Appliances Online offering "lifetime warranty"

idiot899

Hi.
I am waiting for delivery of a washing machine from Appliance online and had a call a couple of days ago ago asking if I wanted the cover and I said I didnt want insurance,I was told this cover is not insurance but is something different,not sure how different.I gave in after a lot of pressure as the machine will be covered for everything and the manufacturers warranty does not cover anything other than manufacturing faults and the machine would be replaced with the lifetime cover if it breaks completely.
I am not sure if I have done the right thing,apparently I can cancel at any time,something that bothered me as I have heard of standing orders being impossible to cancel.
Have I done the right thing to agree to this cover I ask myself.The man on the phone would not give up and as I was standing with my car keys in my hand and was late leaving the house I reluctantly agreed

macman

Your appliance will have at at least a one year manufacturer's warranty (maybe longer) from new, covering both parts and labour. So that covers everything except accidental damage, which would probably be covered by your household insurance anyway. Are you really likely to need that cover?
If you want additional cover then you can always always buy it from an independent after that manufacturer's warranty ends. But modern washing machines are pretty reliable anyway.
The value of the policy will depend on how much it actually costs you. Retailers generally make more margin selling unnecessary appliance cover than on the appliance itself.
A standing order can be cancelled by you at any time. What may be harder to cancel is any binding contract you have agreed to.
Why have you agreed to something, when you don't actually seem to know what it is you've bought? All you had to say was 'no thank you'.

ed110220

I really wouldn't go for one of these policies unless you think you're unusually prone to the item breaking down (ie likely to subject it to unusually heavy use/abuse) or you would really struggle to afford to replace the appliance if it broke down.

Retailers really do tend to make more money from these policies than the goods themselves, which explains why they are so eager to push them. Usually their staff are encouraged to sell them either with the carrot of commission or the stick of disciplinary action if they fail to be persuasive enough - it isn't a pleasant business.

PeggyAnn_2

Whatever Appliances Online say this is an insurance policy. No insurance company would continue to offer a policy unless on average they made a profit from it. By definition the policyholder therefore on average makes a loss.

I insure against events only if they do me real financial damage. If it's something manageable rather than catastrophic I prefer to self-insure, either by taking the risk or alternatively putting a sum aside to cover breakdown. This sum is likely to be less than the cost of the insurance.

kwatt

If someone can send me the T&Cs I'll try to work out how this works.

All I'll say is, if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.

And, in this case, the cost of £84 a year less a few pence for one of the most reliable appliances around seems a bit OTT. In five years you've paid over the oct of a new replacement and bear in mind that if the retailer supplies a new one they drop their margin (which varies hugely dependent on brand) and as free replacement they may also lose the VAT element as well depending on how they do it.

What I'm saying is, it appears weighted towards the "warranty" supplier.

But a much more important question to ask is, what happens if AO ceases trading? Are you protected in any way and, my guess would be, you're not. You'd have paid money for however long to get no return at all.

K.

Biggles

kwatt wrote: »

What I'm saying is, it appears weighted towards the "warranty" supplier.

Of course it is. And it isn't a 'lifetime warranty', it's a maintenance contract or insurance policy, obviously.

A contract that breaks even over such a short period as five years is worthless. I've never had an appliance that I've had to replace within five years, ten is more like the minimum, and repairs are few and far between.

And who's to say that prices won't increase? Or that, if your washer does break down after paying for five years, it's just after the company's gone into administration? Or that, if your machine appears particularly troublesome, they won't just stop collecting the premiums and cancel the contract?

kwatt

Very much that depends on what you buy Biggles.

Buy decent stuff then yes, it'll last in the main. Don't and it likely won't.

One of the guys went digging into the Argos warranties, very interesting when you prod a bit. Needless to say, it isn't what customers think they're getting once you actually look at the T&Cs.

K.

qbazdz

That deal is still on... slightly cheaper now - £1.27 was the offer I got.
Wondering if I should take it... anyone ever claimed anything on this?

mignon_2

Love appliances online and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, however, I did not take up their offer for any warranty. My thought being, by the time it breaks, I will have spent that money on insurance, and i'd rather have a choice of what to buy!

Remember, it has to work in their favour or they wouldn't do it.

macman

If you want to waste £66.04 a year, then go ahead,
Ever wondered why such insurance scams are always quoted based on the weekly amount? Because then it seems like small change only.