Most items and home appliances you purchase should come with a warranty. The length of the warranty and it’s terms are solely governed by the manufacturer and while they have to legally honor it, you always have to check into the reputation of the company as to how well the warrantary will be honored. Also, be aware of the lettering of the warranty. Find out if labor is covered or not.
Parts Covered, Labor Is On You
When it comes to some home item warranties, such as hot water heaters and ac systems, the systems themselves might be warrantied, but not the labor involved in troubleshooting and replacing the part. Often times, you have to pay labor to replace that leaky AC coil or replace that crack in the hot water heater.
Can’t always do it yourself
You might think that, since the warranty covers parts only, you can get the installer to give you the part themselves and replace it on your own. Again, this isn’t an assumption you should make. Some installers will only warranty a unit if they fix it themselves, and since they have the means to replace the part (like access to it) you are pretty much out of luck.
Ask Warranty Terms in Advance
Always ask the terms of a warranty in advance. Is it a manufacturer backed warranty or is the installer backing the warranty themselves? This might be importnant, because as long as the manufacturer doesn’t exclusively give replacement parts to repair shops, they might send you a replacement part if you can provide the info (when it was purchased, etc.).
Get it in writing
As with all things, especially expensive items, get the agreed too warranty terms in legally binded print. This way, if years down the road a problem arises, the installer can’t reneg on the warranty or on particular details of it.