Funny how the cheap tool always seems expensive until the one time it isn't. Same thing happens with smoke detectors and spare keys, people skip the small cost and pay for it later at the worst time. Fifteen bucks to skip a 2am callback is about as easy a call as it gets.

What did his house look like when he sold it, or is he still there? Because the guy who brags about never checking is the same guy who lists it as is and lets the buyer eat the cost. A crawlspace can rot slow for years and the house still stands fine, so fifteen years of nothing going wrong on the surface doesn't prove much. Your $1,400 was cheap compared to what his neglect would cost him at closing.

Oh man, my $5 thrift store crock pot is the same deal, going on five years now. Just check the cord for cracks and don't submerge the base when you wash it, that's what kills most of these things.