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Home Warranties? Yes, No, or Maybe So?
When it comes to extended warranties, I am not a big fan. I am even a little cynical. They are usually pushed on consumers when the buy electronics. To me, they just don’t make sense. Why would I pay $120 to extend the warranty on a $200 tablet? By the time that the manufacturer’s warranty expires, the merchandise is probably obsolete.
Home warranties are a completely different animal! I highly recommend them to all of my clients. Many of my clients equate them with the ones sold on electronics and I have to work a little harder to convince them of the benefits. Fran was one such client but now she is glad that she followed my advice.
Last Friday she called me to thank me for not listening to her when she first rejected buying a 2-10 Home warranty. She went on to tell me that the Apollo water heater in here house had failed, and she used the home warranty to have it replaced. The total bill would have been about $1200 but she will only have to pay $75 plus a few hundred because a few things have to be upgraded to code. She is in her 80’s and on a very tight fixed income. As you can imagine, she was thrilled.
After we got off the phone I started to worry about the so called “things having to be upgraded to code.” I called my 2-10 to discuss the situation. Upon hearing the story, my rep told me that there are times when the warranty does not cover the entire expense and those usually involve replacing old units and being required to upgrade other pieces in the system. I was satisfied with his explanation but then he went one step further.
“Mark, let me call the plumber who is doing the work and see if I can negotiate the price. If anyone deserves a discount, it sounds like your client does.”
I was very surprised that he would make such an offer and I was hopeful that he could save Fran a few bucks.
On Monday I answered the phone to hear a very excited Fran on the other end. She told me that the plumber had replaced the water heater that morning and he told her that I had called them on her behalf and she wasn’t required to pay any additional money for the job.
Needless to say, Fran is now a client for life!
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