Long-time readers may recall my cheap DIY kitchen renovation a few years back. As part of the renovation, we upgraded our appliances – or, so we thought. I had spent a good amount of time researching consumer reviews of appliances before making my picks, but just over 3 years after that renovation, we were frustrated to find ourselves with a useless, dead dishwasher.
My first instinct was to check the manufacturer’s warranty to find out if a repair and replacement would be covered. Unfortunately, the full warranty coverage was only a year, as is the case with most major appliance manufacturer warranties (some manufacturer’s extend that to cover a limited selection of parts for longer periods, but most have a full warranty of just one year). After that, the manufacturer claims zero responsibility if the appliance stops working. You’re on your own for any parts uncovered parts, service, or unit replacement.
My next step was to try to troubleshoot the issue and even replace a key part that was often cited for breaking down. That didn’t work either, and I eventually came to the sad conclusion that the motor on the unit had died. Instead of syncing hundreds into a new motor and a service visit on a dishwasher that was <$300 to begin with, I decided to cut my losses and shop for a new dishwasher from a different manufacturer.
As a Costco member, I was surprised to see that Costco was offering an extensive selection of dishwashers (they didn’t a few years back, and I can’t recall ever seeing appliances in store) and a few of the models I had narrowed my search down to were being sold at Costco.com. Costco was not only offering similar prices as other retailers, but I was excited to find that delivery, installation, and haul-away of the old unit was free in my state. I could handle all 3 of those on my own at no charge, but if you’re not so inclined, this can add up to hundreds in added charges at other retailers (and it will save me some time).
The Costco Appliance Warranty Adds 1 Year to the Manufacturer’s Warranty (For Free)
I was even more excited to find details on Costco’s extended warranty on appliance product pages:
The extended appliance warranty applies to not only dishwashers, but other major appliances, TVs, non-tablet computers, and more. Costco concierge states:
Costco extends the manufacturer’s warranty up to 2 years from the date of purchase.
The 2nd year warranty is offered on the following items:
- Televisions
- Projectors
- Computers*
- Major Appliances
- Water Heaters
*Excluding Touchscreen Tablets.
†2nd year warranty appliances include: Refrigerators (above 10 cu. ft.), freezers, ranges, cooktops, over-the-range microwaves, dishwashers, water heaters, washers and dryers.
The Costco Visa Additional 2-Year Extended Warranty Ends January 22, 2023
The Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi had a great additional 2-year extended warranty on top of the Costco 2nd year (making 4 years total). Costco Concierge (used to) state:
In addition to your Costco Concierge Warranty, if you make your purchase with your Costco Anywhere Visa Card, Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card or Costco credit card reward certificate, Citi will extend your manufacturer’s warranty for an additional 2 years. Coverage begins when the manufacturer’s warranty, or an extended warranty you purchased, expires. In no event will total coverage exceed seven years from the purchase date. You’re covered for up to $10,000 per item*.
This Costco appliance extended warranty benefit disappears in January of 2023. The following alert shows when logging in to the Costco Visa account benefits page:
Effective January 22, 2023, Extended Warranty coverage will be discontinued and will no longer be provided for purchases made on or after that date. Coverage for purchases made before that date will continue to be available in accordance with the current benefit terms. For additional information on these changes and your remaining benefits, please see FAQs under Card Benefits.
If you feel the need to add to the 2 year warranty after the change, you can purchase relatively inexpensive extended warranties at Costco.
Shopping for new appliances is no fun and can be stressful, but a 2nd year extended warranty for Costco members is a nice value add. And, no, this is not a sponsored post for Costco or Citi – I’m an actual Costco member who was pleased to see this customer perk. This benefit is one of many that makes Costco membership worth the cost for me (in addition to high quality store brand food, cheap Costco gas, Costco’s Kirkland dog and cat food, and Costco’s alcohol, wine, beer, and spirits.
Note: most Costco appliance purchases are available to members only, so if you intend to shop at Costco without a membership, you’re probably out of luck.
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Good to know
Thanks for such a useful information.
I saw this same info on the Costco side and we definitely plan to buy our new appliances from Costco. We have bought extended warranty from Lowe’s in the past and it took 4 weeks to get our washing machine that was only a few months old diagnosed and repaired. It was horrible!
So I’ve seen the Costco Citi card that adds 2 additional years of manufacture warranty. With that being said, should I purchase with my Costco citi card and hold off on buying the Squaretrade 3yr warranty for an additional $299?
Has anyone bought a fridge from costco
And when it breaks how does warranty stand up
You can get the extended 3-year warranty from SquareTrade that sells at Costco and the Citi warranty will begin when that one ends. You can get up to 7 years of warranty like this. 1 year from manufacturer + 1 year from Costo + 3 years purchased from SquareTrade + 2 years from Citi card.
