly not from an online site. Even at Ferguson’s, which is a pretty large chain, we got excellent service.