My purchase was a power washer along with a $99 Extended Service Plan covering four years. It quit working at the two-and-a-half-year mark, and I brought it in. A clerk suggested I select a replacement, which I did. When I went back to her, she reported that the manager had decided against a new unit and wanted the old one repaired. Speaking to the manager myself, I heard that repair was required because the item was worth more than $300. Then he demanded $35 in advance for diagnostics. I declined, noting that their handout contract says nothing of the kind. Unless I paid, he said, no repair would be arranged. Again I declined. Payment first, he insisted, and he promised to refund the fee when the washer came back. I declined a third time.
He left, and when he came back he instructed the clerk to prepare a repair order. As she handed it over for my signature, a quick read showed me paying a $35 diagnostic charge and the first $60 of repair costs. I struck out those two lines before signing.
The ESP website clearly states that there are no hidden costs and no deductible.
I consider the $35 a hidden cost and the $60 a deductible. Nationwide, if customers are handing over these sums, Home Depot is collecting plenty of money that its contract does not support.
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