Extended warranty general question

[wardman]

Our dealer sold us a Star/Interstate extended warranty package that sounded pretty good, their Diamond top package. Then when I tried to use it I was told that I would be responsible for paying all the diagnostic labor time. My question is: do any of the extended warranty programs pay for diagnosis of the problem....???

[Daryl_A]

I have a $100.00 deductible. The warranty covers everything except the walls and tires. Who told you that you were responsible for diagnostics, the repair shop or the warranty administrator?

[wardman]

the warranty administrator and the repair facility

[Daryl_A]

That's bad news; sorry to hear it. I hope it doesn't take them long to diagnose your problem.

[wardman]

What extended warranty plan do you have

[Daryl_A]

I'll try to find it tonight when I get home.

[sk734]

Try to cancel it and get your money back-doesn't sound right to me.

[RickO]

Actually I think this is quite common with extended warranties.

Rick

[bigmichael]

Originally Posted by RickO

Actually I think this is quite common with extended warranties.

Rick

I don't think so. We have had a few extended service plans over the years and never have experienced this. The plans have always covered the diagnosis and repair, I think within an established labor and parts amount book similar to what the auto dealerships use.

So this must be something written in this particular contract, but my experience would be that it is the exception, not the rule. However, it does speak to reading the contract carefully before purchase. Good Luck.

[georgetown350]

If after the diagnosis they discover a warranted part needs repairing then the whole bill should be covered less the deductible. If after the diagnosis shows a non covered item then you would be on the hook for the diagnostic. That is how ours works.

[RickO]

Originally Posted by bigmichael

I don't think so. We have had a few extended service plans over the years and never have experienced this. The plans have always covered the diagnosis and repair, I think within an established labor and parts amount book similar to what the auto dealerships use.

So this must be something written in this particular contract, but my experience would be that it is the exception, not the rule. However, it does speak to reading the contract carefully before purchase. Good Luck.

Interesting. So you could take your rig in to the shop and tell them that you had a funny feeling "shimmy" while driving down the road and your EW would cover their time in attempting to find a broken part?

Rick

[wardman]

I'm still within my 3o days and I have 1 or 2 days to cancel the policy. Let me know what you have and if it covers the diagnostic labor time. thanks!

[bigmichael]

Originally Posted by RickO

Interesting. So you could take your rig in to the shop and tell them that you had a funny feeling "shimmy" while driving down the road and your EW would cover their time in attempting to find a broken part?

Rick

I'm not sure what would happen in that case, Rick. We have had service contracts for probably 15 years, and just have never had it come up. Sometimes, of course, its very obvious what is not working. Other times, all I can tell them is "something" has stopped working-it might be the appliance or the part, it might be electrical etc. The service tech then finds the problem, calls the service contract administrator, and fixes the problem.

If in fact it took hours or some extraordinary amount of time to find the problem-the service contract administrator might balk. However, I think if it were me I would probably be looking for a different repair tech rather than thinking the problem were the contract. But I do think these instances would have to be very rare. With the ability to plug in and read codes, engine diagnostics have become fairly quick. I actually remember the days when it could involve replacing one suspect part after another until the right solution was found. Same with electrical appliances and such. Its fairly easy for them to narrow down whether its an electrical problem or the appliance itself.

As to the "shimmy" example, I'm not sure as our contracts have not covered wheels, axels, frames, tires, alignment etc. There is a rider that can usually be purchased for wheels and tires but I have no experience with it.

[RickO]

Originally Posted by bigmichael

I'm not sure what would happen in that case, Rick. We have had service contracts for probably 15 years, and just have never had it come up. Sometimes, of course, its very obvious what is not working. Other times, all I can tell them is "something" has stopped working-it might be the appliance or the part, it might be electrical etc. The service tech then finds the problem, calls the service contract administrator, and fixes the problem.

If in fact it took hours or some extraordinary amount of time to find the problem-the service contract administrator might balk. However, I think if it were me I would probably be looking for a different repair tech rather than thinking the problem were the contract. But I do think these instances would have to be very rare. With the ability to plug in and read codes, engine diagnostics have become fairly quick. I actually remember the days when it could involve replacing one suspect part after another until the right solution was found. Same with electrical appliances and such. Its fairly easy for them to narrow down whether its an electrical problem or the appliance itself.

As to the "shimmy" example, I'm not sure as our contracts have not covered wheels, axels, frames, tires, alignment etc. There is a rider that can usually be purchased for wheels and tires but I have no experience with it.

Gotcha. Thanks.

I know the clause is in my contract but it never came up with any of my claims either.

Rick