Thinking about getting a warranty for your new appliance? There are some important facts to consider before making your decision. We’ve collected information from the Competition Bureau to help you make the decision that’s right for you when it comes to appliance warranties.
What’s the risk?
You may end up paying extra for a warranty that is less beneficial than it seems.
- Some warranties can be misleading and come with surprise clauses that are restrictive. For instance, you may only be covered for replacement parts (and not repairs), or the other way around.
- Some warranties require that the repairs be done with an “authorized” supplier, which can end up costing you more than going to a local repair shop.
Tips to make the right decision for you
The Competition Bureau offers these tips:
- Ask questions:
- How long is the warranty good for?
- Does the appliance come with a full or limited warranty?
- What is covered under the warranty?
- Who should I contact if something goes wrong with my appliance – the manufacturer, retailer, or third-party provider?
- When the appliance needs repairs, can I hire a local repair shop? Or do I have to go through an “authorized” supplier?
- If a question isn’t answered by the retailer, contact the manufacturer to learn more.
- Find out what documents you need to keep (receipt, terms and conditions, etc.).
- Keep record of any information you receive about the warranty (emails, phone calls, etc.).
For more information on this topic, visit their page on appliance warranties.
Have you been misled by your appliances’ warranty?
If you feel as though your warranty was misleading, you can file a complaint with the Competition Bureau. You may also be interested in taking a look at the Government of Canada’s Consumer Handbook, which has more information about warranties.
While this isn’t an area we oversee, we like to share inform and educate consumers on topics of interest. If you have a suggestion for a blog post topic, we would be happy to hear it.
About Consumer Protection BC
We are responsible for regulating specific sectors and certain consumer transactions in British Columbia. If your concern is captured under the laws we enforce, we will use the tools at our disposal to assist you. If we can’t help you directly, we will be happy to provide you with as much information as possible. Depending on your concern, another organization may be the ones to speak to; other times, court or legal assistance may be the best option. Explore our website at www.consumerprotectionbc.ca.
ADDITIONAL READING:
Is that extended warranty really worth the cost?
Dear Consumer Protection BC: referrals
What would you do? A guide to being a savvy consumer: home-repair
Quebec has what is called a legal warranty, meaning, despite the one year warranty provided by the manufacturer, in most instances, if the appliances life expectancy should be higher, say 3 years, one can claim the defect based on the legal warranty. Does this exist in BC? Bought a new samsung led 4k tv 2 years ago, tv has stopped working after 2 years. Warranty is only one year. Thx
Eric
Hi Eric, thank you for posting your question. In BC, warranties are not regulated or overseen by any governmental organizations. You may have to go back to the store where you purchased the TV from, or contact the manufacturer directly and see if they can honour the warranty. Either way, I hope you can resolve the issue quickly!
It is unfortunate that BC does not protect consumers with the “Legal warranty”. Bought a Kitchenaid dishwasher 1 1/2 years ago. The motor just stopped one day – out of the blue. Of course past the 1 year warranty. This is crazy – a dishwater should last 7-10 years.
Hi Jay, thank you for contacting us and I’m sorry to hear about your experience. Have you contacted the store you purchased the dishwasher from or KitchenAid? As the post suggests, you may want to report it to the Competition Bureau. You’re right that there are no regulators on this topic in BC. The next step may also include contacting CRT (Civil Resolution Tribunal). Sorry that we can’t be of much help but we hope you will be able to resolve the issue.
We purchased a dishwasher from Home Depot and it leaked on the first wash! We want to return and exchange the washer for another one but they want us to go through warranty. A warranty visit for a dishwasher that is defective on first use seems wrong in normal times but during a pandemic, it is unacceptable. What is the length of time that we can return or exchange a purchase in BC? Thanks.
Hi Vin, thanks for getting in touch with us! In BC, retailers are allowed to set their own return or exchange policy and that should be included in your receipt. Warranties for large appliances are also not regulated so perhaps keep that in mind as you decide on an exchange or refund. I hope you will be able to work out the issue quickly!
