In recent weeks, I've made a couple of purchases that involved warranties. We think of warranties as being applicable to purchases of major household appliances or our cars. But many smaller items are also carrying warranties these days.
One was on my set of bedsheets. On the package, it's stated that these sheets have a 5-year warranty. I've not seen this on sheets before. Also, recently, I bought a stick vacuum, to use in place of a broom and dustpan for the hard floors of the house. (I know -- a broom is much more frugal, but my aging back doesn't like to bend over very much any longer, so this will make my work easier, which means the floors will actually get cleaned more often.) The stick vac that I bought has a 2-year warranty. Several years ago, at least 10 years ago, I bought a set of pillows that carry a lifetime-warranty. And a few years back, I bought LED lightbulbs which carry a 10-year warranty.
I save all of the warranty information, along with receipts to prove date of purchase and purchase price. But so far, I've not needed to use warranties on these non-major appliance purchases. So, what good are these warranties doing me, anyway?
Well, I think a product that offers a decent warranty (beyond 30 or 90 days) is more likely to be made better. Manufacturers don't want to put a warranty out there if they know their products are produced shabbily. It wouldn't be cost-effective, is my thought.
And it seems that I'm not the only one drawing this conclusion about quality of product attached to either a longer than usual warranty or in some cases, actually carrying a warranty when similar products don't. I've been researching water heater replacements. One article I read said to go for one with a 12-year lifespan/warranty, over the 6 or 9 year models. In a comparison of actual products, where their engineers took apart various water heaters and assessed the quality of materials as well as craftsmanship, the 12-year models were made of substantially higher-quality materials than the models warrantied for shorter time periods. That's a good reason, in my book, to go for the longer warranty. It's not that I think I'd need to use this warranty, though it's nice to have it in place. But I'd prefer to not deal with a failure on my water heater, for as long as possible.
With my new stick vac, for the class of appliance I bought (mid-range, not super cheap, not uber-expensive), it has a pretty long warranty. Other stick vacs that I looked at had a one-year warranty. Those short warranties tell me that the warranties basically cover "lemons" which fail pretty early. A longer warranty indicates that a certain level of craftsmanship, design and materials are maintained in production.
Sometimes, it isn't even the higher-priced versions of a product that carry the better warranty. In regards to the sheets I bought, these were the least expensive California King-sized sheets that Bed, Bath & Beyond carried. There were more expensive Cal King sheet sets in this store, that didn't have any sort of warranty.
And it isn't enough that a product carry a warranty. I also have to think, "how will I use a warranty on one of these less expensive products/small appliances?" With a major kitchen appliance or automobiles, we all know how to find the manufacturer's customer service departments. But with a set of sheets how will I access the customer service for these items?
The sheets that I bought were specifically made for sale through BB & B, so I would likely go through that store-front. If I didn't feel I had a readily available, access-point to the warranty, then that warranty might not mean much to me.
To be clear, I'm not talking about those additional purchases of extended warranties, sold on kitchen appliances and electronics. Those are often managed by a third party, and don't indicate any '"extra" quality in the product that you've bought. They just give you peace of mind, should your appliance breakdown prematurely. But I don't feel that these types of warranties imply any sort of product quality.
Anyway, these recent purchases have had me thinking about warranties on products that I never would have thought would carry a warranty. Today, a warranty on sheets. What's next? A warranty on socks? Wouldn't that be something, if a company introduced a pair of sports socks that were warrantied for 5 years, to not get holes in the toes or heels. I think I'd try a pair of those. One of my daughters wears panty hose, and she burns through each pair quickly. How about a pair of panty hose that carried a warranty for 1 year. I think she'd buy those.
