Extended Warranties - What to Know

I recently met a new customer who had become unhappy with the original installer of their A/C system. At the time of purchase the installer offered the customer an extended parts warranty package. The package was intended to bump the system parts warranty from 5 years to 10 years for a charge of $400.00. After the install was completed and the bill was paid the customer didn't receive anything from the installer regarding their extended warranty. They were given the run around for months and eventually gave up. That's where I came in. After calling the manufacturer i found that the equipment came with a five year parts warranty as explained by the original installer. However if the equipment is registered online by providing the model, serial number and date of installation, the unit is bumped to a 10 year warranty FOR FREE. So, the original installer charged this customer $400.00 to do five minutes of paperwork.

That being said, extended warranty packages do exist and can be very useful, however they generally apply to the labour portion of the warranty, not parts. Nearly all A/C brands offer the same parts warranty (depending on the unit model) 5 years without registration and 10 years with registration. This is ALWAYS FREE. Equipment generally comes with a 1 year labour warranty. Your installer may offer a manufacturers extended labour warranty bumping the labour up to 5 or 10 years. These tend to be extremely expensive. The installer also may offer an in house labour warranty for a fee of their choosing. In this case the warranty details should be outlined in your invoice and receipt. When you purchase an extended warranty package from any contractor be sure that you fully understand the details of the warranty. This includes the value, what's required to maintain it, what services are included in the coverage and finally what the original warranty from the manufacturer included. Always be sure to go on the manufacturer's website and find their warranty section and review it before purchasing an extended warranty package.

If you're looking for more information on warranties or would like to set up a maintenance schedule to help maintain your warranty.