Water Heater Warranty Void!
I have a three family brownstone in Brooklyn. Two 40 gallon water heaters in the basement plumbed together. On one heater the pilot won’t stay lit, so I called GE(American Hot Water Heater) about getting it fixed under warranty.It’s taken a week and a half and a number of calls to finally get someone out,…
I have a three family brownstone in Brooklyn. Two 40 gallon water heaters in the basement plumbed together. On one heater the pilot won’t stay lit, so I called GE(American Hot Water Heater) about getting it fixed under warranty.It’s taken a week and a half and a number of calls to finally get someone out, who’s coming today, but when I was trying to get them here and explaining that I have tenants I have to provide hot water to for emphasis, The GE rep came back and said because the water heater is in a multi family, the warranty is void. Anyone else ever run into this? Any ideas about what to do about it? NY state dept of consumer affairs. All brownstones as I understand it were originally built as single family dwellings.
SteamMan, being as my GE fridge was just past the warranty time, and we spent a boatload of cabbage on it, I feel justified. I forgot to mention in my first post that it was the second time we had a problem. And thanks for the compliment!
Starfish, there are many commercial units that would apply nicely in a 3 family building.
The reason the water heater manufacturers do this is that every one would install a residential unit in a commercial app for way less money and then try to warranty every unit they have. Residential units are built for single family homes with a six year (or ten) warranty because it’s only being used by a few people in one family. Residential units are not built for use by 3 or 4 families which would mean use by upwards to 20 people + a day.
Commercial units all have a 3 year warranty. If maintained properly a water heater will usually oulast the warranty period.
I’ve sold many(and I mean many) commercial water heaters for buildings with just a few units to buildings with 100’s of units.
A nice little Laars PW0175 mighty therm “commercial” water heater and a 119 gallon storage tank would be great for a 3 family dwelling.
In all fairness, a tank only runs you $500. A service call costs GE $100 so you shouldn’t expect them to be too generous with them. The warranty on a water tank is really to guarantee that the bottom won’t rust through for X number of years. Like Bill said, the thermocouple is considered expendable. You can easily replace it yourself.
Seems like a ridiculous rule.
A “commercial” water heater is huge. Way too much for a 3-unit building, or even ten units.
It’s a way of presenting what sounds like a ten year warranty but is really a one-year. They fool a lot of people.
Yes, absolutely. Like Gingrich said, GE is clever to avoid taxes
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpps/news/gingrich-says-ge-zero-tax-liability-a-clever-strategy-dpgapx-20110513-kh_13193672
and clever to weasel out of making warranty repairs, too.
So with all that they save on not paying taxes GE saves even more by nitpicking warrantys?
Ummm Bill, you’re a great guy but you just admitted to ripping off GE. DOH!
To elaborate on SteamMan’s post. When a residential water heater is installed in a dwelling with more than one family it’s considered to be a ‘commercial’ application, voiding the warranty.
All water heater manufacturers(not just GE) have this policy.
I have a GE fridge. When we had an issue with a bad board the GE service tech put it in as a warranty and we only paid for his service call. The fridge was already out of warranty for 3 months. He saved us about $400.00 and he was sent by GE.
This is pretty standard on most brands. The warranty rules change when the unit is installed in any more than a single family home.
Yes, I did. I won’t buy any more GE products because of it.