Do You Buy Extended Warranties? 200
Stackdump asks: "I am a college student (senior seeking CS BS). I work partime at Best Buy selling computers (arg!). To be truthful I don't really sell computers; I sell what we call 'performance service plans' or PSP's for short. This is the somewhat gimmicky name given to Best Buy's extended warranties. To be fair they do actually provide some service in the store, swapping HDs, CDROMs, and so forth, but most of the hardcore repairs are done elsewhere or by the manufacturer. Prices range from $99 on the cheapest tower to $249 on laptops over $1000. Terms of service are pretty simple everything is covered against power surge, dust contamination, whatever... BUT abuse is not covered: so slam a pencil in your laptop and say byebye, but fry your computer because you don't have a surge protector and you can get a new one. As this is the central pre-occupation of my work day I ask the Slashdot community this: do you feel these warranties are really worth the money?"
Warrenties... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Warrenties... (Score:5, Interesting)
I would also like to take this opportunity to say that my 'boss' there, Justin who was 4 years younger than me and knew next to nothing about computers except that '3dfx rocks, dude', was a dick. Hi Justin!
Re:Warrenties... (Score:2, Insightful)
Why is it salesmen always use the line "I'll be honest with you..."?
You know, if you are about to get my business, you dam well better be honest with me. A line like this only throws up a big, blinking red flag that maybe all along you've been feeding me a whole line of bull.
Re:Warrenties... (Score:2)
Re:Warrenties... (Score:5, Insightful)
Normally I'd agree with you wholeheartedly, and I never purchase them myself on things like TV's, diskmen, etc... However, the one exception that I think is notible here is on laptops. On the first laptop that I purchased for myself (about four years ago), I was able to have it replaced for an albeit kinda crappy newer laptop, but when the motherboard died on my older one I was very happy to know that I wasn't 'up the creek.' Especially since I bought the laptop for university.
This summer I think I'll upgrade to a 12 inch TiBook and will likely purchase AppleCare along with it. From what I hear, it's a worthwhile investment.
Re:Warrenties... (Score:2)
Re:Warrenties... (Score:2)
AppleCare only covers manufacture defects.
Almost never worth it ... (Score:2)
Cell phones are flimsy, cheap plastic fragile toys that are hideously complex and impossible for just about anybody here to repair on their own at home - for all practical purposes they are magic. Expensive magic, if you try to buy one without a year plan with a service provider.
Yes they have a warranty, but you have to mail it to the factory and wait weeks for the repair or replacement - but on a $200 phone (really more like $400 or $500 but you get a p
Re:Almost never worth it ... (Score:2)
Never buy an extended warranty (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:3, Interesting)
So begins the law of unintended consequences. If the employee can't increase the numerator (number of warranties sold) they figure they need to reduce the denominator (total sales) to make their percentage!
I say "had" because by this
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2)
There was no way in hell I'd find a better price (it was a discontinued line, and the Sony tech support ppl wouldn't believe me when I said I'd gotten i
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2)
When I bought a CD player for my car at Best Buy, the salesman and the person who installed it both insisted that I get the warranty since CD players required the laser to be re-aligned once a year. When I bought a microwave from Sears, the salesman pushing the warranty pointed to the plastic ring under the turntable and told me that it would cost $7
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2)
the truth is, in the warranty selling position they'd rather not sell anything, then sell something without a warranty.
at my store which is not best buy, if you bring an electronic item back on the 15th day, one past the return policy, with no warranty on it, you just wasted a trip. if its under warrant (at our store there is no in store service) we
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2)
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2)
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2)
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2)
Jason
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2)
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2)
laptop almost 3 years ago now.. paid over 2200$ for it. Well 3 years later it is still going strong because I bought the extended warantee for 250$. It was worth every penny.. dell covers everything.. even if you run it over with your car. They have replaced every single piece of plastic on it twice over, replaced the screen twice, keyboard/mouse twice, and motherboard once. I will definitly buy that warantee a
Insurance is betting against yourself (Score:3, Insightful)
They can be hard to collect on. I've had difficulties getting things repaired. In fact, I was told that I was lucky that the (boss's IBM laptop) machine was still under t
Re:Insurance is betting against yourself (Score:2)
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2)
Only kidding, love Dells myself. We get the next day on-site here at work for our laptops just so we never have one knackered for very long, but at the consumer level I doubt they are worth it.