Beware of Costco for online appliance purchases. After 90 days there is no refund/exchange, so if a problem happens within the warranty period you are at the mercy of the manufacturer. The Costco concierge is a waste of time, and they direct you to a USA based call centre that is unreasonably lengthy to connect with a real person for scheduling help.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
Fridge is under warranty from manufacturer. They are honouring the repair. However the leak has caused damage to my kitchen floors and cabinets that should also be repaired under the warranty. Is this warrantable normally? What are my other recourses? CRT? Small claims?
Hi Jason, hmm this is a difficult one. Since warranties are not regulated in BC, it’s our understanding that you would have to take the matter to the court. You can explore your options with CRT first and see what approach you can take. Here’s the link to their webpage. I hope you will be able to solve this quickly!
Bought a lg refrigerator 5 years ago. It stopped cooling a week ago. Called lg spoke to a service person they said the compressor has failed and that lg covers the cost of a new compressor but not the labour to change it. I said fine and they would call me with a name of a service center. They did not I had to phone them found out the service center does not cover our area. I phoned the center and they said to bring the fridge over they would order part and have it fixed in two to three weeks. I asked what I should do for a fridge during this time was told perhaps I could share a fridge with someone. It pissed me off I will never buy another LG product again. I asked what the labour was to repair the compressor I was told about 400 dollars. Add to that the cost of delivering and picking up the fridge it would well over 700 800 dollars. Then you don,t know how long this will last. Seems like a bad investment to me. Not sure if any laws cover this kind of product.
Hi Fred, thank you for getting in contact with us. Warranties and repairs are not something that laws cover in BC. You may want to negotiate with LG and see if they will cover some of the costs but other than that we aren’t able to suggest any recourse.
Hi Fred,
We bought a GE fridge last year. It was quite noisy – it sounded like an airplane was flying over the house.
We had the warranty-service guy come over and try to fix it. The first time he came, he suggested buying the extended warranty.
Now, just after the 1-year warranty expired, the fridge quit cooling. The bottom freezer was frozen up like it was snowing.
We’ve spoken to the extended warranty people. They don’t care about any servicing that happened under the original warranty.
As far as they’re concerned, this is the first call.
We’ve been without this kitchen fridge for 3 weeks. Luckily we have an extra fridge and a large freezer. We have no idea when the service guy will pick up the part and come to fix our fridge.
Nobody cares.
When we purchase appliances, we purchase them with an implied warranty of free of defects. Most cases this doesn’t happen. We simply have no recourse in Canada to protect Consumers against manufacturers when there are defective appliances, such as fridges on the market. Both a health & safety concern.
In my case a Samsung fridge which has had 5 evap repairs, 1 main pcb board and 3 icemaker repairs. Even filing with BBB and reaching out to the manufacturer all I get is them insisting on a 4th icemaker repair. We had food poisoning due to unsafe temperatures. Food spoiling much quicker as well as loss of food twice. Constantly repairing a unit increases mistrust using it.
Numerous news stories in the states regarding floods, fires, pieces of plastic embedding into ice etc. People are losing breast milk, medication, food, pet food, at a time when costs are skyrocketing.
I was not informed as a consumer when I purchased this unit that there was a class action in the states involving my model, nor of the defects. This did not allow myself or other Canadians in my same situation to make informed purchases.
We pay high prices for appliances to only have them fail within 5 years approximately. The competition bureau does nothing, health canada is taking its time, and Consumer Protection BC doesn’t seem proactive either. People today do not always have the funds to file claims especially when we have organizations that are supposed to protect us.
There is numerous BC consumers who are experiencing the same issues with these units as myself and have attempted to get news coverage in this issue.
We need real action and be helped as consumers and not be bounced around. Someone to work for us and with us that knows the laws and what to do. Versus an organization that is working against us. As from what I am getting in feedback that is exactly what is happening. Over 40 people in BC having issues, some are told to go to Civil Resolution Tribunal for a cost of $75.
We need YOU to help us. If this many people in one group are having issues, there are many more out there.
Our little voices mean nothing, but yours does.
