When it comes to extended warranties, we have always recommended that they be avoided. However, I am curious to know what percentage of you have actually purchased an extended warranty and why.
Have You Ever Purchased An Extended Warranty On Electronics?(surveys)
I’m also curious to know whether or not you ever had to use the warranty. Did it provide the value you hoped for or did you get screwed?
bill smith
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 7:36 AMI got given a Navman with extended 3 year warenty as a gift. the USB port broke, which ment no power in & Navman came through & replaced the unit 2 years 6 months after purchase. turn around time was about 3 weeks.
Lucas
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 7:51 AMThe only extended warranty I have purchased, that comes to mind, was when I purchased my Dell XPS M1210. I went for the 3 year uber package, which basically meant anything; I mean ANYTHING went wrong with it, for example being stolen, dropped in the toilet or ‘misplaced’ then if they weren’t able to fix it by way of engineer they would replace it.
After about 4 visits by an engineer and a long winded battle with them to get a resolution to the laptop electrocuting me when I used it I was granted a replacement XPS M1330, the next model up.
Maybe this can’t be classified as an ‘Extended Warranty’ due to the overall nature of the Care Package, but all in all I was relieved I paid the extra $300AUD for the 3 year service.
However, this morning I purchased a Dyson DC23 and a Samsung 55″ Led TV, but skipped the extended warranty option, but am considering purchasing it at a later date. After all they aren’t cheap items and the extra 10% on top of the total purchase price of the goods for a total of 4 years cover isn’t really a bad option IMHO.
But would be interested in seeing others views on this aspect of purchasing goods.
Cheers
MACRI
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 8:02 AMYeah I got extended warranty on both my PS3 and Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 its pretty obvious why I went for the extended warranty (RROD).
PS3, well I thought Im spending so much, and pretty much using it for a Blu-ray player and game console, so might as well cover it.
Got the Extended warranty on my Sony Alpha 350x as well. It was thrown into the deal at the time of purchase, but that being said, probably worth it seeing it gets thrown around a lot.
Funny thing is, I’ve never had to use the extended warranty at all on any of the above (so far).
Kieran Cummings
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 9:00 AMNever have, never will. Most stuff I buy has 2 or 3 year warranties, after that it’s either going to be recycled or I’m not going to care if it dies.
Pretty much the lifespan of gadgets these days is 12-18 months, after that it’s so outdated that it’s not even worth thinking about. Add to this that most devices are going to fail in the first 3 months or after 3 years, so you’re going to be stuck with an extension to the normal warranty that you won’t use. Unless you fork out the big bucks to get a 5 year warranty (even then it will probably fail after 5 years).
One thing I seem to see with friends and reports online is that once you hit the extension period the warranty companies tend to push back at the customer stating “normal wear and tear” or just flat out refuse to cover the warranty. Most extension you buy aren’t actually covered by the manufacturer but by a 3rd party, so they aren’t even worth the paper they’re printed on usually. 3rd parties have a knack for taking your money and refusing service.
I’d rather foot the bill for repairs or buying a new device later than fork out for a warranty that more than likely won’t be covered.
Saying this, the only companies I’ve found that gives a decent extended/premium warranty seems to be HP (corporate) and Apple. Then again, they don’t use 3rd parties to do their warranty extension
glennc
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 10:41 AMapple are one of the worst offenders. their warranties are usually priced too high for warrant the purchase adding a sugnificant increase in the price if you do. but without it you are screwed. They charge absolutely ludicrous prices for replacement parts, sometimes 20x the actual cost. i am amazed how these companies get away with it. $2300 AUS for a replacement refurbed motherboard ($1500 if they can refurb that one and send it to some other poor apple owner) on a 18 month old macbook pro that only cost $2800 new is f***ing insane. $1000 for a new dvd drive, $900 for a screen. the list goes on and on.
this should be big news but somehow it goes under the radar.
Wilson Cheng
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 9:10 AMi will only buy extended warranty when I know the technology is stable but the piece itself is fragile.
eg. I will not buy extended warranty for laptop, as after 1-2 years it may become too slow for current software.
I will however buy it for HiFi system. I think 7.1 is already good enough is a small place and would not go further hence considered as stable technology.