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2)
And the friends I've had who've had problems just walk in, give them the old device (dvd player/vcr/palmtop/whatever) and walk out with a new one.
They gave me a $50 in-store rebate, on top of the carrier's $100 rebate, so I actually ended up paying less than nothing for the warranty.
Re:Never buy an extended warranty (Score:2)
The appropriate response (used by yours truly several years ago in an appliance store): "My last fridge lasted 20 years. Why am I about to lay out $900 for one that you're so damn sure is going to fall apart in 13 months?" Salesdroid had little to say thereafter.
Then there was the cashier who tried to sell me an extended warranty on a shredder that
Yes, for some things (Score:2, Informative)
But for other things like laptops, cameras, and other things that move around all the time to environments that differ in humidity, pressure, electrical st
Generally no... (Score:2)
I used that to purchase a Sharp Zaurus on clearance. I didn't buy a PSP for that though because by that time I hadn't had a real job for over a year and a half and was broke
-Brent
Do the Math (Score:5, Insightful)
So if it's not a good economic proposition to buy a warranty (insurance), why does anybody do it? Well, on a house or a car, you can't afford to cover the cost of a loss, or a lawsuit (auto liability). If your house burns down, you can't afford to just buy a new house, but if you really could it wouldn't make sense to pay homeowners' insurance because the odds that your house will ever burn down are really low.
With a computer, or a TV you can usually afford to cover the cost of a loss, so, the odds are in your favor to not buy the warranty.
That said, Staples offers a nice warranty - any problems whatsoever and you get a Staples cash card for the original purchase price of the item, no questions asked (I even read the fine print). So, on my $89 Palm I paid $10 for the warranty, since it might malfunction by time I need to upgrade.
Re:Do the Math (Score:2)
This particular item was a palm keyboard. I figured that the PDA would be obsolete within the life of the extended warrantee, so I could get a new one that would work with the newer model. I had a history of them breaking before, so... I figured I would use it.
Re:Do the Math (Score:2, Insightful)
Why do people buy insurance?
Generally three reasons. Because it's legally required (car insurance), because they can't get a mortgage without one (homeowners insurance), or because they're suckered into it (life insurance).
Health insurance is usually required by an employer, but for those with significant medical bills it sometimes is worth it, as you get the bulk rates.
A better question would be why do people sell insurance?
Re:Do the Math (Score:2)
because, in slashdot fashion
1) promote FUD about what can happen to you, or
2) manage to get a monopoly (racket) *
2) sell insurance
3)
4) profit!
like anything else that gets sold, it's just the profit.
* car insurance, yes, is required. but look also at prescription drugs -- i have to go see a doc to get the stuff i need, even if i know full well what it is i need. you're not obligated to see a mechanic to get your car fixed, or ask a p
Re:Do the Math (Score:2)
If you can't afford to be without a computer or whatever, then these warranties are not going to help anyway. It can take WEEKS to get your system repaired.
In this case, what you really need is a high-end support package from the MANUFACTURER so you can get onsite service or spare-in-the-air replacements.
Frankly, these in
-1, Troll (Score:2)
Re:-1, Troll (Score:2)
Oooh, the record broken in one! Turns out that the very next Ask Slashdot [slashdot.org] is even worse.
