This is one issue that I have a lot of ambivalence about. When I was in the biz, I worked on both the front end and the back end. I started out on the sales floor of a major regional retailer, and I had a quota that I had to meet in regards to extended warranties. I never met it, never sold enough extended warranties, and they were always bitching at me about my failures. I didn’t like having a gun to my head, and I felt like the extended warranties were a rip-off to the customer.

Then I became a store manager for a smaller, independent dealer. I managed the entire store, including the service department. You would not believe the number of calls I got from appliance owners that required service before their appliance was five years old and were far out of the manufacturer’s warranty. It didn’t matter if the appliance was high- or low-end. The shit just breaks.

There are many opinions on the ‘net about extended warranties, both for and against. When I bought my Maytag Neptune front load washer, I purchased an extended warranty with it. There was no way I was not going to, considering everything I saw while working behind the scenes. This was not an indictment against Maytag specifically. I simply bought it because I know appliances, in general, are not made to last like they used to.

I will say this: find out how long the warranty is, provided by the manufacturer. Get the owner’s manual, flip to the back, and read the warranty. Understand that if you are purchasing an appliance, and you decline the extended warranty, you are accepting the terms of the warranty provided by the manufacturer. The retailer has no responsibility in regards to warranty beyond the store’s established return policy.

Another thing: I read this post on epinions.com written by a member several years ago. I can tell you that, as a former retail store manager, I never responded well to attitudes like this from consumers. I believe that a business must operate ethically, and I believe consumers must operate the same way. Throwing a hissy fit when you don’t get your way is not a way to be an ethical consumer, and I never responded to such tactics. When confronted with customers like this, they always went to the bottom of my pile.

Check out these posts from a veteran appliance servicer about the value of extended warranties, how long modern appliances should last, and his response when confronted with the question “How much is a new one?”.