What do our Visio television, a set of DJI wireless microphones, and a GE washer/dryer combo have in common? Over the past couple of months, all of them have broken.

Back in the day I used to think that brand names were really important, and still do to a certain extent. When you spend a little more on name brand items, along with that name comes better quality. The JVC VCR I use to capture VHS tapes is fifteen years old and still working great. I can’t imagine a, you know, Daewoo unit lasting as long.

But the problem with appliances and devices today is that the companies selling them don’t make the components. I’ve always had good luck with Samsung televisions, but less than half of all Samsung televisions use Samsung displays. That’s not all that surprising. Apple makes 0% of the components that go into an iPhone.

So when you’re comparing brands and trying to decide between JVC and Daewoo, it’s likely that each of them have purchased third-party components (maybe even from the same supplier) to build devices. Now, part of what you’re paying for is quality control — we hope (or would at least like to think) that someone like JVC uses better parts and does more testing than an inexpensive brand. Maybe they do and maybe they don’t. But recently, I’ve discovered that there’s something more important to me than the names on the box, and that is:

How easy is it to get repaired and/or get replaced if it breaks?

In all of the instances above, things went great. The $400/55″ Visio television Susan bought for the condo in DC and brought back home with her developed a problem with the display after only 13 months. Armed with only a model number and a prayer, I contacted their tech support and after a couple of hours of troubleshooting they told me to keep the TV and mailed me a check for the price of the television. My DJI wireless microphones stopped working and after contacting their company they cross-shipped me a new pair, no (a few) questions asked. Last week, our six-month-old GE washer/dryer combo unit stopped working. It’s under warranty and they’ll be fixing it next week free of charge, which is pretty generous considering the problem appears to be related to the handfuls of cat hair the repairman pulled out of the filter box…

My other “insurance card” comes from Amazon. I’ve ordered so many questionable items from Amazon, from a solar-rechargeable power band (fine print said it would take a week in the sun to recharge) to a large, off-brand power station (stopped working within the first month). As long as you’re willing to haul it up to Kohl’s or one of their other shipping partners, you can send almost anything back to Amazon within their return window.

Name brands have always been important to me, but being able to easily return things has become just as important, if not more.