High-pressure sales (Score:2)
Hell No (Score:5, Interesting)
do a little calculation (Score:2)
Factor in some risk aversion and you can somewhat lower those probabilities, but it seems to me that your assessment of the probabilities of breaking your stuff would have to be pretty high in order for the warranty to be worth its money. Or, your risk aver
Re:do a little calculation (Score:2)
Re:do a little calculation (Score:2)
1, The battery *will* shit it within the three year period therefore the warranty comes with a free new battery.
2, I have to straight line depreciate it over three years anyway, it somehow seems sensible to have cover over that period.
3, I broke the K key off after I had it for two weeks. Was fixed the next day. This was a major relief.
Dave
It depends... (Score:2)
Recently, I brought a printer and scanner. The CompUSA salesman convinced me to buy a warranty on the printer, and I must say that I do believe that it was a smart choice, as it was only $25 - $10 rebate with the purchase of ink (which I was going to do anyway). You see, devices such as printers are more prone to failure than others, and a carry-in replacment plan is definitely a plus (and a steal at $15).
However, for more expensive devices such as comp
Or the Salesman (Score:2)
Back in 1994, I worked for 6 weeks at Computer City, a chain of stores owned by Tandy, the same folks who own Radio Shack. I worked there for a number of reasons, one of which was to learn a bit more about computers. (And I actually did: seeing everything that Computer City had, made me realize at the time that I knew a lot less about computers than I thought I did; the store taught me nothing except how to clo
SCSI Mac (Score:2)
Extended Warrenty is is good w/ employee discount (Score:3, Interesting)
I have had my cell phone "break" about 5 times now over 2 years to get a full replacement each time.
Also these things will cover your laptop battery for years. Consider the cost of a replacement battery (for most laptops this is the same as the cost of the PSP) its an insanely great deal.
Over all, I figure I have cost BestBuy about twice as much as they ever paid me :) Would I buy anything from them with one of these deals without the discount? Hell No!
What is *your* cost/benefit? (Score:2)
Paying $300 for 3 years of protection on a $3,000 device could make sense, depending on the device.
Some devices don't hit the obsolecence curve as rapidly as PC's...
I think the extended warranties just recover the profits lost by businesses to smaller profit margins. For customers that want to hav
Get it (Score:2, Interesting)
My desktop computer - Warranty cost = $149
Replaced HD - (got a bigger one for free)
Replaced CD drive (got a faster one)
Replaced Monitor (got a better one)
My Laptop - $199
Replaced HD (dropped it)
Replaced DVD
Replaced Monitor Port on back (got bunged up)
still got time left
and the video card is gonna fry soon so... (contact me if u have any exp for why my compaq 1700XL 265 screen would turn white
Re:Get it (Score:2)
> 1700XL 265 screen would turn white and not go back
> till it cools off
Over-zealous backlight? It may seriously be something with the screen or it's controller, not the video card. You should have it fixed regardless of the cause
Never (Score:2)
For repair these can be useful for extending the warranty term beyond the original manufacturer's limit, but even then some insurance will help you. Frankly, in our little consumer orgy of an economic system, most
Of Course Theyr'e Not Worth It (To The Customer) (Score:3, Interesting)
Having said that, of course they're not worth it, and simple math should show you that. If it were worth it for the customer, a product of this type would not make a profit for the store and they wouldn't be pusing them so hard.
If I spend $100 on an extended warranty (whatever it's called), and get $100 in parts for it, the store doesn't make money. They make a profit because the products are generally reliable and only a tiny fraction of these extended warranties. It's the same as insurance -- you pay huge bucks for insurance and if you ever file a claim, they either drop you or up your premium to help pay for what they've spent. In theory, you're paying them to take care of you if you ever need it. As long as you're paying in and not taking out, they make money.
As long as most customers that buy extended warranties don't file claims, the store makes a huge profit. You can bet that if a particular product were unstable and not reliable and everyone who bought an extended warranty on it filed a claim, they'd stop offering the e.w. on that product because it would no longer be profitable.
On the other hand, if you're Joe User and have a life (instead of spending it all mucking w/ 'puters), there is the benefit of not having to worry about replacing parts.
