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Retailers offer warranties on the dumbest stuff these days. I think most people are like me and they just tell the poor working Joe/ Josephine that they don't want a warranty on their previously used XBox One disc or whatever, however I know that there have got to be some stories out there of when someone thanked their lucky stars that they said "Yes".
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Feb 18, 2020 01:18
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Professor Shark posted:Retailers offer warranties on the dumbest stuff these days. I think most people are like me and they just tell the poor working Joe/ Josephine that they don't want a warranty on their previously used XBox One disc or whatever, however I know that there have got to be some stories out there of when someone thanked their lucky stars that they said "Yes". Tire and Rim protection package when you buy a new car. Typically I wouldn't get this on my own cars, its just one more expense that isn't needed However I opted for it on a work vehicle, and we ended up having 6 flat tires in the 3 years we had that vehicle. The warranty paid for itself multiple times over
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Feb 18, 2020 06:36
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Just use your best judgment based on the price of the item and how likely you think it is you'll need the warranty. That said, it isn't a charity. The store expects that on average they're going to be making money selling you that warranty.
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Feb 18, 2020 06:54
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I've been thinking about this and I can't think of a single thing I have owned that has failed outside of the first day. It's either broken when I open the box, or it has lasted until I get rid of it because it is too outdated or I have broken it.
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Feb 18, 2020 09:28
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I got an extra glass insurance when I bought my car, and on the way home from the dealership I got hit by a rock torpedo that nearly smashed through the windscreen. P happy about getting that.
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Feb 18, 2020 10:37
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I bought a XBox 360 from Gamecrazy back in like 2006, and bought the warranty on it. It red-ringed like 3 days before Christmas a few months later, and I brought it in - they plugged it in, tried to turn it on, and immediately gave me a brand new one off the shelf. It was pretty rad.
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Feb 18, 2020 15:50
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Back in the day I bought a Rio Karma mp3 player from Best Buy and it ended up dying and having to be repaired enough times (4 or 5 I think?) that under the terms of the extended warranty I was able to get store credit back for the full price I had paid, and I got a 4th generation ipod instead.
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Feb 18, 2020 17:17
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Lima posted:I got an extra glass insurance when I bought my car, and on the way home from the dealership I got hit by a rock torpedo that nearly smashed through the windscreen. Comprehensive glass is the best insurance I've ever bought. Car windows can be stupidly expensive and it is super nice whenever one gets damaged or broken due to vandalism or rocks or whatever to be able to call literally any glass repair place & go "My *insert window* is broken/chipped/cracked, here's my insurance" and have it replaced for no out-of-pocket cost.
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Feb 20, 2020 16:32
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Road hazard on tires. I've had so many punctures near the sidewall or other such irreparable flat tires that it's paid for itself many times over. Admittedly, this is quite possibly a result of living out in the country with a lot of gravel parking lots and lovely roads and rednecks losing old nails out of the bed of their truck and poo poo. May not be such good value without that.
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Feb 23, 2020 21:10
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In 2008, I bought a 42" TV that came with a one-year factory warranty. The TV was $725 and the two-year warranty was about $60. Exactly one day after the factory warranty ran out, the TV poo poo itself. It took about five weeks to get the replacement - a slightly lesser model that retailed for about $175 less. I still have it and it 's been flawless. I would have been seriously pissed had I not gotten the warranty.
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Feb 29, 2020 23:30
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Mister Kingdom posted:In 2008, I bought a 42" TV that came with a one-year factory warranty. The TV was $725 and the two-year warranty was about $60. Exactly one day after the factory warranty ran out, the TV poo poo itself. It took about five weeks to get the replacement - a slightly lesser model that retailed for about $175 less. My first flat screen TV was a floor model from Sears. It came with some kind of warranty and a while after I bought it the display got slightly wonky. They sent a technician out like four times to fix it and each time he'd give us a bill that showed what the visit would have cost of it wasn't under warranty. That $450 tv racked up nearly $2,000 in repairs. They replaced ever piece except the speakers and the screen. Still works great to this day.
