Do YOU buy extended warranties?

[Jayce]

So far, I haven't dabbled with purchasing extended warranties. With desktops, since I build them, it's useless. I recently bought a laptop where I also rejected the extra warranty as well. I figured if anything goes wrong parts wise within 1 year, I have that warranty. If something goes wrong after that, then I'd dig up some documentation and invest in a replacement part to fix it on my own, or else just say F it and go buy a new laptop.

Only one time did I buy an extended warranty, and it was for my ex's digital camera I got her. Turns out we ended up using it. She could be a clutz sometimes.

What about you? Do you ever invest in them? I talk to some people who are convinced they are a waste of money while others swear by getting the max. I'm sorry but, for my laptop I bought on sale for 550, there's no way I'm paying 400 for a 2 year accidental warranty.

 

[veedubfreak]

Depends on the item. I bought one with my 42" tv because at the time it was first gen technology and even a bulb would pay for the warranty. TV 2500 (after discounts) warranty 250.
Of course about 2 years in the bulb popped, so i got my money out of that, but on smaller stuff that will usually end up getting replaced theres no point.

 

[Black Falcon 921]

Depends on the item. I bought one with my 42" tv because at the time it was first gen technology and even a bulb would pay for the warranty. TV 2500 (after discounts) warranty 250.
Of course about 2 years in the bulb popped, so i got my money out of that, but on smaller stuff that will usually end up getting replaced theres no point.

Agreed, I get the warranty on big ticket items, got it for my tv as well. I got a camera and thought about getting decided I better, wife got a hold of it and dropped it, got a brand new one. Warranty was only thirty dollars for a three hundred dollar camera. Well worth it when the price is right.

 

[Jayce]

Yeah. See if the price is right I'll go for it. But I was shocked to hear that I have to pay 80% of the ticketed item for a 2 year accidental warranty. Granted, it's the ACCIDENTAL one. But... crazy. No way.

 

[veedubfreak]

Usually i'll pay up to 20% for a 4 year warranty on something i actually plan to keep for that amount of time. For example, my reciever was 280, the warranty was another 60, no thanks. My camera was 140, warranty another 30, nope.

 

[Jayce]

You declined the warranty on your camera by 2 dollar?

140 / 5 (20%)= 28
Warranty = 30

 

[veedubfreak]

Actually my camera is a bad example, i think it was some package deal that had a 2 year warranty included. It was one of those "christmas bags" that best buy had last year. it was like 150 for the camera, sd card, warranty and bag. But you are taking it a bit to technical. I'm entirely too lazy to do the math on the spot when buying something, usually the warranty is a good price or overly expensive.

 

[Jorsoft]

I've sold the heck out of warranties for years working electronics retail but I've only bought them on a few things. Got it on my 32" crt tv when I first moved out since it was only like $20 on a ~$300 TV, for example. They can be a great deal depending on what they actually cover. Warranties on video projectors, for example, are a steal if they cover the bulb. It might cost you $150-200 but those bulbs go anywhere from $250-500 depending on your model and most have a maximum life of around 2000 hours. Some plans are better than others, just make sure they cover things like that.

Jayce, your story reminds me of when I worked at Circuit City. It became so hard to sell the accidental plans because they kept jacking up the price every fiscal quarter. Replacing the items was no picnic either. Whereas places like Officemax and sometimes even Best Buy would swap out a dropped or broken item on the spot, about 90% of the time we'd have to send it in to a service center for repair/replacement and that usually took about 2 weeks. When I switched to Omax I was happy as heck we could actually just do a swap on a warranteed item--plus they were cheaper. Thank God I don't have to deal with that crap anymore lol.

 

[Trotter]

I was in Best Buy this past weekend and the salesman was explaining the extended warranty to a couple buying a computer. I stood there and listened, grinning from ear to ear. The salesman finally asked me if i needed some help. I just looked at him, looked at the terms and coverage, looked at the couple, and said, "No, I'm not the ones who needs the help." He got my jist and got ticked, but the couple was oblivious (English was not their native language).

I left it at that. Needless to say they got shafted big time. Dude even added in on-site setup for a hundred something. I figured it was easier to walk away and let the guy make a dime. Plus, I didn't want to get thrown out of the store...

 

[Jayce]

Hahahahah. Trotter, what a great way to politely slam somebody.

I bought a laptop from Circuit City and they were asking me what I planned to use the computer for. I said well I'm gonna set up Ubuntu and Vista on it to start.

He interrupted and said, what, on the same hard drive, or with an external hard drive?

I said I'll dual boot on the system hard drive.
He snapped "Oh, you can't do that."
I was like... uh... yeah, you can. I'm positive you can cause I have 5 systems at home running that setup.
He was like... oh............. *long drawn out idiotic pause*
hahahaa...