Re:The store makes money, even at break even (Score:2)
Nope, if all they get is the interest, they don't make money. It won't pay the overhead on that warranty.
(As long as you're getting that technical on the subject, I thought we should lo
Re:The store makes money, even at break even (Score:2)
Oh, right. I did. It was in my original post. It was my point -- along with the point that if enough items broke or needed repair, they wouldn't make money and therefore wouldn't sell them.
Re:The store makes money, even at break even (Score:2)
I bought one (Score:4, Interesting)
For example, I purchased a handspring visor prism and paid 80$ for a warranty. 1.5 years later, the battery ceased holding a charge. I took it back to my local best buy, and they took it back, and gave me credit for 450$ towards a new handheld. When i picked the sony clie 615c, they rang it up as 450$ instead of 350$, so that I would have the full amount of credit if it ever went bad. I havent had to use that yet, but wouldnt hesitate if i had a problem. It was a completely painless experience.
In fact, it prompted me to spend the money on a plan for my digital camera, because it also covers the batteries and such. So in a year, when the 100$ battery stops charging fully, i can just swap for a new one... all because of a $30 up front plan.
In some cases it doesnt make sense. But in the case of smaller things where some essential component cant be cheaply replaced (i.e. batteries in pdas, digitizers, lenses, etc) it makes a ton of sense... and if you ever need it, they essentially throw in an upgrade for free.
Not a bad deal really.
Re:I bought one (Score:2)
Always buy an extended warranty (Score:2, Insightful)
I doubt I'd get coverage like that without a warranty.
Anything else is probably a wast
Obvious Simpsons quote: (Score:5, Funny)
Moe: So what do you want here, uh, appendectomy, lipo, or
the sampler. That's very popular.
Homer: [holds up a blue crayon] I want you to stick this crayon
into my brain.
Moe: No problem -- the ol' Crayola oblongata.
Moe: All right, tell me when I hit the sweet spot.
Homer: Deeper, you pusillanimous pilsner pusher!
Moe: All right, all right. [with a small hammer and chisel,
taps the crayon further up Homer's nose]
Homer: De-fense! [woof-woof] De-fense! [woof-woof]
Moe: Eh, that's pretty dumb. But, uh
Homer: Extended warranty? How can I lose?
Moe: Perfect.
-- Simpsons episode "HOMR" BABF22
Used to be on the support end (Score:2)
Because we don't like replacing 5 year old technology (mainly because that 300MB hdd that came with your HP doesn't exist anymore, so we would have to upgrade you to the smallest thing we could find (at the time 4GB) when you called us it wasn't as much of a tech call as it was an "insurance claim".
Just as the insurance a
Certainly (Score:2)
I purchased a Visor and broke the screen only hours after purchasing it. The extended warrenty saved my *$$.
I worked at Best Buy for 1 year... (Score:3, Informative)
Extended warranties on laptops (Score:3, Interesting)
However, one product I will buy extended warranties on is laptops. However, the price mentioned here is terrible. Dell will sell me a Complete warranty for three years for about $350 Canadian and that DOES cover abuse. Paying more than that (you list $250 U.S.) and not getting covered if I drop my laptop, that's just a scam. I mean, laptops simply don't break often enough to justify that kind of price unless it also covers abuse.
No, I feel actually quite insulted, generally, when offered an extended warranty. Particularly after seeing the complete incompetance of the technicians at Future Shop (the only place here in Canada that routinely offers to sell me the warranties).
Toshiba (Score:2)
Homer Simpson (Score:2)
Rust-proof undercoating! How can I lose!
</homersimpson>
obSimpsons quote (Score:2)
It depends. (Score:2)
In most circumstances, though, it operates on the general principle of "risk manag
I bought one; ended up getting a new laptop on it (Score:2)
Same thing for my car. I bought an extended warranty for my car and, so far, have had approximately $3000 in parts / work done (2400 was the transmission, mind you). Definitely worth it.
