My water heater went out in June 2013 after ten years. I walked out to a flooded garage and called a friend who referred me to Sound Plumbing. The technician came and replaced my water heater with a new unit on the same day for around $850.
14 months later I walk out to a flooded garage again and call this company back. They let me know that the water heater isn't fully under warranty any longer and would be $450 warranty replacement. I pushed back a little with how soon this unit went out but not having another affordable option I agreed to have them replace it. The technician who came out the second time, Mike, mentioned he did quite a bit of work to bring the water heater 'up to code', which he mentioned should prevent this from happening again. I can see he did quite a bit of work looking at the before and after pictures, including an expansion tank, flood pan, and thicker piping.
I understand stuff happens but I have to assume bringing the work up to code in the first place would've prevented this all along. Had I done this over again, I would've purchased my water heater through a local company with more reputable reviews or a big box store like Lowes or Costco with better warranty servicing. I give this business a two-star rating instead of one only because the second technician did a lot of additional work and was professional.