Class Action: Lowe’s Protection Plans ‘Useless or Severely Diminished’ While Manufacturers’ Warranties in Effect

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A Washington consumer alleges Lowe’s Home Centers and Federal Warranty Service Corporation have for years sold “useless or severely diminished” protection plans that essentially never go into effect as long as a manufacturer’s warranty is still active. 

According to the 22-page suit, Lowe’s protection plans, administered by Federal Warranty Service Corporation, are represented as extended or additional warranties for certain products sold by the retailer in store and online. The case explains that consumers are verbally offered the chance to buy a Lowe’s protection plan at the point of sale and receive a brochure containing the plan’s terms and conditions only after their purchase is completed. Online customers are similarly not provided with vital information until after they’ve completed their transaction, the suit says.

The issue, the lawsuit charges, is that the terms and conditions governing Lowe’s protection plans “severely restrict and contradict” the ostensibly broad coverage touted by the defendants. According to the complaint, the warranties offered by manufacturers are routinely “equal to or longer in duration” than the protection plans offered by the defendants, who refuse to provide any services or benefits in the event of an overlap with a manufacturer’s warranty.

In all, consumers are generally unaware that a Lowe’s so-called “extended” protection plan runs concurrent to a manufacturer’s warranty and does not in fact extend the life of the manufacturer’s warranty, the suit asserts. 

“Defendants do not inform customers that the Protection Plans are not effective if the underlying product is still under warranty,” the complaint says. “The customers’ sold recourse is via the manufacturer’s warranty. If the manufacturer’s warranty is equal to or longer in duration than the Protection Plan, the Protection Plan never takes effect.”

The plaintiff claims he bought a barbecue grill from Lowe’s in January 2019 for $399 and paid an extra $79.99 for the company’s protection plan without being apprised of the terms and conditions prior to purchase. Later that year, the plaintiff began experiencing problems with his grill and contacted Lowe’s to request on-site pickup as this was supposedly covered by his protection plan.

According to the suit, the man was informed by Lowe’s that the store would not honor his protection plan given the product was under a five-year warranty from its manufacturer. The plaintiff then realized he had also bought in 2015 a five-year protection plan from Lowe’s for $109.97 for a dishwasher whose manufacturer’s warranty was in effect for 10 years, the case says. 

“Though he has not had to make any claims concerning the dishwasher, the Protection Plan has no effect due to the superior manufacturer’s warranty and offered no value to [the plaintiff],” the lawsuit says.

A customer who attempts to use a Lowe’s protection plan is pointed by the retailer to the manufacturer’s warranty, the case claims. Alternatively, in the event a customer never files a protection plan claim, Lowe’s and Federal Warranty Services Corporation keep the amount paid for the plan without informing the consumer that the policy was void, according to the lawsuit. 

The defendants’ claims as to the broad coverage offered by Lowe’s protection plans and omission of their narrow scope is false and deceptive, the suit alleges. 

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s newsletter here.