QOTD: Do You Buy Extended Warranties?

[tuannguyen]

Things tend to break down eventually. Even high-quality products eventually break down. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it's a pain.

QOTD: Do You Buy Extended Warranties? : Read more

 

[jsloan]

never

 

[deltatux]

yes I do. With AppleCare, it actually saved me from paying for another laptop. They just exchanged my laptop for free because I was within the extended warranty period. I think I costed Apple more in repair cost than what my AppleCare was worth.

 

[cataclymistic100]

Nope never ever found it worth the money

 

[hellwig]

I purchase extended Warranties on pre-assembled computers (though I haven't bought one in years). I got more than my moneys worth using the warranty on my Alienware computer.

Generally, if the warranty cost is less than 10% of the product cost, it might be worth it. If the extended warranty also covers more types of damage than a basic warranty, it might be worth it.

I have never, however, purchased those "extended warranties" from stores like Best Buy. They have such poor customer service to begin with, I can't imagine the hassles they put you through.

 

[christop]

no and never will...

 

[sublifer]

Not on anything for myself. When its for someone else I'm more inclined to have them get it so I don't have to deal with all the problems. The day they sell an extra 2 years of warranty for $20 is the day I'll consider getting it for myself. Of course a PC ought to last more than 3 yrs anyway... unless something is defective, like NVidia's bad GPUs, parts shouldn't die within 3 years. Most will go for 7 but if you get 3 out of it then you probably got your money's worth.

 

[tenor77]

I go by cost ratio. Say I buy a $500 Monitor and they want $25? Sure. They want $100, umm nope.

Say it's a $4000 HD TV, and they want $100, sure, $500, nope.

 

[yantelope]

I worked at Circuit City and the profit margin on warranties was 70%. The only warranties that are worth it are the ones that have accidental protection. That way 4 years later your computer can have a little "accident" maybe fall down some stairs, repeatedly. You send it in and get a shiny new one. Of course those types of warranties cost more than half the price of the laptop so they still aren't really worth it.

 

[thephilly]

depends on the product, but rarely will i buy it

 

[kezix_69]

I did once on a laptop I bought from Circuit City. The damn thing broke like 5 times and they simply fixed it each time. I was pissed that they didn't just give me a new one!

I didn't buy the warranty to make sure it was operational, I paid that much freaking money so that I would get a new one when it broke!

That's the last time I remember getting an extended warranty on anything.

 

[apache_lives]

heh i work in direct contact with suppliers - i already get more then 12 months warranty *minimum*

 

[mactruck]

I had an extended warranty from BBuy on a TV that broke 4 times in a year. They had it for over 2/3 of the warranty period and then tried to weasel out of replacing it until I threatened legal action.

That said, I also had a great experience with an extended warranty on a projector I bought online. It was less than 10% of the purchase price and saved me over $1500. I bought a 4-year extension from the same company when I bought my 52" HDTV in March - it was only 8% of the purchase price and includes accidental damage.

I have only heard horror stories about brick-and-mortar store repairs, but some online retailers have Eggceptional service.

 

[cadder]

I have purchased them at various times over the years. I have never gotten significant benefit from them. I did buy warranties on 2 different cars that I bought, and both times the warranties paid for repairs, but the total costs of the repairs was less than half the cost of the warranties.

My philosophy is that I will save the cost of extended warranties, put it in my pocket, and if something breaks I'm way ahead even after I pay for it.

BUT if I buy something that I think might be more breakage prone then I might buy an extended warranty for it.

Sometimes the cost of an extended warranty is significant. I bought a small DVD player for my daughter, and an extended warranty because I heard that these items are very breakage prone. The warranty cost over half the cost of the DVD player, but we never had a problem with the DVD player.

I have heard of other people that bought extended warranties but were denied coverage because of allegations that the product was abused, even when it was not abused. The person writing the warranty has the ultimate authority over whether they will ever pay you or not.

