Ever offered a settlement on something under warranty?

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I hope you are able to work with the warranty company to negotiate a better deal and I agree that getting a copy of the warranty will help you distinguish the wording that is allowing them o pay you a lesser amount. If you do end up buying a new refrigerator maybe call the repair company and ask for their recommendations since they will know which ones they see more costly repairs for. Coming from a family that was in the car business, we learned a long time ago that all these electronic features only mean more $$$ repairs and more things to go wrong. I pretty much say the same thing about appliances.

 

[bcla]

As for repairs, and parts. Very few TV companies for example.... FIX TV's under warranty. It's cheaper for them to just give you a new TV.

What is there to fix these days? Sure it could be fixed with enough effort, but that often costs more than a new one. I've mentioned how tightly integrated electronics are now. I remember popping open my first VCR out of curiosity. It was populated with lots of chips on three boards and connectors between levels. Forward to a newer model, and it was a single board and maybe a quarter the chip count. These days it could probably go into a couple of chips.

Apple has this down to a science. Sure it's possible to repair a broken screen or replace the actual battery inside a device, but they've used batteries that last longer and glue everything together. Some third party might replace a broken screen, but that involves heat guns, spudgers, and assorted other stuff where the final result may be unsatisfactory. You can buy a service plan where there's actual replacement for a broken screen. Right now one can get a broken screen replacement, which is really just a brand new one. My kid recently cracked an iPad Mini 2 screen. Took it to an Apple Store and they said they could swap it for $249. A completely new one was $299. They have a "battery replacement service" where they'll swap an entire device out for new one for $99, but that requires that the battery be tested.

 

[tvguy]

What is there to fix these days? Sure it could be fixed with enough effort, but that often costs more than a new one. I've mentioned how tightly integrated electronics are now. I remember popping open my first VCR out of curiosity. It was populated with lots of chips on three boards and connectors between levels. Forward to a newer model, and it was a single board and maybe a quarter the chip count. These days it could probably go into a couple of chips.

Apple has this down to a science. Sure it's possible to repair a broken screen or replace the actual battery inside a device, but they've used batteries that last longer and glue everything together. Some third party might replace a broken screen, but that involves heat guns, spudgers, and assorted other stuff where the final result may be unsatisfactory. You can buy a service plan where there's actual replacement for a broken screen. Right now one can get a broken screen replacement, which is really just a brand new one. My kid recently cracked an iPad Mini 2 screen. Took it to an Apple Store and they said they could swap it for $249. A completely new one was $299. They have a "battery replacement service" where they'll swap an entire device out for new one for $99, but that requires that the battery be tested.

We had a 65 Sony LED Smart TV fail with about a week left in the warranty at work. Power supply failed. They did send someone out with a part to fix it, rather than replace it. Apparently the component that failed snapped in and out. But with a wholesale price of $2,500, it was probably cheaper for them to pay to fix it.

My half brother made a lot of money fixing VCR's. Bulk of the work was replacing cams with flat spots. He found a supplier where he could get assorted sized cams , 100 for $20. He charged $20 to change them.

 

[lynxstch]

I had a problem with a brand new Frigidaire refrigerator last year. Purchased in March at Lowes. It started getting frost on everything in the freezer. They sent out the repairman, who told me it had a shrunken liner and couldn't be fixed, would have to be replaced. Frigidaire gave me the run around for over a month. They wouldn't even give the ok for Lowe's to get me another exact same fridge. After calling Frigidaire and Lowes almost daily, I finally got a sympathetic lady at Lowe's service line, who went out of her way to help. She called the store manager and got him to take the bad one back, and let me switch brands. I got a much bigger better Whirlpool as an exact swap. They took care of dealing with Frigidaire on the bad one. She also got them to let me have the 5 year extended warranty for no extra cost for all the hassle. So far so good, but I know it won't last almost 25 years like the GE one we had to replace did, lol!

I never buy extended warranty's on products, usually they go within the original warranty, and other than the fridge, have never had a problem getting anyone to honor it and have the appliance fixed!

 

[bcla]

We had a 65 Sony LED Smart TV fail with about a week left in the warranty at work. Power supply failed. They did send someone out with a part to fix it, rather than replace it. Apparently the component that failed snapped in and out. But with a wholesale price of $2,500, it was probably cheaper for them to pay to fix it.

My half brother made a lot of money fixing VCR's. Bulk of the work was replacing cams with flat spots. He found a supplier where he could get assorted sized cams , 100 for $20. He charged $20 to change them.

Well - a power supply or a bezel may be parts that can be fixed. However, just look at the main board, and there's very little that can be done other than replacing the whole board or even the entire product. I've also seen photos, and the power supply may come on one board with all the control circuitry. The main boards actually aren't that expensive. The most expensive part is going to be the actual display.

VCRs certainly had a lot of substantial moving parts that could be replaced. However, the control electronics just got more and more integrated over the years. I tried fixing that old VCR, after I traced the problem to a blown glass fuse. So I went to Radio Shack, got an equivalent fuse, and put it in. Then it promptly blew that one and I figured it was a lost cause.

Now I do remember my family's first TV - a 21" RCA with lots of vacuum tube circuitry. Every once in a while it would get funky or even fail. My dad would just pull out the tube, go to Radio Shack (or an independent) and test it.

 

[LisaR]

A little update:
The warranty place said when an appliance is discontinued, they use sites like Amazon, Ebay, and Sears Outlet to determine fair market value. Amazon and Ebay do not have my refrigerator for sale. Sears Outlet does and they are selling it for $1300. Seems like their $800 offer is a wee bit low! Waiting for their response.

 

[bcla]

A little update:
The warranty place said when an appliance is discontinued, they use sites like Amazon, Ebay, and Sears Outlet to determine fair market value. Amazon and Ebay do not have my refrigerator for sale. Sears Outlet does and they are selling it for $1300. Seems like their $800 offer is a wee bit low! Waiting for their response.

Sounds a bit like how the "value" of my car was determined when I took an insurance company settlement. Maybe one of the ads for "comparable" cars was for my exact model and trim. However, they were all the same basic model, although mine had a better engine and several standard features.

Your settlement procedures sound like classic insurance company adjuster strategy. The used market may not yield exact models because there's so much customization out there. Some model numbers are destined only for specific retailers. So they get as close as possible and call it a day.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

A little update:
The warranty place said when an appliance is discontinued, they use sites like Amazon, Ebay, and Sears Outlet to determine fair market value. Amazon and Ebay do not have my refrigerator for sale. Sears Outlet does and they are selling it for $1300. Seems like their $800 offer is a wee bit low! Waiting for their response.

Probably because most people don't sell refrigerators they just bought a few years ago!

 

[powellrj]

After my experience a couple of months ago, I will never buy the extended warranty. Something went out in our water heater. Because we bought the warranty, only certain places would be able to fix it. Nothing was in our area, so we had to call a plumber that was over an hour away. Because we were so far away, it took them almost a week to send someone to look at it and tell me what was wrong, then it was another week to get the part and still another week to install it. Three weeks without hot water was a huge pain. We were lucky in that we could shower at my parents condo that we had just sold but not closed on. We closed the same day they fixed the water heater. Lesson learned, no warranty, I will just gamble on it working.