Originally Posted by Still_JM
I had a dryer belt broke. I youtube a fix, ordered the part and fixed it myself. Part from Sears was $30, shipping was $20 (wtf?). Repair would have been $300.

The washer broke months later. I youtube a fix, but did not feel I was up to it, so I just called for repair and paid $300.

Yes, there is definitely a balance. As you may remember, I recently installed the new cooktop in the kitchen, which included widening the hole in the circuit box using a dremel tool. In past years I have changed belts, hoses, filters, and spark plugs on my tractor and repaired other home appliances.

However, for some reason, Sears makes the service contracts on kitchen and laundry appliances fairly attractive. I know that we could have paid $100 for one repair call for our dishwasher, or $150 for a service contract that includes both parts and labor. Turned out we needed a new electronic control panel that costs $200, plus the service tech had to come twice, which would have cost $200. So we got $400 of repairs for $150.

When you can see it coming, duck!