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Mar 1, 2020 02:15
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Dramatika posted:I bought a XBox 360 from Gamecrazy back in like 2006, and bought the warranty on it. It red-ringed like 3 days before Christmas a few months later, and I brought it in - they plugged it in, tried to turn it on, and immediately gave me a brand new one off the shelf. It was pretty rad. Definitely this one. I received a 360 as a xmas present and it poo poo the bed pretty quickly. I already had like 10 games for it so I didn't want a whole new different system and got the warranty when I got a new one. Definitely wound up needing it.
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Mar 2, 2020 19:20
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I haven't bought one in years, but I used to get them regularly for my walkmans/iPods. Damage to the audio jack was covered by the warranties, and that was what always did them in, usually within a year of getting them (snagged my headphone cables on doorknobs constantly). I probably traded in at least a dozen walkmans and iPods over the space of a decade or more, and usually got my money's worth. But nothing else I've gotten since then was really worth it.
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Mar 2, 2020 21:37
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oldskool posted:Comprehensive glass is the best insurance I've ever bought. Car windows can be stupidly expensive and it is super nice whenever one gets damaged or broken due to vandalism or rocks or whatever to be able to call literally any glass repair place & go "My *insert window* is broken/chipped/cracked, here's my insurance" and have it replaced for no out-of-pocket cost. Insurance companies love offering comprehensive glass as well, The cost of replacing someones windshield is MUCH cheaper than having to write off the vehicle they smashed into because someone was too cheap to get it fixed.
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Mar 13, 2020 16:40
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I just got my Sony earbuds repaired. I bought it with the best coverage, a 5 year warranty which included accidental damage, I think it cost around $30 extra which was a little over 10% of the purchase price. I was taking them out of the case on a cold day when my hand shook and I lost the grip and dropped one of them on the pavement and it wouldn't charge afterwards. They repaired them no problem and I've still got 4 and a half years of coverage left! I always have horrible luck with earphones, whether it corded or cordless they always end up breaking on me somehow, although I think this is the first time it was broken due to my own fault. I always buy extended warranties and other than than this, I don't think I've ever had to do something that wasn't within the standard included warranty so I've definitely lost out in the big picture. Still, for me it's more of the peace of mind that I know that I'm covered if something does end up messing up, and usually by the time the warranty runs out it'd be time to upgrade if it did end up breaking. I'd say this is especially true if you have kids, my friend had his Macbook Pro ruined by his kid on accident, it would have been a lost cause but because he bought Applecare he was able to get it fixed for a minimal fee.
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Mar 29, 2020 04:26
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Mid 90s and I'm still transitioning my music collection from cassette to CD. Got a new (used) car with just a tape deck, so I went to Best Buy and bought a somewhat expensive unit that could play tape and CD along with the 4 year extended warranty. About 3 and a half years later the LCD screen on the thing stopped working, so I went back to Best Buy. They didn't carry that unit anymore and gave me store credit instead, so I used it to buy a really nice CD player instead.
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Apr 4, 2020 22:41
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I had AppleCare on I think an iPhone 4 when the power button began requiring being pressed in super hard to work. Took it into an Apple store and walked out with a new one within a few minutes.
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Apr 13, 2020 06:33
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Bought the one-year extended warranty for an xbox One controller a few years back, right bumper crapped out on me a few weeks before my warranty ended, brought it into the store and asked for a new controller. Dude looked at me funny, I think that he thought I was just turning it in to get a different color, but I think that was the first time I used an extended warranty.
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Apr 17, 2020 04:52
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Brand new iPad Pro (1 week old) and broke off a headset connector in the headset input. Could not get it out. Applecare+ purchased after the fact allowed me to get a brand new iPad.