Depends on the policy and the place and the item. (Score:3, Interesting)
But you need to ask yourself what's worth the insurance, and what's not. Is it worth another 50$ to have your PS2 replaced with no questions asked for 2 years? How about little GBA game holders? (A pack is 5$, the ESA is 3$).
On some items it really makes sense, on others it doesn't. I'm glad I paid the extra 100$ on my TV, because I get it fixed for free. I bought an ESA on my Xbox, and am happily on #5 (2 motherboard failures, 2 bad DVD rom drives). The failure rates on the first gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft are scary.
... and your circumstances (Score:2, Interesting)
But whether the price you pay for ($1000.00+?) works for you really depends on your circumstances. If you live in a country side (I don't know, Texas?), it can take hours for tech guy to get your house; on the other hand, if you live in a city like SF, NY, they might be working a couple of blocks away from
I Buy Apple's (Score:3, Informative)
-Waldo Jaquith
Re:I Buy Apple's (Score:2)
Nope. (Score:2)
Insurance vs linearity of money (Score:5, Insightful)
It all boils down to the fact that the utility of money is not linear. My (hypothetical) millionth dollar is worth less to me than my hundredth. That hundredth dollar is less important than my last dollar.
So paying $10 to elimiate a 1/1500 risk of losing $10,000 doesn't make sense if you have a million bucks (since you can afford to play the odds and accumulate enough samples to make the expected averages show up), but if you have $8,000 it's a whole nother ball game; one 'loss' and you're fucked. The insurance providers have pockets deep enough to play the odds, and as a result it's profitable for them; if it weren't they would raise the premiums until it was. It's economical for them to cover risks you can't afford precisely because they have a fuckload more money than you do. So when you're talking about losing your last dollar, to them it's just another dollar and paying it out to you doesn't hurt them any more than any other dollar.
So what does this mean? Insurance on small items, that you can afford to replace, such as (hopefully) consumer electronics, is probably not worth it. Situations where 'losing' would constitute a larger percentage of your net worth (cars, homes, personal medical fees, liability for hurting other persons) are where insuarance can be quite reasonable, despite what an erroneously linear risk v. reward calculation might suggest.
Basically when considering insurance ask yourself "what happens if I need the insurance and don't have it?" If the answer is something like "I'm out $250" instead of "I'm fucked" you probably don't need the insurance / extended warranty. If it DOES make sense for you to buy the extended warranty on some consumer electronics, that probably means you're buying something you can't really afford, and you should reconsider the original purchase, not pay extra.
Re:Insurance vs linearity of money (Score:2)
I don't buy ESP's, and I've only considered it once. I was buying my wife a new digital camera for Christmas a few years ago - this was back when digital cams were new and expensive and cool. CompUSA offered me a 3 year extended warranty, and I thought "You know, in 2 1/2 years, this camer
Never get a laptop without a 3 year warranty (Score:2)
Sure enough, within the first year, the keyboard started acting up. After swapping keyboards, motherboards and pretty much everything except the hard disk and CPU, they finally decided to replace my whole laptop.
Best bit was, they never took back
Only on certian items (Score:2)
Your credit card may offer a better deal (Score:4, Insightful)
You guys are all assholes.. lol (Score:2)
"I don't buy them because people make money off selling them."
Well, fucking DUH. WHY DO PEOPLE SELL ANYTHING? TO MAKE FUCKING MONEY.
I work for a retailer, that sells things with Service Plans. Virtually everything I buy, I buy the service plan for. Headphones, CD players, telephones (especially WIRELESS phones), you name it. The only things I don't buy service plans on a
2 types of people (Score:2)
in the return policy == good to go
in the manufacture warranty == pay shipping to and from, outside of 90 days pay labor
outside of the warranty w/o extended warranty == throw it away
i work for staples, and i used to make money on the warranties, 1$ on prp(product replacement plan) and 5% on the cost of a tsp(technical suport plan) however t
Only on laptops (Score:2)
I only buy them for laptops. I find that laptops often have a harder life than other devices (more bumps and vibrations) and hinges and such wear out. My plans for Apple, IBM and Dell laptops have more than paid for their costs.
