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Home audio & video: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it????
Extended warranties
by kgofrd - 12/6/07 4:13 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieMy question back to the salesman is,"Isn't this product built to last? Are you having problems with this product? Maybe I shouldn't buy it in the first place." The purpose of extended warranties is to make more money for the company. They forcast their costs based on reliability then charge accordingly. Therefore, it is less costly to not buy the extended warranty in the long run over the costs of all the products. However, if your company is relying on a product and your downtime is criticle the quick repair and replace programs can be of great value.
Works for Me!
by WGPhaneuf - 12/6/07 4:18 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieI bought a Toshiba notebook with a 4-year policy and later gave the computer to my step-son. 2-weeks BEFORE the end of the policy, it failed, was repaired, and is now serving him well in Iraq!
Sometimes YES, and many times NO Way
by Ureview - 12/6/07 4:20 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieI have been selectively purchasing Extended Warranties for about 12 years. In the last 5 years I have purchased at least 7 extended warranties and of those 7, I know I have used 4 of the extended warranty for repairs.
A few things I have learned over the years are:
* Some extended warranties are just short of criminal,
* Some are fair,
* Some have pre-designed pain in the ___ clause to keep you from fully using them.
MY GENERAL CRITERIA:
YES
====
if the item is bleeding edge and most likely prone to failure being 1st generation technology and not over 20% the price for 3 ADDITIONAL YEARS.
if it is a high ticket item $500> (dryer, washer machine, 52" LCD etc..) not over 15% the base price for 3 ADDITIONAL YEARS covering ALL Parts and Labor.
NO
===
If it is a normal everyday item that I can replace for under $250.
If the warranty costs more than 5% per year over the regular warranty
If the warranty has a 3 "SAME" Problem clause before replacement.
If the repair periods run over 45 days before replacement.
If the Warranty is handled by a 3rd party, because it lets the dealer off the hook and leaves you out in the cold for satisfaction.
If there is a Pain of Use clause built in to the Warranty. Like: Too many trips to the location are required, you lose too much personal use of the product during repair periods, which normally are more than 3 weeks per repair.
If the dealer, not you, is the one who selects your replacement item.
Example: A National Computer Store dealer after 6 weeks of me waiting, on what was sold as a Walk in - Walk-out warranty, told me "Here is your replacement, the warranty company specifed it was the one you have take." I sold it on Craigslist the next day and purchased what I needed somewhere else. I haven't shop there again in 3 years.
If the replacement is based only on general features, and does not take into account your original purchase cost. EXAMPLE: I purchase a good 5 Mp digitial camera ($399.00) and the dealer tried, and he failed, to replace it with a cheap toy looking $125.00 model using the same 5 Mp rating.
If it is a heavy item that had to be delivered to begin with and there is no "free" onsite service check support. Note: Too many times when you call they try to scare you out of using the extended warranty by telling you "If nothing is found wrong, you will have to pay $100+++ for the service call."
If you are not allowed to combine the offered replacement funds with your own additional money, to purchase an as good replacement item.
Most important:
Just because the sales person tells you it covers the item in certain ways ask him/her to show you in the warranty agreement where it says that.
Remember many of these people aren't long term employees, and there are a fair number of them only looking for the Spif (commission reward) for selling X amount extended warranties each month.
Extended Warranties Not Worth the Price
by jasper11778 - 12/6/07 4:22 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieIn 1998 I bought a 2 year old luxury car off of a lease. For me it was expenxive, so I purchased the extended warranty. I kept track of the repairs under the warranty. At the warranty's expiration, it cost me about $200, i.e. the bills were $200 less than the warranty. If I did not have the warranty, I may not have fixed some of the items, such as the lcd dispaly on the radio/tape/cd player. All in all, except for a certain peace of mind, it would have been cheaper to do the reparis as they came up.
On new items, tv's, cars, etc. I don't buy the warranty. Research shows that most defects will occur in the first 90 days, which is usually covered.
I don't think the warranties are worth the price.
A WinWin Once
by Rockysdad123 - 12/6/07 4:38 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieWhen my dish washer died I called for a repair estimated at $200 plus labor. While waffling, I received an extended warranty offer, yada yada ... saved a net of $200. Never happened again. I do not purchase extended warranties as a rule.
One only
by Skipper50 - 12/6/07 4:38 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieThe only thing I always buy a warranty for is a dishwasher. They seem to age more quickly than most other appliances and electronics. I've been through 4 or 5 dishwashers and have thanked my stars for the service contract.
It's a crap shoot anyway you look at it!
by baran220 - 12/6/07 4:40 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieNot to go off topic but the only extended warranty that I purchase is on a new car. The complicated electronics in a new vehicle is the main reason and I have always, always, come out for the better. If I do buy an extended warranty on a product such as a new furnace or whole house air conditioner, I make sure that it includes labor.
With that said, extended warranties on Electronics are simply a waste of money. If you received a flawed unit it will show up the minute you power it up or within the included warranty period of the product. If the device lasts more than a year you can probably be well satisfied that it will continue to work unless the damage is self inflicted.
