# is the home depot extended protection plan worth anything?



## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Extended warranties are pure gravy for those who sell them so of course you get pressured when buying anything to get one. I recently saw somebody matter of factly buy an extended warranty on a $10 clock radio. 

Most of those extended warranty plans, issued by any company, are pretty expensive when you think about it. If you can, you might be much better off paying a little more for a product that comes with a longer manufacturer's warranty and establishing a savings account you do not touch except in emergencies. Faithfully plunk what you would spend on extended warranties in the account and hope for the best. 

My own company bought and depreciated tools so they seldom had any book value left worth insuring by the time the manufacturer's warranty ran out. It was more of a tax incentive for me to get new ones. But to be honest, my tools lasted forever since I bought good ones. Can you really justify buying an extended warranty on a $79 mostly plastic drill/driver that will pro-rate the replacement value of the thing? 

Computers are of course another matter but only to a point. And they have relatively short half-lives if you need or want to stay current. At least with windows machines, the most vulnerable parts that fail most often are things like hard drives you can put in yourself and get for next to nothing.

I suppose over priced appliances with short manufacturer's warranties might be worth protection insurance. 

Be sure and read the fine print to see if you are going to get a replacement product if yours fails or if value you will receive is to be based on age of the machine. And look to see if, particularly in the case of appliances, the warranty covers the actual cost of service calls, shipping, etc. or just parts. Can you justify putting $250 in labor into a seven year old dishwasher even if the parts are free? Can you extend the warranty indefinitely or just for a year or two. 

All that said the one nice thing about decent extended warranties is that they might kick in at a tough time. It seems like things stop working or just plain break at times when you can least afford to deal with them. And if right now the only way you are able to save is to let the government withhold too much income tax interest free and you could not maintain a savings account? Then maybe the insurance is worth it for peace of mind.

I personally do not find the extended warranties worth the money. Up to you though.


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

The extended warrantee is only valuable for the retailer that is seeling it.

Dick


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## babaganoosh (Apr 18, 2010)

Thanks. That's been my thinking that the extended warranty isn't worth it. I was wondering though if they are fair with you when you have a claim. It's an outside company, not HD itself, so would like to think HD keeps them from being too sleazy and saying any problems are not their fault.


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## AirKingFS (Nov 6, 2012)

Here's a good piece on the subject from U.S. News & World Report, including a comment from somebody on losing out on a Home Depot EW because of a lack of service in rural areas.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/6-reasons-why-never-purchase-202002517.html


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

I did not mean to single out HD in my comments by the way. I don't think anybody's extended warranties are worth the money. When working for Sears, the management used to hate it when a property manager would come in and buy 20 AC units at a time but not a single extended warranty. The store actually got dinged bad for not pushing them hard enough. I did PM for the store and made decisions about how to deal with broken stuff under warranty. As mentioned, most happened early in the life of the product.

But again, I suppose their is some value to the peace of mind factor.


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## RB Roberts (Jun 8, 2012)

*Extended Warranties in the Realm of Home Improvement*

We value extended warranties. I guess on the retail level of things offering any sort of warranty is a great selling tool which bolsters consumer confidence in not only the tangible offerings of a business, but the intangible, as well. 

It follows, of course, that an extended warranty offer has mass appeal for the extended purchase value of items on sale and sold. However, the extended warranty in itself is no "guarantee" that it'll be honored.

So really, whether it's just a warranty or an extended one, it's only as good as the people offering it. Also, it's probably a good idea to remember that all corporations of Home Depot magnitude are replete with lots of red tape, displaced calls, and general bureaucratic factors which tend to discourage most people.

The warranty/extension in itself is great. But please don't put too much hope or too much money into it being guaranteed.

As a contingency: if the warranty/extension isn't honored (if it should come to that), it's recommended that you contact the Consumer Affairs department of your State Office of the Attorney General....only a few clicks away. There are trained professionals in your state's capitol at that office who will let you know how best to proceed in this matter.


Courtesy of American Home Improvement Zone
[an HGRB Services affiliate]


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## jagrrr (Feb 11, 2011)

Unsure about HD but Lowes is great about honoring the manufacturer's warranty. My 1 week shy of 1 year old 460 Husquavarna 24 " Chainsaw broke and they replaced it with a new machine of the same model with a 2 year warranty. Now THAT is customer service.


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## babaganoosh (Apr 18, 2010)

how'd it break? I am afraid they're going to nit pick about abuse or you didn't follow the manual to have a pro tune it up every 3 months or other cop outs. Good to know about lowes. I typically have had bad experiences with lowes - higher prices than hd, more things out of stock, disinterested staff.

THat was just the manufacturer warranty? not even an extended? Nice.


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## jagrrr (Feb 11, 2011)

The brake broke. It was a special order as they don't have that model as normal stock. Great chainsaw that cuts my large oaks with ease.


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