Washing machine cover. Is it worth it?

greyteam1959

My Dad had paid for an extended warranty with one of the big companies for his fridge freezer.
It broke down in the middle of summer so rang them.
'Sorry it will be 14 working days before we can get an engineer out to it'
Had to have a new one & had it delivered next day.
He has never bought another extended warranty.

poppellerant

This thread reminds me of the saying "buy cheap, buy twice".

I openly admit I shelled out nearly £500 for my Bosch over 10 years ago. But if I were to pay £200 every other year for 10 years, this would have cost me £1000 in the long run.

I expect several years more service from machine, so I think it is fair to say I have had my money's worth from it.

FreeBear

Robin9 wrote: »

Called the repair man to my cooker last month - 22 years old, first repair - bill £60.

30+ year old Creda Cavalier cooker. One of the rings went pop and tripped the breaker. £12 for a new element.

Friend's built in oven stopped working (around 20 y.o.). £25 for a new element and replaces the bulb at the same time.

Washing machine went bang a few years back. Clouds of smoke... One of the suppressor capacitors had blown - Cost to fix, zero. Just removed the offending component, and it kept going for a few more years.

All white goods come with a 12 month warranty, some with two or even three year - If they are going to develop a fault, it will usually be within the first few months.

The biggest joke I've ever been offered is an extended warranty on a mouse...!!!!!!

missprice

poppellerant wrote: »

This thread reminds me of the saying "buy cheap, buy twice".

I openly admit I shelled out nearly £500 for my Bosch over 10 years ago. But if I were to pay £200 every other year for 10 years, this would have cost me £1000 in the long run.

I expect several years more service from machine, so I think it is fair to say I have had my money's worth from it.

I once did the same, can't remember now which make washing machine it was but over £400. It lasted 19 months.
The thinking was it would last eons. After that is when I started buying cheap.
I waited a week for repair, it wasn't economical etc, another 2 weeks til new machine. By which time I hacked off every friend nearby for using theirs and was struggling to laundromat. Never again.

poppellerant

missprice wrote: »

I once did the same, can't remember now which make washing machine it was but over £400. It lasted 19 months.
The thinking was it would last eons. After that is when I started buying cheap.
I waited a week for repair, it wasn't economical etc, another 2 weeks til new machine. By which time I hacked off every friend nearby for using theirs and was struggling to laundromat. Never again.

For me, roughly £1000 compared to £500 every 10 years is a steep price for convenience. I think I had to wait a few days for a Bosch engineer to arrive and he was able to fix the problem in about an hour. I might agree you if you say that perhaps I'd just got lucky, but I can only go from my own experience.

I really wouldn't advise putting a washing machine on 10 times a day, even as a one-off. If I need to do a few loads in a go, I give the machine an hour to rest with the drawer and door open. I think the most I have had my machine on in one day was 4 times. But I was careful to exercise patience between washes.

missprice

poppellerant wrote: »

For me, roughly £1000 compared to £500 every 10 years is a steep price for convenience. I think I had to wait a few days for a Bosch engineer to arrive and he was able to fix the problem in about an hour. I might agree you if you say that perhaps I'd just got lucky, but I can only go from my own experience.

I really wouldn't advise putting a washing machine on 10 times a day, even as a one-off. If I need to do a few loads in a go, I give the machine an hour to rest with the drawer and door open. I think the most I have had my machine on in one day was 4 times. But I was careful to exercise patience between washes.

Maybe that's why they don't last, but it's a machine not a sentient being. The last one was £160. I don't care enough to give it a rest. The dryer is on all day too.

poppellerant

missprice wrote: »

Maybe that's why they don't last, but it's a machine not a sentient being. The last one was £160. I don't care enough to give it a rest. The dryer is on all day too.

I can see your point of view. You don't really see any value in a £200 machine, but perhaps if you had paid a significant chunk of money out like I did, you might respect the machine better and get a longer service out of it.

I do wish to be seen as implying that £200 is an insignificant amount of money to you. But I hope you see what I mean.

Niv

From reading some of these replies it is clear that you cannot compare the age of a machine from one poster to another, instead you need to compare how many cycles the machine has done before it breaks down.


Comparison below:
Machine cost £200, used 3 times day, breaks after 2 years = 2184 cycles
Machine cost £500, used twice a week, lasts 10 years = 1040 cycles


Therefore £200 machine in this example is better value. I know some have said 10 years and still going but would have to last over 20 years to get close to the value of the £200 machine.


I picked two loads a week because that's what I do, but obviously I was using this as an example.


Age of machine is irrelevant, its how much it works that matters.

dunroving

It depends on so many factors that it is impossible to give a definitive answer.

Gadgets are more likely to need fixing if (a) they are lower quality, (b) they will be used a lot [e.g., family home], and (c) they will be mis-used [as a former accidental landlord, I had two separate tenants who could wear out anything in 12 months; some people just know how to take care of things].

At my last house, I had two types of after care. British Gas cover the boiler, central heating and drainage. This included an annual boiler and CH service and inspection. I think I called them out twice in 11 years, for two basic problems with the boiler. On reflection, this was not worth the money. By the time I cancelled it recently, I was paying £45 per month. Assuming increases were inflation-linked, that mans I paid the equivalent of almost £6,000 for 10 boiler inspections and 2 repairs (or almost £500 per visit!)

Even less value was a Domestic and General service contract for my white goods (dishwasher, washing machine and fridge/freezer). It cost £24 per month, or the equivalent of over £3,000, and I needed to call them out only once!

I've now learned my lesson and pay £50 per month into a separate account for maintenance and repair of boiler and appliances, an am hoping that bad luck doesn't bite me in the bum.

missprice

Just to not help at all, my friend has a washing machine that is 30 plus years old. I have no idea what she paid for it, it does 2 loads a week, it's a hotpoint.
She rolls her eyes at my new one when last one breaks. But hers has never broken.