Extended Warranty Companies

[emilymad]

Hello,
Has anyone purchased any extended warranty through a third party company like Square Trade? I want to buy DH semi expensive headphones for Christmas and it seems like a warranty would be good for this type of item. Does anyone have any experiences good or bad?

 

[HM]

My son got wireless headphones for his birthday about a year and half ago. It never occured to me to insure them with an extended warranty. They've been great. He uses them every day with his computer. I can't remember the brand, but they are kind of a bright green color/black.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Generally extended warranties are not a good deal.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/extended-warranties/buying-guide.htm

I do the "self-insure" that they mention in this article. Whenever I buy a product that might be covered under an extended warranty, I find out the warranty price and then put that money into a high interest savings accounts. When something breaks, I have money set aside to fix or replace that item. I have been doing this for years and have several thousand dollars in the account now. I have only actually taken money out twice, once to replace something and once to pay for a repair. Glad I still have all of that money, rather than giving it to someone else.

 

[tvguy]

Generally extended warranties are not a good deal.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/extended-warranties/buying-guide.htm

I do the "self-insure" that they mention in this article. Whenever I buy a product that might be covered under an extended warranty, I find out the warranty price and then put that money into a high interest savings accounts. When something breaks, I have money set aside to fix or replace that item. I have been doing this for years and have several thousand dollars in the account now. I have only actually taken money out twice, once to replace something and once to pay for a repair. Glad I still have all of that money, rather than giving it to someone else.

I agree 100%. Odds are in your favor you will never ever need the warranty, and if you do, the costs of repair will be less than the insurance.

 

[emilymad]

Thanks for the article. I never buy the warranty but I am looking at wireless headphones for DH to wear to the gym, etc. It seems like they will have a higher chances of being dropped, broken, get wet, etc than most electronic items. I will look to see if our credit card would offer some extra protection.

 

[supersnoop]

All warranties have a negative expected return. That's how they stay in business, just like insurance. 90% of the time, you'll pay for a warranty and never use it, or you'll use it but the repair would have been less than the warranty (or deductible). Also, insurance and warranties are intended to protect you from catastrophic events that you wouldn't be able to pay if an issue arose. If the item broke, would it cost more than the warranty to repair? Would it cost so much that you couldn't afford it? If you had to replace the item, would it create a hardship on your finances? If you answered no to those questions, skip the warranty.

Many credit cards offer extended warranty and loss/theft coverage. Stick with those, since they're free.

 

[tvguy]

Thanks for the article. I never buy the warranty but I am looking at wireless headphones for DH to wear to the gym, etc. It seems like they will have a higher chances of being dropped, broken, get wet, etc than most electronic items. I will look to see if our credit card would offer some extra protection.

Just wanted to say thanks for giving me a bit of an education on headphones....or peaking my curiosity enough to Google headphones. I had NO idea they made headphones that expensive, I can see why you would more inclined to get an extended warranty.
I just replaced my gym headphones.....and I thought the $12 I spend was high!

 

[jesse8931]

Hello,
Has anyone purchased any extended warranty through a third party company like Square Trade? I want to buy DH semi expensive headphones for Christmas and it seems like a warranty would be good for this type of item. Does anyone have any experiences good or bad?

While I have never had to use my square trade warranty for my Iphone.

I deal with them weekly in my job and I find them to be very reasonable and prompt.

 

[emilymad]

Just wanted to say thanks for giving me a bit of an education on headphones....or peaking my curiosity enough to Google headphones. I had NO idea they made headphones that expensive, I can see why you would more inclined to get an extended warranty.
I just replaced my gym headphones.....and I thought the $12 I spend was high!

I know! It is crazy. I am looking at ones that retail for around $200 but hoping to get them for closer to $100. A 3 year warranty from Square Trade is about $25. And these are the cheap version of the headphones.

 

[Albort]

I think it really depends on the person. I honestly have never bought any extended warranty but i keep my things well protected to avoid an accident *knock on wood*. there are some people that do need it, those that will continuously break stuff. i watch a vlogger that breaks his camera quite a bit, warranty has saved him soo much money in the long wrong...

I also had a friend who's computer backlight went out. We took it back because she brought a 3 yr warranty(total of 4 yrs), they give her the money back as a gc. only thing she lost was the $100 addition for the warranty, i guess she got really lucky.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I have bought warranties from Square Trade, especially on my kids' electronics. They repaired one son's cracked iPod screen twice, very promptly and easily. The last time it was not repairable and they gave me a pro-rated refund.

 

[MillauFr]

Why not use the free extended warranty plans that are included with some credit cards? Why pay for something that you can get for free?

 

[Cadiewampus]

Generally extended warranties are not a good deal.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/extended-warranties/buying-guide.htm

I do the "self-insure" that they mention in this article. Whenever I buy a product that might be covered under an extended warranty, I find out the warranty price and then put that money into a high interest savings accounts. When something breaks, I have money set aside to fix or replace that item. I have been doing this for years and have several thousand dollars in the account now. I have only actually taken money out twice, once to replace something and once to pay for a repair. Glad I still have all of that money, rather than giving it to someone else.

These days isn't the bolded part above an oxymoron?

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

These days isn't the bolded part above and oxymoron?

I guess. When I opened the account, years ago, it was actually high interest. Oh well.