The umbrella playbook
Every parts-warranty denial is one of five sentences — and every sentence has a different correct answer, because each one rests on a different mechanism: a search that didn't run, a test that can't see the failure, a classification, a downgrade, or a rule that doesn't exist in print. Answering the wrong sentence is how claims stay dead. Match yours first.
| The sentence | What it really is | The play |
|---|---|---|
| "We can't find your purchase" | A search-depth or data-entry problem | The no-receipt playbook — five lookup paths, the server, the §1.1 database, the statement |
| "Our test says it's fine" | A test that can't reproduce the failure | The bench-test dispute play — printout, conditions, independent retest |
| "That's wear, not a defect" | A classification ruling | Wear or defect? — the pattern library and the photo file |
| "That's commercial use" | A downgrade — written at two chains, unwritten at two | The 90-day decoder — the count and the classification |
| "One exchange only" | A rule absent from all four published texts | The one-exchange myth — "show me the cap in writing" |
With those three captures, every ladder rung above the store becomes available: the ladder page dials them in order.
If the denial you're fighting came from a home warranty company — the plan that covers your house's systems and appliances, not a part you carried out of a store — that's a different giant with its own published terms and its own games. Our sister site WarrantyDecoded runs a free claim-readiness checker for exactly that fight.
Not sure which wall you hit? The free checker sorts it in a few picks — chain, part, purchase date, your proof, and the store's own words — and gives you where you stand under the written policy, the proration math where it applies, the exact next counter move, and the ladder above the store. Run the checker →
The pages above are the map. The kit is the paperwork: the word-for-word counter scripts, the per-chain playbooks, the worksheets, and the complaint templates.
One payment, yours to keep. You do every step yourself — at the store, on the phone, in writing; we never call a store for you. See everything inside the kit →