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Jul 9, 2020 15:28
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Nth-ing tires. I bought new tires, got the warranty and a couple months later, ran over a piece of metal in the highway that flattened a tire. Was really happy to have that warranty. I got the previous warranty because of an incident when I was visiting friends in another city and rented a car for the week. I didn't usually get warranties and didn't think I needed one because I drive pretty conservatively and have avoided accidents so far in my driving career. But I decided to get one this time for some reason. The week went by without any incident and I was returning the car and was literally about to turn into the lot, when I hit a pothole weirdly and flattened one of the tires. I was reeeeaaallyy happy to have the warranty/protection or whatever then.
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Jul 25, 2020 01:15
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In general, for any iPhone Applecare is a great buy. An iPhone 11 Pro Max screen is between 300-400 to replace, but with Applecare, drops the price to 29 dollars for a broken screen. If the back is broken, you get a whole new phone for 99 dollars. In two years you get two accidental damage incidents, and of course it extends the warranty to at least 2 years after the purchase if you choose the one time payment option, or can pay by month till you decide to get a new phone. If you break your phone and go to an Apple store or Apple authorized repair center, you get a free loaner till your phone is replaced, or, if you don't want to go out, they will overnight you a new phone to wherever you are. I have had an iPhone that I never used it on since I never broke it, but since I don't use any case on my my iPhone , my 10 XS Max got its back broken in a drop, and I had a new phone the next day, for 99 dollars nstead of paying at least 600 dollars for replacement. The warranty, if purchased in full is transferable to anyone who has the phone, but if you go with the monthly option, another person cannot get Applecare on that device. I think that is the only downside that I see with the paying by month, other than if you always get a new phone every two years, its is 39 dollars cheaper to purchase Applecare in full when you buy the phone, instead of by month. My five teenage nieces and nephews have all gotten Applecare on their Apple devices, and due to accidental damage, or outright loss of phone, they have come out over 2k ahead, because of how many devices have been fixed or replaced.
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Jul 30, 2020 04:46
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Many years ago my dad insisted I get a warranty on my computer monitor. I thought it was stupid, but the monitor broke close to the end of the warranty period and I got a replacement that was far better than the original because they didn't make/sell that particular monitor anymore.
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Aug 1, 2020 08:51
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froglet posted:Many years ago my dad insisted I get a warranty on my computer monitor.  My house growing up still had the cap-style breakers and a power sag caused my monitor to slowly have its horizontal image compressed. Ended up getting a monitor with built-in speakers under warranty!
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Aug 1, 2020 20:01
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Wow - an A/T thread I can contribute to. So for awhile part of my job was helping clients with things like conference rooms and trade show booths. One of the bits of electronic kit that they have in common are flat screen televisions. Now, because clients generally hate spending money and there is usually a Wal Mart within a reasonable distance from either their office or wherever the conference is held, I pick out a budget-friendly TV for them and I always tell them to get whatever warranty or protection plan is offered. In a lot of cases this looks like ~$300 for the TV and like $35 for the three-year protection plan or something - so like an additional 10% on top of the cost of the TV. I've done this for probably three or four dozen setups and I'd say about half of them end up taking advantage of the protection plan within the first two years. Wal Mart's protection plans are generally easier to deal with than Best Buy, in my experience. Anyway, these are bottom-of-the-line TVs. The margins on these things are thinner than their bezels and the manufacturers cut corners and use garbage components. They know you're a cheapass and that you'll probably upgrade it with your next tax return - they aren't built to last. They are going to break on their own. Trust me. They will get bricked by software updates. Their backlight inverters will poo poo the bed. The inputs will inexplicably stop working. Their speakers will die - usually just one channel. Or you'll sneeze near it and it will short itself out in a puff of blue smoke (yes - I had this happen at a trade show with a 55" Vizio). And when it happens, you'll call up, say "yo shits jacked up" and their call center people will walk you through some troubleshooting for like 5-10 minutes and then send you a gift card (usually digitally) and tell you to recycle the TV. They won't fight you over a POS $300 TV. tl;dr: get a protection plan for cheap televisions if you can get something like a 3 year plan for ~10% of the cost of the TV because the loving thing is going to die on you. FreelanceSocialist fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Aug 5, 2020 |
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Aug 5, 2020 19:06
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AppleCare has always been a good choice on any apple product that has parts that I'd consider consumable or finite lifespan items (read, Lithium Ion Batteries, mechanical hard drives). For iPhones, what it ends up meaning when you spend the 99 bucks for AppleCare, is that you're prepaying the 60 bucks for the battery replacement that you will inevitably need in 12-18 months, and paying ~30 bucks for 2 years of accidental damage coverage, which is a reasonable price when you look at it in those terms. Similarly, back in the days before "every apple laptop has an SSD", 250 bucks or whatever for AppleCare was basically the cost of your inevitable HDD failure a few years in covered, and then a few bucks extra for peace of mind with respect to everything else.
