Know Your Warranty, Or Pay The Price

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I watched my wife cringe as she sat in the living room chair. She paused the television and told me to listen. She was irritated by the high pitched squeal emitted by our air conditioning unit each time it started up. I heard it, but it just seemed like background noise. It didn’t bother me in the least, but it was like nails on a chalkboard for her.

It’s been making this noise for years. It squeals for a few minutes, and then it quits. We had someone come out to take a look at it a few years ago, but it refused to make the noise while the service person was at our home.

The failed service call cost us $80.

After that whenever my wife mentioned something about the squeal I simply pointed out that the air conditioner was working just fine, and my unwillingness to pay for another failed service call.

Sometime after the chair cringing incident, I was in the backyard when the air conditioner started up. The sound emitted by the unit was eardrum splitting in both pitch and volume. It was definitely louder than it had been in previously years. I couldn’t believe that our neighbors hadn’t mentioned something about it. With my tail between my legs, I admitted this to my wife who scheduled a service call the following day.

When the serviceman said that the source of the squeal was in the compressor, my heart sank. I don’t know much about heating and cooling units, but I know enough to understand that it was going to be costly to make our squeal disappear. His estimate was about $1200, but he also mentioned that after rebates it would probably only be a few hundred dollars more to just replace the whole unit. Then he said something that really got me thinking.

“You said it’s been making this noise for a long time, you should have called us right away. Maybe it would have been under warranty.”

While I’m positive that the squealing started after the manufacturer’s warranty had expired, this exemplifies some things that home owners should be aware of:

  • Know Warranty Details : Be familiar with the length and general details of the warranties for the items in your home. If we had done that, we would have known whether the squealing AC was under warranty or not.
  • Save Documentation : Save all the documentation for items you purchase for your home including electronics, furniture, flooring, and appliances. Without having a working knowledge of all the warranties, having the documentation would at least allow us to look it up.
  • Call Immediately If Something Isn’t Right: A small problem can become a big problem quickly. In hindsight, letting our air conditioning unit squeal for years without addressing the issue was a huge mistake. I had no idea what was causing it, and used the excuse of, “it’s working,” to ignore it.
  • Be Persistent:  If the cause of the problem cannot be determined immediately, or like in our case the problem doesn’t occur when the service person arrives, insist that they keep coming back, or keep investigating until the problem is resolved.

Taking advantage of warranties on items that prematurely need service, especially something as expensive as an air conditioning unit or any other household appliance, can save yourself a headache as well as keep something simple from becoming a costly, debt inducing repair.

Have you ever put off a repair and had it escalate into a large bill? Do you have something in your home RIGHT NOW squeaking, clicking or squealing that you’re ignoring? Is it under warranty?

About Travis

6 Responses to “Know Your Warranty, Or Pay The Price”

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  1. Sassy Mamaw says:

    Travis, your story reminded me of our refrigerator. When the fan started, it made a horrible squeal for years. It drove me crazy. When I finally got my hubby to look at it, he tried spraying WD40 on it without emptying the freezer! Then all our frozen food tasted like petroleum products…ended up having to throw everything in the freezer away, plus it didn’t fix the squeal.

    The fridge was old, so there was no warranty, but when we finally replaced the fan, it cost $25, and about an hour of our time.

    Did I mention we put up with that squeal for years?

    • Travis says:

      LOL, Sassy Mamaw, that’s a great story. Just goes to show you…..take action. Whether it’s a loud refrigerator, a squealing AC unit, or bone crushing credit card debt. Take action, and take action now – the sooner you start, the sooner the problem gets corrected!

  2. Reading this right now makes me realize how very little I know about my warranties. Are there certain regular maintenance items that have to be done on our home AC , heater, or appliances? I don’t know.

    So far no squeaking, clicking or squealing that we are ignoring. However, I definitely need to get better organized to make sure this does not cost me dearly in the future!

    • Travis says:

      To be honest, this was a wake up call for me too, Bryan. Time to dig out my documentation and brush up on that info! Thanks for stopping by!

  3. Michelle says:

    I didn’t grow up with air conditioning in the house-we just opened the windows and had a fan. In humid places life would be miserable without aircon. Now I need to look at all of my warranties.

    • Travis says:

      yeah, and believe it or not, but Minnesota has some wicked humidity at times. I didn’t have air conditioning when I was really young either. My brother and I spent a lot of nights sleeping in our bedroom doorways with our pillows and heads in the hallway because my mom would put a big box fan at the end of the hallway.

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