Hello and thank you for reaching out to us. We are sorry to hear about your experience and you are right – Consumer Protection BC is not able to support you in this matter. It is simply because our organization is not mandated by law to regulate warranties and product quality of household appliances. It sounds like you have already done a lot of work and research on this but perhaps one more thing I may suggest would be to contact a lawyer. Access Pro Bono has a program called Lawyer Referral Service and you can connect to an expert lawyer who will provide up to a half-hour of free legal consultation. Here is their website.
Whose job is it to regulate household appliances in Canada, if you cannot help us? No one seems to truly know? It has to be someone. The answer cannot always be, ‘Here contact a lawyer’. Where is our protection when people are getting sick? Our food goes into these fridges.
We bought an Electrolux Fridge. It was a year and a half old and stopped working. The warranty is only for 1 year. We had a service tech come in, it’s been 2 months of him ordering and replacing an invertor board only to find out it was the wrong one. From doing that it ruinedthe compressor. The distubtor said they’re licensed by Electrolux who themselves blamed the distrubtor for having the wrong part. How do we get Electrolux to be held responsible? No 1 for selling us a fridge that broke down after 1.5 years, no 2 for not admitting blame for the wrong part?
Hi Rob, as you may have read in the article, our organization does not oversee warranty issues. In this case, you may want to try to negotiate with either the distributor or Electrolux further and see if they are able to offer a suitable solution. The next step may be to take the distributor or Electrolux to the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) which offers a dispute resolution platform for claims up to $5,000. You can visit their website and explore more. I hope you will be able to come to a resolution quickly.
So bought a TV just over a year ago and half of the screen last night out of the blue has a blue tint, it has been mounted since it was purchased. Doesnt the consumer act of 2015 give me the right for 1 repair or replacement?
Hi Megan, thank you for reaching out to us! I am not familiar with the Consumer Rights Act of 2015. It sounds like it came in force in the UK and maybe that is why. If you live in the UK, you may want to contact your local consumer protection branch. I hope you can resolve the issue quickly!
Reading through all the issues it is obvious that we need a consumer protection agency that has more teeth. I suggest you approach your government body and be proactive in changing your mandate. The fact that manufacturers of expensive appliances are able to walk away from faulty products with little or no repercussion suggest there is something missing in our laws.
I am just going through a poor response from LG for a fridge that is only 2 years old
Hi there. We oversee regulations and licensing for specific industries in BC, but do not participate in the lawmaking process. You can learn more about us by exploring our website. If you’d like to see changes made to consumer protection laws, I suggest writing a letter to your local MLA. I hope this helps clarify it for you.
I contacted Anne Drewa at Global BC and asked her to Research and do a story with regards to Sales and Warranties of Major Appliances in BC and did not receive a response to my request. This is a major issue and Consumer and Corporate Affairs in Victoria should be assisting Consumers with these issues! Our Refrigerator has had Major Issues since brand new and GE, and the Retailer just won’t assist at all.
Hi Jim, sorry to hear that you are having issues with your fridge. Retail purchases like large appliances and warranties are not something Consumer Protection BC is able to assist with, but Clicklaw (ran by People’s Law School) has a page on their website with some helpful information. You may have already taken most of the actions suggested by the page but I thought I would share it with you. Here is the link to the website.
Just bought a new whirlpool fridge and dishwasher last week. Dishwasher works great but fridge showed up with a dent that was covered by a piece of paper which I immediately reported. Now I am waiting for a new door, Meanwhile we have discovered that the fridge will not keep a food safe temperature we have been losing food all week! reported it to the seller and they simply reported it for maintenance. Should they not replace it with a fridge that actually works? So disappointed!
Hello and thank you for contacting Consumer Protection BC. Retail sales, including large appliances, are not something Consumer Protection BC oversees and no other governmental organizations have authority over these sales in BC. You may want to work directly with the business where you purchased them from, or the manufacturer. If you have been in contact with a sales associate, try speaking to a manager. You may also want to see if the business is a member of the Better Business Bureau. I hope this information is helpful.