|
|
Posted by Doug Jacobs on 02/02/07 23:50
Aaron J. Bossig <linkvb06@spammerswillbeexecuted.ptd.net> wrote:
> Which is why Rule #2 of Extended Warranties is "Always use them when
> you have them." Lots of people buy them and then never cash them in,
> which is of course a loss for the customer. And silly. Me, I keep the
> paperwork on hand and am ready to call the 1-800 number as soon as
> anything happens. As a result, I've never lost money on an extended
> warranty.
So...you've had something go wrong, with every major purchase you've made,
that's either been outside the MFG's warranty or not covered by it?
That's pretty improbable.
Sure, if you DID buy the warranty, you'd be stupid NOT to use it if
something actually did go wrong.
However, the warranty is basically an insurance policy. It's a bet
between you and the store. You're betting the store $X that nothing will
go wrong with your item within the time covered by their warranty. If
they win, they keep your money. If you win, you get the item replaced.
Since the store's goal is to make money, you don't think they'd make a bet
that was statistically designed for them to LOSE money on do you? Sure,
statistically speaking, they'll have to pay out a few times. But you can
be sure it's way fewer times than they end up "winning."
> Which is why you don't buy them on everything, and I'd never suggest
> that you should. You come out ahead when you pick-and-choose.
It's going to depend on the terms of the warranty. Best Buy's warranties
are actually pretty useless overall. They don't cover batteries, for
instance. They don't cover dead pixels in LCD screens. Of course the
clerks will tell you simply have to bring the thing back in, say "it don't
work no more" and they'll give you a new one - but think about it, if it
were really that easy and permissive, why wouldn't everyone use it to get
a "free" upgrade?
> > Perhaps your confusion is because you're looking at what *might* go
> > wrong. But that's only half the picture: you must also consider the
> > probability of that scenario. The less likely it is, the less
> > valuable the warranty, which is really just a form of insurance.
> Exactly. There are products which tend to have a high failure
> rate, and for which repairs do tend to be very expensive. To
> *not* buy an extended warranty on them is just being careless. Such
> products are in the minority of purchases, but it's something the
> customer should consider before making their decision. The OP, for
> example, is considering buying a portable DVD player, and wants
> to know how he/she can protect their purchase. Now, I personally
> wouldn't buy an extended warranty on that item, but the OP is asking
> exactly the right question: "What is the best (and cheapest) way I
> can assure myself I won't be stuck with a dead unit?"
Again, if something were to go wrong with an item, it's going to occur
fairly early on most of the time. This would fall within the MFG's
warranty - if not return policy of the store itself! So what exactly does
the extended warranty do for you? Usually, not much. ESPECIALLY on
mobile/portable products.
--
Win cash and giftcards just for clicking your mouse!
http://www.netwinner.com/?signupCode=amuro98
Navigation:
[Reply to this message]
|