Refrigerators, stoves, TV’s, receivers, CD players, DVD players, and microwaves you name it. If I was to buy extended warranty’s for all these products, in my experience I would have gambled and lost.
They squirm and wriggle out of repairing intermittent faults
by gthomps5 - 12/6/07 4:49 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieI know fixing intermittent faults is hard and expensive, but they are faults that should be covered by the extended warranty.
In my case I tried to get one fixed but they warned me that, after they replaced the part, if it tested out OK they would bill me for it. Given it was only faulty sometimes this scared me off. So I am still living with the intermittent fault.
Extended Warranty.......are they worth it????
by iwoolle - 12/6/07 4:49 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieFrom my experiance, a definate NO.... When I first started buying computer equipment, approy 1980, any warranty was worth its weight in gold.... Today I find that it either works straight out of the box for ever, or it dies within the normal warranty period. Most resellers also know this, but try to scare you into purchasing an extended warranty.... The manufacturing standards today are so high that you have to be very unlucky to need a warranty outside of the provided cover by the manuafacturer.
Most extended warranties
by adpizza - 12/6/07 4:50 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieMost extended warranties are backed by the store selling the item you are purchasing. Used car extended warranties are backed by bubba the used car dealer that would not have a clue where the air filter is much less how to trouble shoot an engine. On the other hand if it were GM, Toyota, or Ford you bet it may be worth the purchase. Electronic extended warranties work the same way. Walmart extended warranties are about as good as the cashier that is still in high school that looks to retire from Walmart with a pention, not in this life. Even if its Best Buy or one of the larger stores, they don't pay service techs enough to warrant the upper level technical training required to do the job.
If you feel the pressure about the warranty still do not buy it in the store. Take your product home and read the fine print (its the print only a microscope could get large enough to read). Consider the price of your item. If its a computer and they want to extend the warranty past 18 monthes do not buy it, I repeat, do not buy it. Think now, how up-to-date is an 18 month old computer that you got a great deal on when you purchased it and it was not on sale the day it got released, it was already about a year old then. You are extending the warranty on an item that is almost 3 years old. Don't waste you money. Take the great deal and be very happy. The extended warranty if its worth anything is going to be expensive and really cut into the cost of that great deal you got on your purchase. If you are unsure of when your item was manufactured look for the date of manufacture date on your product. Your purchase date was in some cases several months after the manufacture date. Sometimes over 2 years earlier.
If you still want the extended warranty then buy it, but still don't do it in the store, take it home and read it. Make sure you really want this thing and then when you register your product you will get the chance again. For me I never buy the extended warranty and have never in over 35 years of buying anything regreted not purchasing the extended warranty.
Never ever buy an extended warranty for anything !
by JohnnyBrigantine - 12/6/07 5:06 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieActaully, this is a very easy question because it is simple math. Just add up the cost of what extended warranties would have cost for every item you ever bought. Now compare that with the actualy cost for all items you ever repaired. The repair costs would be only 1 or 2 % of the cost of warranties.
Johnny
It Depends
by plcwizard - 12/6/07 5:08 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieIt seems that it really depends on what is purchased.
First off, most Gold or Silver Credit cards will extend to double the life of the item. Again, check with your Credit Card company to find out the rules, some will stipulate that you must send in the receipt to validate anything.
Other than that, if you purchase a stationary thing, it seems less likely that something will go wrong. The new $300 Mini Digital Cameras with a lot of moving parts, YES, I have used the extended warranty.
Just remember, if it can go bump in the night, it will, and a little protection couldn't hurt.
A Trap
by jeason - 12/6/07 5:10 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieWhen I needed a repair, my extended warranty program sent me to a vendor who "had to order parts". For some reason, this took five months. During that time I was not able to find alternative help (without paying double). So when you buy an extended warranty, you need to understand that you are eliminating your service options.
Not worth a dime
by jeanlouise65 - 12/6/07 5:11 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieI never buy extended warranties; I've never been sorry I didn't.
I have long been associated with an electronic assembly "job shop" in the US, many of their products are the computerized guts of medical and emergency equipment. Over the last 20 years, their quality assurance department has consistently found that over 95% of equipment that was going to fail, failed within the first 100 hours of use.
My take home message is to buy a product, plug it in, keep it plugged in, use it a lot (its your new toy after all...)for just 4 days! Even the worst retailers in the world will allow you to return a product that is just 4 days old.
80/20
by mrguy242 - 12/6/07 5:12 AM In reply to: Extended Warranty.........are they worth it???? by jraggieOf all the warranties I've purchased, I've only needed them about 20% of the time, that being said, should I get one on my next big purchase? Well that's the question I ask myself everytime? Seems like when I don't, I regret it. Seems like when I do, I end up never using it. Hmmmmm? I got stung pretty good on a Sony TV a while back, spent over a grand, right after the manufacturer warranty expired I lost the coax tuner--drat! So now on TV's I get a warranty only if I can find a sale and the combined price would equal what it usually sells for.
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