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Aug 15, 2020 01:58
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About a decade ago when HD TVs cost a bit more I actually decided to get one for my TV at Bestbuy. Right when the warranty was about to go a few pixels went out and I got a brand new replacement. Now that TVs are so cheap I don't think this would be worth it anymore.
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Aug 15, 2020 23:48
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Pretty much every electronic item I get over $100. My PS4 Pro just died and the elite minds at Geek Squad are eventually going to send a replacement--would rather have gotten one off the shelf but there are basically no gaming consoles left in the world now. I also buy protection plans for any headphones I buy that cost over $100 and aren't made by Bose, including Turtle Beach headsets which tend to fall apart. It's been a net positive investment, especially with in-ear headphones that tend to have one ear die after a year or so. edit: I also used to always buy them on Windows laptops before they started making them USB-C powered, because the DC power ports would inevitably go bad after a year Stubear St. Pierre fucked around with this message at 12:20 on Aug 20, 2020 |
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Aug 16, 2020 00:31
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I bought an extended manufacturer warranty on my first laptop that included in-home repair. Third motherboard in the first six months finally lasted and it lasted a few years till the graphics card poo poo the bed.
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Aug 18, 2020 01:35
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mystes posted:Back in the day I bought a Rio Karma mp3 player from Best Buy and it ended up dying and having to be repaired enough times (4 or 5 I think?) that under the terms of the extended warranty I was able to get store credit back for the full price I had paid, and I got a 4th generation ipod instead. OK so I didn't even read the whole one page of this thread yet, but I'm surprised you'd have to pay for that kind of warranty. In the EU, consumer law says you have a two-year warranty by default. The seller is a allowed a couple of attempts at repair. If that fails, they are required to offer you a new equivalent product. If they can't provide one, they must reverse the transaction (cash, not store credit). (Of course, they can skip offering repair or replacement and can just hand you the money if they want to get rid of you.) The only way they can refuse a warranty repair is if they can prove that you caused it by abnormal use of the product. The warranty even extends to a third year with reversed burden of proof, ie if you as a consumer can prove within reasonable doubt that the fault was there from the factory, it's covered by warranty. Of course, they still try to upsell here, too, but then it's called insurance. You want a new phone if you happen to drop it off a boat? Sure, just pay out your arse up-front and they'll cover it. I have a feeling that's the most profitable part of selling home electronics these days, because people so rarely remember they bought that insurance once their stuff is smashed/stolen/lost.
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Aug 18, 2020 08:17
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Gravel protection when renting a car in Iceland. With the insane wine and rural roads, if you're going to be driving outside the Reykjavik area, it's well worth it.
