Should The Brick Honour An Extended Warranty?

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Claiming an extended warranty may be like talking to a “Brick” wall.

Make sure you know what you are buying, and if you don’t, don’t believe it.

OK, to be fair, we need to understand as consumers that there may be fine print when we purchase an extended warranty.

Not only that but what is interpreted by the retailer might not be what we as consumers interpret, which may cause issues or concerns down the line.

You might need a lawyer to interpret the extended warranty so that you know exactly what it means to you.

I’m pretty sure a lawyer has done the same or written the extended warranty for the retailer.

It sounds a bit wishy-washy but that’s the beauty of “customer protection” nowadays that you pay for out-of-pocket.

If you don’t understand EVERYTHING you are buying, don’t buy it.

If you have to talk to a manager or head office, call.

It reminds me of the people who sign on the dotted line after listening to someone selling them a product and believing them, only to find out they got shafted.

Sad, I know, but that’s the way money rolls these days.

Extended Warranty

Buying a product and expecting it to last a certain amount of time certainly doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary, especially when you’ve purchased the “extended warranty” that always seems to get thrust upon you by the sales staff.

I’m no shopping expert, but I never buy the extended warranty because I believe in keeping things in good condition, which leads to years of enjoyment.

I’ll admit I have had things go wrong, but they have always been within the 12-month standard manufacturer’s warranty.

I’ve had no trouble claiming the guarantee or receiving the original purchase price back if the repair/exchange wasn’t satisfactory.

That is provided it was claimed within the warranty time frame, which did not happen with our Kitchen-Aid food processor, which I talked about in an earlier post where it failed after the warranty expired.

Extended-Warranty At The Brick

We have furniture in our house that is a few years old, and even then, we bought that second-hand, yet it still looks the same as the day we bought it, except if we haven’t dusted it.

So when I saw this story about a lady being refused her claim on the extended warranty on furniture she bought at The Brick, I wanted to know more.

She bought a premium leather sofa and loveseat in 2009 and purchased an extended warranty with it for an extra $300.

Move into the present, and she’s claiming the extended warranty for the seams coming apart and the leather peeling.

First, we’ve been to The Brick a couple of times, and I’ll agree that some of the furniture looks nice from a distance, but get up close, and the finishing is not what you’d expect.

That’s not to say that all furniture is like this, but you need to know what top quality is if you’re paying for it.

You’re not buying hand-crafted furniture; you’re buying imported mass-produced furniture from such places as Vietnam, Cambodia, and China.

People Value Products Differently

One person’s “Premium” is another person’s “Low grade,” and I would imagine it goes along the standard for pretty much most stuff.

Another well-known department store sells Italian-made leather sofas as well as others, and another furniture store sells sofas made in Canada.

Now, Italian-made sofas are pretty famous to be of a higher grade than a far Eastern version.

But people are taken in by the prices at places like The Brick because they tend to be cheaper, and then they run those tent sales every so often.

Have you ever looked at the damaged section at many big box-type furniture stores?

That’s what your furniture could end up looking like.

Check out the quality of the damaged items, and you’ll get a feel for the whole price stuff.

Even if they stand behind the Quality of their products, there has to be some form of responsibility of the owner to take reasonable care of the product as well.

I’m not saying I don’t shop at The Brick.

My wife has purchased appliances in the past with no issues, but you get what you pay for these days.

The Extended-Warranty Issue

Anyways, the lady in question has been denied repairs on the extended warranty because they are not covered, surprise-surprise.

I don’t know how she takes care of what she owns or what the couch looks like, but by the sounds of it, the piece is in rough shape.

The news article also lists that in Central and Northern Alberta, of the 700 complaints to the Better Business Bureau in the furniture stores category 90% of the complaints were against the Brick.

The comments on the article weren’t much to write home about either.

More than a few people have had a similar experience with The Brick extended warranty or just extended warranties in general.

However, The Brick responded that “Abuse and neglect, along with wear and tear, are two items excluded from the warranty,” which is understandable.

I’ve seen people’s houses and the furniture in them in a state I can only describe as decomposing. It’s that bad.

Not to say that this lady had a place that bad, but looking after what you have goes a long way in life.

Take Care Of Your Stuff

We have a faux-leather couch set bought five years ago, and although we don’t have kids, we had a pet (not allowed on any furniture) we use it daily, and it’s still in mint condition with no scratches.

Many would expect a faux-leather couch to fall apart, but that’s not the case.

Many times it’s about how well you look after what you own. It’s all about circumstances.

We take care of it, clean it down, and use leather wipes to ensure we keep it in tip-top shape. Just the other day, our nephew, who often builds forts on the couch, spilled his milk all over and we cleaned it up right away.

All of our furniture is still as beautiful as the day we bought it used.

As readers of these articles, it’s always a matter of he said, she said, they said, and they won’t or will do.

It sits sounds a bit over the top, but that’s the way it goes when things don’t go how the customer or retailer wants.

Is it worth it for the retailer to sort out the problem and save the reputation of the company?

Easy Home Is A Waste Of Money

We went to a furniture sell-off when we bought our house from a store called Easy Home (a furniture rental company) and were astounded at the condition the furniture came back in.

I’ve seen better stuff at the dump. Hence, we bought the precise amount of zero items from Easy Home.

I decided to look at The Bricks standing on the BBB website only to discover that the number of complaints is at 644 with 217 regarding warranty issues, 285 regarding products or services, and a Government action against the company.

We’ve found that the better quality items can be purchased second-hand at the shops, garage sales, Kijiji, or at store markdowns because it’s been on display for prices you wouldn’t believe, and it doesn’t come with any type of warranty, let alone an extended warranty.

So, although The Brick will take care of the extended warranty issues, they will cover the customer the other issues she deems should be covered under what she thought she purchased was “full-coverage”.

What are your thoughts about who is right and wrong in this extended warranty situation, and do you purchase them?

Top Recipe

If you don’t already know, I have a second Facebook page called The Free Recipe Depot where I share recipes from other Foodie Bloggers worldwide.

Once a week, I pick one recipe that has been submitted as my Top Recipe of the week. Trust me when I say this is no easy task, as some of these foodies can cook up a storm.

This week I picked a soup recipe since it’s been a while since I’ve shared something as delicious as a Sausage and Kale soup.

This recipe comes to us from the blog Savor Life’s Flavours.

Weekly CBB Posts

If you missed any CBB posts from the week, here is the list of posts you can catch up on reading!

• How the new anti-spam law in Canada will affect your email subscriptions
• Do you buy magazines at the checkout?
• Will signing a room rental agreement feel like moving home?
• Crunchy Baked Chicken with Tzatziki
• First Day of Summer and Family Activities

Well, that’s a wrap for this PF Friday’s Grab a brew #78. Happy budgeting and I’ll see you here again next week when I do it all over again.

-Mr.CBB

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