OTOH I had a friend that jogged frequently with his MP3 player. It failed so he got a replacement under his warranty. After awhile it failed too so he got another one. Each time they would have to upgrade him to a better model because the failed one was no longer made. He went from a 64mb model to a 512mb model.

 

[radguy]

paid 2400 dollars for a dell laptop in 04. 400 was on a top notch 4 year warrenty. In 05 the hard drive died and was replaced. 6ish months later the ethernet port went and the mainboard was replaced. In 06 a drunken freind spilt beer on it and the keyboard, mainboard, and harddrive was replaced. All repairs were made in less than 3 days.
It was the only warrenty I ever bought and I needed it cause I didn't have a spare computer at the time.
I did buy another 2 year warrenty on a laptop purchase last june but it was only $160 and included a battery replacement. Thats the only warrenties I ever bought. Unless its really good deal or I can't aford to replace it I probably won't buy any in the future though.

 

[gm0n3y]

Hell no.

 

[skit75]

Electronics...never
Automobiles...always

 

[LATTEH]

i buy extended warrenty's if i know it breaks (xbox 360)

 

[A Stoner]

I do, depending on cost of item, expected time before replacement, and cost of coverage.
I have a car that I never plan to get rid of, it gets extended always. I have in general recouped 80% of the cost of the warranties on it to date.
New TV, plan to keep it at least 5 years, extended warranty out to 5 years. While it is unlikely that the TV will fail, if it does fail I am out $1000 and if it does not fail, I am out the warranty cost of $125. So far, the warranty company has made money off me, but I have 4 more years to go... Spending 12.5% of the cost of an item to extend the warranty is worth it sometimes. Spending 50%, never.
Small purchases, less than $250 never get warranties, I can replace those items easily. Larger items that I would rather not live without for more than a short period of time, well, I want peace of mind more than a few less dollars spent.

 

[tester3000]

Bought a $200 extended warranty for a $4000 sony hdtv. But wouldn't buy it for anything else. They were basically giving it for free. I actually got the TV for $3000 including a power bar and cables

 

[waikano]

Nope, haven't bought an extended warranty in I don't know how long.

 

[kittle]

Depends on the item.
Car - Definately. but ive yet to have a car warranty pay for itself. but the peace of mind is great.

For electronics, it really depends on the cost of the item.
$5 warranty on a $25 headset? nothanks (yes i was offered that).
i got a 3year warranty on my new laptop, and consider the $70 well spent.

but like everyone ive had stores try to weasel out of stuff. When soundcards were still expensive I got a warranty for my $250 new soundcard. It eventually failed so i brought it back, but was told my extended warranty was only good for _that_ card.. not the new one they gave me. but for another $40 i could get an updated warranty. I took my new card & told CompUSA where they could stick it.

 

[mwinfie]

I've never been in a situation where what "broke" was my fault. It has always been situations like the RRoD with Xbox360's or faulty computer components in which case they get fixed/replaced for free. I may buy an extended warranty on my next purchase seeing as I probably just jinxed myself.

 

[Guest]

My sister bought an extended warranty for her HP TX1000 for ~$450.
A month AFTER the warranty expired the motherboard fried due to some issue HP refused to acknowledge. I looked up the online issue and found boards filled with people wondering about the same problem. I didn't buy it, but I was pissed it happened to her. That warranty was a waste.

On the other hand, my family got my little sister a phone, the sony 580i. I think the warranty is $5 a month. We've got that phone replaced about 4 times due to cracked buttons, etc. Now the screen is jacked up, displaying things backwards and just being dumb in general. I'm not sure if she can get her phone replaced anymore, but one shouldn't have to go through that many phones and I'm glad we got the warranty in that case. I'm not sure how much I can blame the phone though... as her average texts for a month exceed 10,000 :-\

 

[wkcar]

I don't go for extended warranties since the cost of fixing a problem, IF one ever comes up is about the same as the warranty.
Some credit card companies and places like costco add a one year warranty to products free of charge so if you want a free extended warranty buy from there.