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Aug 24, 2020 06:48
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I know statistically that buying them is a loser but I've only bought 3 or 4 in my life and 3 of them paid out big time. 1st was on a $1000 digital camera from BB in like 2000. After having it 2.5 years the shutter quit opening under certain conditions. Best Buy sent it out to get it fixed, couldn't fix it, got full credit and bought a 2.5 year newer 1000 dollar digital camera. Second was a 61" DLP television. After 3 years it developed these spots on the screen, some sort of liquid inside the layers of the screen that was clear but eventually attracted enough dust you could see it. They told me to take it to BB to get it fixed, couldn't because I lived in Juneau and the nearest BB was 900 miles away by boat. They sent me a check for 2 grand. I told a buddy about the spots and told him I'd sell him the TV cheap if he didn't mind them, he didn't, I bought a new LCD. Last time was just 4 years ago. Bought a new fridge, had a deal where if you bought the fridge and the extended warranty you got a 400 dollar gift card and a lovely Samsung tablet. 3 years later the fridge stops cooling. They fix it twice but it keeps happening. Got a check for the full cost of the fridge ($2300 or something) minus the cost of the warranty itself but since we got the gift card and the tablet we actually made a profit on the deal.
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Aug 26, 2020 11:16
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Extended warranty through Lowes on my Maytag washer/dryer setup I purchased. I opted for the 6 year plan for $140 or something, even though the Maytag had a 10 year warranty. The 10-year warranty is bullshit, it only covers the physical drums of the machines which never usually fail and the motor, that's it just those two specific things, if anything else goes it's out of warranty after 1 year. I had my dryer die just as COVID kicked off and the Lowes warranty brought factory repair guys to my house and they swapped out the gas system and the solenoids, would have run me $300-500 without it. I also pick up business worldwide 24hr extended warranties for my laptops/prebuilt pc's if I go that route. I got tired of being technical support for my parents computers so whenever I purchased a nice system for them I get whatever the best warranty package I can for it and let the big corporations deal with any issues. Mom's a hardcore gamer and I got her a Dell XPS [pre-Alienware buyout] and eventually an Alienware. She lives in remote Newfoundland & Labrador where it's pretty much impossible to get a dell tech on-site with an issue within 24-48 hours. She had systems that get fried during brownouts/storms/power outages, even with a UPS, and as a result Dell just goes gently caress it and ships a complete new system out to her, no cost, and since its so expensive for return shipping they don't even ask for the old one back. As a result she still has 2 working systems a XPS and a Alienware, and 3 dead ones that could probably be fixed with a new power supply. I guess they make enough money off the warranties overall that cases like my Mom's are a complete outlier. The original owner off my 1998 Hummer paid $77,000 for it and $3000 for the maxed-out GM Major Guard extended warranty. He trashed the gently caress out of it jumping it off sand dunes and ran up over $55,000 in warranty claims over 6 years. I got all the paperwork for that.  https://imgur.com/a/JG9Yyxg.jpg Big K of Justice fucked around with this message at 07:21 on Aug 30, 2020 |
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Aug 30, 2020 07:13
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I sleep with a fan on each night. I got some warranty for a tower fan and got replaced it for "free" 2 years later when it crapped out. Then I bought another warranty for 2 years and did the same when the replacement died. I really should have gotten the warranty for my Xbone controller because these things have supposedly atrocious reliability and after a year of very gentle and occasional use, mine crapped out.
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Aug 30, 2020 09:31
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I got the 2 year replacement warranty on my PS4 from Gamestop after I grilled the guy with hypotheticals about what they would honor. Turns out it was quite a lot, my favorite being “Me: What if I’m walking and I sneeze and drop my large glass of Iced Tea onto the console, would you replace it with a new one? Him: Yup!” My sister got a laptop at a computer electronics store and opted for the stores extended warranty. About a year later the thing just stopped working. She took it to the store, they couldn’t boot it, and so gave her a brand new computer. Within this past year she’s needed it repaired twice, all at no charge at all.