Tom
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 9:19 AMI worked at Harvey Norman for a couple of years. Almost all extended warranty claims were for laptops, desktops and monitors. We had a heap of claims made daily.
Simple issues like faulty parts got fixed up rather quickly. Usually quicker then through the original manufacturer warranty.
Problem was that half of the claims made were usually “It does this thing sometimes”. Which resulted in the machine being sent off five times before the extended warranty guys would finally tell us that there is nothing wrong with it.
That’s when people started yelling at me.
matt
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 9:20 AMonly thing i’ve got it on was my sony tv, $3.5k and only came with 1 year warranty! got a store 5 year warranty for $300
krnageskillz
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 9:23 AMI will buy extended warranty on most high priced items. For example my fridge has a 4 year extended warranty making it 5 years total.
I buy apple care for MacBooks as it is one of the better extended warranties out there for computers.
I don’t bother with extended warranties for printers or lower ticket items.
Arran
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 9:31 AMOur last dishwasher died just out of it’s original warranty so I replaced it with whichever model had the longest warranty…3 yrs extended to 6 and boy was that a good thing…it’s been just 2 years and the control board just died and I expect it to die again in 2 years and lose the pump all of which will be covered.
Certainly extended warranties on something that will quickly become obsolete (laptops) seem like a waste but phone warranties (loss, drop, water) if your phone is expensive and appliance warranties where the repairs will cost a fortune are always a good idea.
glennc
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 10:33 AMextended warranties are the big injustice of consumer electronics. you should never need to buy one if the manufacturer did their job correctly. they should be the warranty. extended warranties are, and should be recognised as, illegal. 1 year warranty for electronics is downright obscene and we are all being ripped off.
And......
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 11:01 AMNot only are the warranties fairly useless, but they insist on printing them on that shiny receipt paper, which if you have it lying around for long enough – say a year, makes the print fade to nothing. Can you go back to the store with a blank bit of receipt paper and a sad face to get your warranty upheld??
The only time I ever bought one a warranty was when I purchased an electronic item as a gift.
I was given a standard 1 year international warranty on an ipod speaker but it’s pretty useless tbh. They’ve told me I have to drive for 2 hours to drop off the unit, where they’ll “inspect” it to see if the damage is warranty repairable (if not, bad luck) This inspection will take 3 weeks, after which I might have to drive another 2 hours to pick up the same damaged unit, if they decide it’s not repairable under warranty. Can’t think buying the extended warranty would have helped. And that was Bose – you would think a reputable company…. and no it’s not outsourced.
Don’t forget for all products you have your statutory rights which means most faults should be repaired if the product doesn’t do what it’s meant to. Of course the spotty teenager working their Saturday job won’t know this though. Obviously if you drop it though, that’s another matter.
Will
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 11:17 AMElectronic products follow a bathtub curve for failure. It will fail either really early in its life cycle (which is usually covered by the manufacturer warranty) or when its components are finally on its last legs (by this time the technology is out of date). The time between has the lowest incident of failure and thats whats covered by extended warranties.
So get the longest manufacturers warranty if possible, but paying for extended warranty is a scam. Its a vendor’s way of making free money.
StevoTheDevo
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 12:10 PMNever.. they’re pure profit.. The money I’ve “saved” by not buying outrageously priced extended warranties more than cover’s the cost of repair or replacement of any product that might have broken during it’s useful life.
I know one person who has successfully had an item replaced under extended warranty.. a Home Theatre System that got an inordinate amount of use due to his working night shift.. The DVD drive wore out as he spent all day watching movies cause everyone else was at work. The system was replaced after 24 months use.
StevoTheDevo
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 12:15 PMMy GF bought a used car last year and the dealer “threw in” a 12 month extended warranty..
Just over 3 months later (ie just after the statutory warranty finished) the transmission packed in.. but conveniently, the drivetrain was excluded in the terms of the extended warranty!
DK_Son
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 12:55 PMI bought a PS3 off Ebay like 3 months after the person had bought it. Literally 2 months after the year warranty ran out the Blu-Ray laser died. I got it replaced by a 3rd party for $150 instead of the $315 that sony wanted and it worked out fine. then a month later the graphics chip burnt out. I sent it to sony and paid them $315 to fix it. When I got it back it was still ruined so I sold it on Ebay for like $660 or something. I went and bought a new PS3 for $698 and got an extra 2 years warranty on it.
