Extended warranties - worth it or not?

[Roger]

Well I was going to upgrade the warranty on my laptop, I thought I had a few more days left to do it, but missed the warranty upgrade window.

I was just curious as to other AMers' opinion out there - do you find extended warranties are worth it, or in general just extra profit for the manufacturer?

I haven't had any problems so far, and by the time I do start having problems, the system will likely be obsolete anyway.

 

What are your thoughts?

[Fuchur]

Well I was going to upgrade the warranty on my laptop, I thought I had a few more days left to do it, but missed the warranty upgrade window.

I was just curious as to other AMers' opinion out there - do you find extended warranties are worth it, or in general just extra profit for the manufacturer?

I haven't had any problems so far, and by the time I do start having problems, the system will likely be obsolete anyway.

 

What are your thoughts?

 

In general you have to look very carefully on what the (extended) warranty will cover.

For me, most problems with the products that can occur are often not covered in it and like that it really doesnt pay of much.

How long is the normal warranty you get with the product? If the warranty is already long enough (for example two years) it really does not make too much sense...

If it is much shorter it may be worth a look to increase it.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[Wildsided]

I have never experienced an occasion where I have needed to use a warranty extended or otherwise. Usually if something goes wrong it's within a couple of days of purchase and I just return it to the store for replacement or refund.

 

Otherwise everything has pretty much run as I've expected it to. Others might have different experiences, but imo extended warranty is a waste of time.

[Darkwing]

Having taken statistics, this is one of those things we dealt with some. There's actually a formula for calculating how long a warranty should be without the producer having to replace or fix a product. Cause that's when stuff goes wrong. Dunno how many times this has happened to others, but ever notice that you get the extended, and then shortly after it expires is when the item falters? It's generally because of this calculation they make to decide when that point in time is

[robcat2075]

I always remember the consumer alert articles i read that say extended warranties are not worth the money so i never buy one.

 

Essentially it's an insurance policy that the company will make money on (true of all insurance) which means that on average it's not worth it to the buyers. They will collectively spend more on the insurance than they will reap in repairs. To the individual it may be worth it however for peace-of-mind if the warranty is a good one.

 

 

 

I haven't had any problems so far, and by the time I do start having problems, the system will likely be obsolete anyway.

 

A great reason to not buy extended warranties on computers.

[Phil]

A while back I had a flat screen monitor that had a purple stripe down the middle. I took it to the big box store I originally bought from. They informed me it would take a month to get it repaired if it could be. I left the store and took a chance and called Samsungs customer service. Since the monitor was less than 3 years old. it wasn't a problem. They sent me a refurbished one and just had me place the bad one in the same box. I still have that monitor working like a champ. Most companies stand behind their products. Just need to give them a call.

[Maniac]

I only will get extended warnty on very high use items...But check out manufactures warnty first

[thejobe]

If you can afford to replace the item then it's not worth it.

If the item is over 2 years its not worth it.

As far as computers go they can last you years and years if you take care of them.

I've fixed hundreds of PC's and Macs. And it usually doesn't cost more than a few bucks to do.

Now if you have top of the line laptop ($1500 and up) get at least 3 year warranty.

Make sure the warranty covers a full replacement. Usually they charge you all up front (%15 of total cost)

That covers all parts replacements and complete machine replacement.

if you have a laptop under $1000 don't do it. Waste of money. You will save in the long run and buy a new one in 2-3 years.

Technology is updating at a rate of every 6-8 month.

Full machine replacement is not uncommon after 2 years.

the machine I have now was new in 2009. Now its a dinosaur.

 

Case in point. I have a canon GL2 ($2500) and I got a 5 year warranty for the thing. It cost me $400 for it.

1 year and 3 months later it breaks. I bring it to canon head quarters here in NJ. They said sorry you have a

Broken board. Its going to be $700 to fix it. (Factory warranty was up 2 months ago) I told them I had a 5 year warranty. They said it was a private policy and they don't cover that. So i find the dealers warranty. They weren't able to fix the camera so they bought me a brand new camera.

I had to fix the camera 4x. But it was all covered.

 

Another case. Bought a TV. $700. Said it will never break its a TV. And it breaks 3 days after warranty ends.

now the TV was going to cost $250 to fix plus 8 weeks wait time and shipping and handling. But I went to (big box store) and found similar model on said for $450

 

So its all about cost and return.

[John Bigboote]

My 1st job out of High School back in the 1980's was to sell small appliances and extended warranties for an appliance chain called Highland Appliance who has since defunct. The gross profit margin on the warranties we sold was 100% profit, and thus high pressure was placed on the sales staff to push these expensive pieces of paper. They kept a 'batting average' on each salesperson, where you were to sell X amount of warranties to X amount of volume appliances... so if you sold boomboxes and Atari video games at $100 per pop... a good average would be 10% warranties sold... average was 5%, and 2% or less could get you fired. My natural inability to bullshit made me a good salesman on items that broke frequently, like the Atari CX40(aka joystick)... people would ask, do I really need this warranty- and I could honestly answer...YES! But when I got promoted to selling home stereos, which were built to last... I could not lie, and had to walk away from THAT career(snurf!)

 

Since then, I have found warranties nowadays are sold with MUCH less pressure, usually by the cashier who could'nt care if you buy it not, but is obligated to suggest it. I bought an electric Norge hot water heater at Lowes for $240, and was offered a 1 year warranty for $29 by the cashier. This after the clerk in back recommended Norge because they "last forever", I looked at the box and saw it already had a 2 year warranty on it thru Norge- and smartly declined. That was about 7 years (of hot showers) ago.

 

If you buy from a membership warehouse like Costco, you have a pretty good 'no questions asked' return policy already, and NO extended warranties are offered there. I heard about people who bought their PC there and routinely brought it back every 6-12 months for a no-cost newer model, simply by claiming 'the CD drive wont play'... other people buy a high-end digital camera and use it for an event, the summer- or a full year and bring it back for a full refund, no questions asked... no box even!

 

I have bought 3-4 year warranties on phones or cameras and had them come in very useful though. I'll say "yeah- give me the warranty because I am gonna beat the crap outta this thing!"

 

I stupidly bought a 'tire warranty' on a used car recently... for about the price of a set of tires ($400) . When I got a flat and discovered I needed a new set of tires, I discovered the warranty was useless. Do NOT EVER buy a tire warranty from a used car dealership.

 

Bottom line on extended warranties: they are extra profit for the retailer who is already profiting from you. They say it will give you 'PEACE OF MIND'. You can't buy peace of mind. It may be worth it on some items, if it is properly priced. Always make sure it is for an EXCHANGE, not a repair. You are basically the competition for the warranty. If you don't buy the warranty- then you are the guaraneer. If the item breaks, YOU buy a new one. Sometimes, you can do it cheaper than a warranty company, the 100% gross profit looks better in your pocket anyways.

[robcat2075]

Possibly the most worthless warranty I've seen is "title insurance" for a home.

 

When I was transferring the title of this house I read the title insurance policy that had been bought for the previous sale and realized there were almost no circumstances one could make a claim on it.

 

The "title insurance" is supposed to protect you from errors in your title but the policy had a clause saying "errors" weren't covered.

 

Just to be thorough I asked a lawyer about needing title insurance because it's something you always hear about when you are buying a house and he said that in an urban area that's been settled and surveyed for decades and there's no dispute it's not needed.