Home Depot's plan isn't fixing it. Here's the loop — and the count that ends it.

The loop, move by move

1. The diagnosis-only appointment. The first visit often isn't a repair at all — it's a look. If nothing was repaired, ask what the visit counts as, and get the answer in writing.
2. Parts on backorder. The repair is real but the part is weeks out. The clock that matters is your claim's age, not the part's promise date.
3. The closed claim. Claims get closed — sometimes with an email saying the appliance "had been repaired" while it sits dead — and the customer is made to open a new one. A new claim restarts the story; the count must not restart with it. Escalate the claim you have.
4. The reversal. A promised replacement or reimbursement quietly converts back into "another repair attempt." Get every promise in writing when it's made; a promise with a date on it is a document, a promise on a call is a rumor.

The count that ends it

Home Depot's No Lemon Policy, from the official brochure: if the appliance has had two service repairs for the same issue and a third is needed, you are eligible for replacement or reimbursement of the original purchase price plus tax (as a Home Depot eGift Card). One nuance decides arguments: SquareTrade's standard terms frame the count as repairs within any 12-month period, while Home Depot's coverage page says during the protection plan term. If your two repairs straddle a longer span, expect the 12-month reading to be quoted at you — the counter is a dated log and the coverage page's own words.

And if no appointment was offered within 2 days (top-100 metro) or 3 days of your claim, the plan separately owes you a $50 speed-guarantee payment — claim it by name; it is not automatic.

While you wait: the money running alongside

• Food spoilage: up to $300 per claim for a fridge/freezer mechanical failure — photograph the food and keep receipts before you throw it out.
• Escalation: past 30 days of stall, a complaint to your state insurance department (the underwriter is Allstate Insurance Company) gets a written answer on a clock. Hold music doesn't.

Run your dates and repairs through the checker — it applies both readings of the count and every clock at once.