Another case was when I bought my sony bravia just over a year ago for about $3000. It came with 1 year warranty. For an extra 2-300 dollars I got 4 years extended warranty, making it 5 years. You can’t tell me that that isn’t value for money….. To get the PS3 and extra 2-3 years or whatever warranty it was between 60 and 100 bucks. to me that seems alright. anything can happen in those extra 2 years.
They don’t make em like they used to… eh can I even say that? I’m only 21.
Jimmy
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 1:37 PMI have an LG 44in RearPro HDTV with a 12mth warranty, extended to 5years.
At 13mths old the optical until died and was replaced (cost $1600). Then at 36mths, the optical unit went again. I hoped that I would get a replacement LCD, but they managed to find a replacement part dammit!
All up the extended warranty has saved me needing to purchase a new HDTV for the last 4 years. Now when I need to upgrade I will get much better value for money.
Conrad Davies
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 5:56 PMI got more value out of my extended warrenty on my projector, then what it cost. So im happy.
Richard
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 6:21 PMMy laptop screen failed after the laptop warranty had expired, my extended warranty covered it.
Apparently the chip had overheated and that was covered. Really glad I paid the extra hundred dollars for the warranty. (It was from HN who use dotmatrix printers too for the above poster complaining about shiny paper.)
Chris
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 6:57 PMI wonder if it’s governed by the same strict rules that apply to Insurance companies? Because regardless what you call Extended-Warranty it is fault insurance.
Matt F
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 8:58 PMNo, extended “warranties” are merely paid for service contracts. Unless they offer something above and beyond your quite comprehensive rights under the Trade Practices Act, they are a rort.
The fact is that you could well have rights with the store you bought the item from after the initial period of the factory warranty has passed. Many stores try and fob of consumers telling them “It’s past the 1 year warranty, you have to deal with the manufacturer/importer” which often is not the case. Heck, some of them try and do that when the product is *in* warranty!
How do I know? I used to be an investigator with the ACCC.
Warranties and Refunds brochure:
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/322947
NB. I am not a lawyer and this isn’t legal advice, just a suggestion to read up on your rights before spending several hundred dollars for something you may be entitled to for free.
Warranty believer
Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 2:09 AMI purchased a 5 year extended warranty on a Sony 42″ plasma about 6 years ago. It died, i.e. wouldn’t turn on, 3 weeks before the warranty ended. Sony couldn’t fix it for less than the tv value, so just gave me store credit for the price I paid for the tv. Looking at my new(ish) Viera right now…with another warranty! That said, I believe that a product should be manufactured with a higher degree of certainty than 1 year of faultless operation…
Dennis
Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 8:31 AMWe bought a washing machine with extended warranty and the machine has failed 3 times and been replaced three times. Thats what i call value for money. :-)
Roland
Saturday, September 19, 2009 at 10:23 PMI purchased a Panasonic PVR from Dick Smith four years ago, along with a “prestige protection” extended warranty. The unit has broken down twice (outside the Panasonic warranty period) and each time it was component repaired quickly and efficiently by a local repairer. I don’t usually buy extended warranties, but in this case it certainly paid off!
Andy Singh
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 1:28 PMAs I recently concluded here, http://www.savingtoinvest.com/2009/11/should-i-get-extended-warranty-worth-it.html, don’t caught up in the should or shouldn’t I debate for getting an extended warranty. Simply put, If you can afford the risk of having to buy a new one, skip the warranty. If you can’t, buy it. I’ve purchased warranties in the past and the cost of doing so has never been returned. For big ticket items, shop around and maybe the extended warranty is worth it.
miky
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 2:07 PMLucky me??? i bought a Samsung Tv 159cm 3D plasma from Harvey Norman the Tv got 1 year warranty from Samsung and i purchase the 3 year extended warranty.After 1year and 2 months the Tv stop working no images whatsoever. Even with the extended warranty they put me thru so many phone numbers because it’s not Samsung problem anymore. I am without TV for a week now still waiting for some one to come and fix it.I will never buy a product from Samsung again they are the rudest people to deal whit.My advice buy only thinks that come with more years from manufacture otherwise its not worth it to buy extended warranty