For just about anything else, it's usually not worth it.
Save your hard-earned money (Score:2)
My point: don't buy extended warranties, because you are self-insured! The money saved over time more than covers anything that would actually need servicing or replacement.
Mixed bag, really... but get insurance! (Score:2)
2) After having issues with a 36" TV just after the warranty ran out, I decided to buy a new set and *wanted* a service plan. In response to my questions, the droid at PC Richard (NY chain, l
it's all a numbers game (Score:2)
For some things, yes (Score:2)
Are you gonna break it? (Score:2)
When
Interesting CBC report (Score:2)
Here's the link [www.cbc.ca] to the web site. The page also has a link to the video, but alas, it's in Quicktime format.
Some plans are almost too good to pass up. (Score:2)
I, who swore I would never buy a service agreement for the obvious reasons listed above, bought a $15 service plan on my Archos mp3 player because Comp USA has a satisfaction guarantee. If I decide that I'm unhappy then I can return it within the service agreement period. I think that I'll be unhappy right about the time the next gene
Like insurance (Score:2)
Re:Depends.. (Score:2)
Re:Depends.. (Score:2)
How, exactly, does a 1 (one) year manufacturer warranty, plus shipping costs, nullify a 3 (three) year store warranty which can be redeemed at any of hundreds of stores in a national chain?
Re:Depends.. (Score:2)
Re:Depends.. (Score:2)
Funny, I personally RMA'd about 30 Fujitsu 20GB hard drives in a period of 13-18 months after the initual purchase date. Boy, were our customers ever glad they had three years' warranty on those units!
Then there was the faulty capacitor issue that saw dozens of systems come back to the store because several manufacturers' products
Future Shop Extended Warrantee=Good (Score:2)
Anyhow, for my own personal story of happiness, I bought a 12" subwoofer and on a whim, decided to get the extended warrantee (I almost never get them). Well, about 8 months later, as I was screwing it into a new box... my driver slipped and I put a nice crack in the bell. All I did was bring it back... say that "the bell on my sub is cracked", and I got a new one...
Re:NO (Score:2)
I brush off kids in Best Buy or Circuit City like flies. I
Re:NO (Score:2)
The salesman must have been new or not terribly bright. Off the top of my head (and I'm not a salesman), I can al
Re:NO (Score:2, Funny)
There was a painter who was having trouble making ends meet. Almost none of his jobs seemed quite to turn a decent profit. One day, he decided he could lower his costs by adding a little water to the paint to make it go further.
The next day, he put this plan into practise, and added a bit of water to the paint. Instead of using three cans, he used only two, and the job didn't look too bad.
La
Re:Buy Smart and they aren't needed (Score:2)
Re:Buy Smart and they aren't needed (Score:2)
The people that buy warrantee are. In many cases overuse makes the warrantee cost go up, not the consumer item.
And WTF does shoplifting have to do with warrantees either?
Re:Buy Smart and they aren't needed (Score:2)
It's more like:
Gamecube: $200 * 10 people
Warranty: $30 * 10 people
one out of 10 people return their GameCube for a replacement: -$200 * 1 person
Net PROFIT from Warranty sales = $100
I made up these numbers like you did, but the idea is accurate. The Warranty price is set so that they collect more money than they have to pay out in replacements.
Re:No Brainer! (Score:2)
So the $250 I spent on an extended warranty for my laptop will replace the $600 TFT display? How 'bout the motherboard/CPU?
Sure thing!
The money I spent on the extended warranty would barely cover my Li-ION battery 'down the road', but instead I just take it to the nearest store and have them replace it for me. No hunting, no S&H charges, no credit card verific
Re:No Brainer! (Score:2)