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Aug 31, 2020 05:26
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Thirteen Orphans posted:I got the 2 year replacement warranty on my PS4 from Gamestop after I grilled the guy with hypotheticals about what they would honor. Turns out it was quite a lot, my favorite being “Me: What if I’m walking and I sneeze and drop my large glass of Iced Tea onto the console, would you replace it with a new one? Him: Yup!” Thirteen Orphans posted:My sister got a laptop at a computer electronics store and opted for the stores extended warranty. About a year later the thing just stopped working. She took it to the store, they couldn’t boot it, and so gave her a brand new computer. Within this past year she’s needed it repaired twice, all at no charge at all. Typical case where in the EU they'd be required by law to repair it anyway, so I'm not sure why the "extended" warranty was worth it. Is that not the case in the US?
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Aug 31, 2020 15:10
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Hippie Hedgehog posted:Typical case where in the EU they'd be required by law to repair it anyway, so I'm not sure why the "extended" warranty was worth it. Is that not the case in the US? Lol, no.
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Aug 31, 2020 15:17
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Xbox 360. It red ringed like a week before the warranty ended. Best Buy gave me a new system no questions and I think it was a better version by then too. Dell PC. We tore the hell out of that thing. We probably had Dell replace half the components before it ran out. I get them on consoles still, especially if it's the first wave of production. Consoles still seem to have occasionally bed making GBS threads issues. I got burned bad by the PS at launch. (Sony did end up fixing it, but there were months of sad teen days on between.) They have gotten a bit more expensive since the 360 days though. I feel like it used to be closer to 6-10% and they seem to be closer to 15%. I used to get the warranties/insurance on cell phones but usually between the monthly price and insurance co-pay you ended up paying not much less than just buying a second phone over time. Plus the used wireless market has become a bit more friendly since the late 00s. Zurtilik fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Aug 31, 2020 |
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Aug 31, 2020 18:18
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Hippie Hedgehog posted:Typical case where in the EU they'd be required by law to repair it anyway, so I'm not sure why the "extended" warranty was worth it. Is that not the case in the US? Unless its a car, nope. I think some states require a 90 day warranty though. U.S. consumer protection laws are very bad. Many credit cards have their own yearlong warranty if you use it to make a purchase. bird with big dick posted:I know statistically that buying them is a loser but I've only bought 3 or 4 in my life and 3 of them paid out big time. 1st was on a $1000 digital camera from BB in like 2000. After having it 2.5 years the shutter quit opening under certain conditions. Best Buy sent it out to get it fixed, couldn't fix it, got full credit and bought a 2.5 year newer 1000 dollar digital camera. Probably makes sense if you take a lot of pictures. I had cameras at work that were used to take tons of pictures and one camera went though four shutters. Its shutter count when I left was like 7000 though. Canon was always happy to repair them. The repair guy said the majority of high-end camera buyers barely use them so they just fix the heavily used cameras for free to keep the professionals happy.
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Aug 31, 2020 20:24
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I bought a 50" Panasonic plasma display in 2010 and Amazon offered a 4 year extended warranty for about $100 through SquareTrade. I dont usually buy them, but I did in this case. About 3.5 years in, TV wouldn't turn on properly (error sequence). SquareTrade sent a tech 3 times with replacement parts, not sure why they didnt just come out once with all the parts as there was at least 4-5 hours of repair work and driving involved. TV is 10 years old and still works (although it hums a bit when there is lots of white content on screen to display).
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Aug 31, 2020 20:53
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Rental car insurance. Yes, my car insurance and credit card both offered it, but both cases it was for a single day rental (work travel) with serious inclement weather. One, someone in front of me kicked up something into my windshield and spidered it. The other time was in a heavy snowstorm and I ran over something on the freeway, no clue what, but it left dents and paint gouges all down the passenger side. Those were the only two times I ever paid the extra for the insurance, and both times it was worth it.Blue On Blue posted:Tire and Rim protection package when you buy a new car. I've also had this one work out for me. I don't remember how many tires, I want to say 4-5 over about 18 months (ridiculous low profile tires on rims the previous owner had put on). On a car with normal sidewalls, I probably wouldn't bother, but on a car with low profiles, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
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Sep 4, 2020 22:29
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