Have you seen the reviews of the CostCo extended warranty? Really bad. My work laptop died and to get the warranty I have to send in pictures to show them there isn’t any obvious accidental damage to it. It’s been two days and I haven’t heard back from them yet. Once I do no telling how long it will take to get them to service it and return it back to me. I ended up buying another laptop from CostCo just to have something to work on till mine is fixed. Then I’ll return the new laptop and wipe my data off of it. So frustrating.
Jerry T, definitely should get a dedicated back up system either home NAS or online service (online only if you have suffient bandwidth)
The first back up will take awhile, after that backups will go quickly as only have back up the changed/new data and not the entire drive again.
Your data will be preserved in any event including otherwise irretrievable hardware failure. Forensic data retrieval from a broken drive can run into the hundreds of dollars per hour. Such is the specialized service it’s definitely up there with what good lawyers charge.
Or just spend a bit on a backup service and never worry about. Everything is made so cheap these days nothing holds up too well imo. Worth it.
I had to document damage on a broken Microwave handle during warranty. It took a week or two, but I got a full refund. Patience is a virtue, they say.
We’ve been trying to get our broken refrigerator fixed through Costco’s extended warranty for over 3 months. Both Costco’s concierge and the SquareTrade extended warranty company are impossible to reach. We’ve spent hours on hold with Costco concierge. SquareTrade refused to repair the fridge without a physical paper receipt, even though we have an online order and the only receipt we have is an email. They refused to accept the email receipt from costco.com. Costco concierge refused to help, dropping our calls and continually transferring us to person after person, and each one saying they can’t do anything. Costco concierge ignored emails from FairTrade requesting they provide the paper receipt or verify the purchase. Each one blames the other and neither wants to fix this. I’ve had to file a complaint the with Attorney General in my state. I would never purchase a major appliance with Costco. Their service is the worst I’ve ever experienced.
Kelly we have been 20+ years members with Costco. I was planning on buying some appliances from Costco until I read your review – THANKS for the heads up! Unfortunately the big box co’s only give you prorated warranties now as everyone knows you are lucky if you get 3 years let alone 5 years from an appliances these days. This “functional obsolescence” by mfg’s has to stop! We desperately need someone to step up and make quality like they did 20 years ago. Get rid of the fancy dancy gizmos, STOP using plastic parts and “stainless steel” so thin it dents if anything bumps vs it. We need SPEED QUEEN quality (except for their 2017 & 2018 blunders) that offer true 10 yr warranties. And don’t fall for those 10 yr compressor warranties on frig’s offered by LG & Samsung – they do NOT include labor – that’s where they’ll get you and you will cave-in and buy a new frig. WHY is it so impossible today to get anything from autos to appliances that are truly BUILT BETTER TO LAST, not to mention affordable?!! Even the higher-end more expensive appliances have the same PLASTIC cheaply made guts internally! It’s just wrong, it’s un-American. It is all driven by PROFIT & GREED.
I purchased a $5000 TV on my Costco Citicard, which included extended warranties and Concierge service. I would have been better off paying a higher premium for the product with a more reputable retailer that specializes in electronics.
The TV broke — dark spots all over the UHD screen. I should probably blame Samsung for that. But Costco arranges to have it fixed. Repair guys replace a bunch of parts. Great.
Three months later, the screen is PEELING OFF of the television. Two repair guys evaluated the issue and agreed it couldn’t be fixed. They even reported that back to Costco. No joke.
You know what is a joke? Costco Concierge. They demand we try to repair anyway (mind you, this TV has already been repaired once). It takes six weeks to send busted replacement parts. So now we’re waiting again for new replacement parts (hopefully not busted). This TV has been sitting on our wall literally peeled open and exposed to dust, debris, and dander for two months. And the answer is to just tape a new screen on?
So let me get this straight, Costco — your solution to this $5000 television is to re-apply some double-sided tape and press? Hold on — I have some double-sided tape that I bought FROM COSTCO. Why don’t I just fix the TV myself? It would be faster!
The most disappointing part of all this? Costco’s service sucks, and I’ve always been such a huge fan. But there’s zero sense of urgency or even human decency. Make this right, Costco. Stand behind the products you bring into the warehouse, and the warranties and service you sell.
In the meantime — to all you consumers — walk right past the gleaming displays of gorgeous electronic devices and head straight to the cheese samples in the refrigerated foods section.
You spent $5,000 on a TV? And it had a peel screen? Something doesn’t add up.
Sounds great but working with the “concierge service ” is a nightmare!! Good luck, long wait times and no resolution after an hour on the phone with them. Changed my view of Costco!
Consumers should know that we should not purchase Electronics from COSTCO. This is a big fraud. I bought a stove from COSTCO 2 years ago for $2000, as soon as the 2 years was up the stove started shorting out, caught on fire. I called Costco Costco Concierge Services Technical Support…. 1-866-861-0450 spoke to Ada who was very hostile and was repeating over and over that I have to pay for all repairs or parts; I asked for a list of repair companies, said she had none or knew of any. In short she was telling me that I’m on my own and Costco don’t give a damn.