You may initially question the difference between a warranty purchased at Best Buy and one obtained through Sears. After all, a warranty is a warranty, right? Well, knowing the best place to invest your money when insuring the appliances you purchase can be the difference between spending hundreds of dollars and saving much more.
Types
The different types of extended warranties that both retailers offer differ in features and benefits as well as the length of time each will cover. The general limited warranty---which applies to all appliances purchased at Sears and BestBuy.com---will cover the manufacturer's warranty. You could leave the store with this warranty free of charge, but it usually only covers your product from 90 days to a year, a time period in which your appliance isn't likely to break or become damaged through normal use. If you'd like to insure your appliance for longer, Sears offers its Maintenance Agreement, while Best Buy offers its Performance Service and Performance Replacement Plans.
Features
The features you'll be provided by Best Buy's Performance Service Plan (PSP) include coverage for parts and labor, normal wear and tear, damages caused through power surges and accidental damage from handling. Additionally, the PSP is transferrable, so should you sell your appliance to someone else, the PSP is sold, too. The Performance Replacement Plan guarantees that if your product malfunctions during normal use, you'll receive a Best Buy gift card of equal cash value in order to purchase a replacement of your choosing.
Under the Sears Maintenance Agreement, you'll be covered for parts and repair labor costs, granted unlimited service and instructional calls and an annual preventative maintenance check. Sears claims that this annual maintenance check sets their plan apart from other warranties, but Best Buy's PSP offers the same service.
Benefits
The benefits you'll see from owning an extended warranty will always vary based upon where you live and what's wrong with your appliance. For example, if you had purchased Best Buy's Performance Service Plan on a three-year term for $99.99, and a component of your appliance broke and cost $50 to replace, you would have overpaid by purchasing the warranty in the first place, since it cost nearly twice as much as the repair. Conversely, if a major part of your appliance was damaged, it may cost upwards of $200 to replace, which would mean you saved money by purchasing the warranty, which cost much less.
Considerations
Before you choose which of the two retailers you'd rather invest in, you should remember that each warranty only covers the first five years of a product's lifetime. A survey by ConsumerReports.com in 2006 showed that fewer than 45 percent of 3- to 4-year-old home appliances needed repairs that year. That being the case, it's unlikely that you will ever even need your warranty, assuming you have no accidents.
Do warranties work?
Many unhappy customers have created blogs specifically aimed at spreading the word on how poorly Sears handled Maintenance Agreement plans. There are blogs designed for Best Buy haters, as well. The biggest complaint seems to be that the replacement parts or product took a great amount of time to reach the customer.
Verdict
This decision to buy an extended warranty rests on your shoulders, but it may be wise to first check with your local repairman to find out the most common malfunctions of appliances from Sears or Best Buy. Once you know what normally breaks, learn the cost of that part. If the cost exceeds the $99.99 price for Sears' Maintenance Agreement and Best Buy's Performance Service Plan, then the best decision would be to purchase a warranty.
Tags: your appliance, Maintenance Agreement, Performance Service, Best Performance, Best Performance Service
