Comments on: Extended Warranties

By: Canadian Capitalist » Extended Warranties are a Sucker’s Bet

Canadian Capitalist » Extended Warranties are a Sucker’s Bet — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 05:00:51 +0000

[...] Extended Warranties [Investing Intelligently] [...]

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 00:31:44 +0000

Just so you know, very few extended warranties cover droppage, despite what the employees might say. Having worked at both The Source and Best Buy, I can guarantee that user-caused damage isn’t covered.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 01:17:43 +0000

bahr: but will you ever be able to recover the applecare in its entirety? If you sell the laptop two years from now, there will only be one year left on the applecare. So the applecare will depreciate as well. Most people buying used laptops are more astute shoppers and would rather get a cheaper laptop without the applecare than pay extra for applecare anyways. That’s my guess anyways.

By: bahr

bahr — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 23:28:08 +0000

question: what about for items that you may plan to resell? apple offered to sell me the applecare protection plan to extend my laptop warranty to 3 years instead of 1. They told me that when i sell my laptop i will get higher resell value if i mention that i have applecare.

btw, it cost $100 for extended warranty on a device that cost $1100.

By: Canadian Capitalist » Festival of Frugality # 7

Canadian Capitalist » Festival of Frugality # 7 — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 04:32:41 +0000

[...] Extended Warranties: Investing Intelligently relates a personal story about being asked to buy an extended warranty on an audio cable. Tries to answer the question, “are extended warranties worth buying?” [...]

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 00:43:51 +0000

Rick: That is crazy. The device would have to break twice (2x$9=$18) over the warranty period to make it worthwhile. Extended warranties are kind of lotteries. Your chances of coming out ahead are so small, but many people get suckered in anyways.

By: Rick

Rick — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 21:18:04 +0000

I purchased a usb drive that cost about 9 buck on sale at futureshop befor the holidays. The sad part was that they offered me a extended warranty that cost $15. The warranty was more than the product. How’s that for ridiculous.

By: Chani

Chani — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 17:40:14 +0000

hmm… I suppose. my bf got the extended warranty because he has a habit of breaking electronic stuff regularly - but then he was very careful with hte psp, so nothing’s happened to it so far

I considred getting some kind of warranty for my phone, because I’m lucky if the darn things last a year… but I never looked into it. mainly didn’t think it was worth the hassle because even if they do try to fix your phone, it’s still gone for 6 weeks or something and all your phone numbers are gone with it. easier to just buy a new one yet again…

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 01:05:44 +0000

chani: I see the logic, but just look at the odds. If a PSP costs $200 and the extended warranty costs $20, there would have to be a greater than 1/10 chance that you drop it to make the warranty worthwhile. The company has calculated this chance (the chance that people will drop it) and they have determined that it is actually less than 1/10 (Actually it’s probably FAR less). They then set the warranty at $20 to ensure that they will make money. So they have already done the math for you. It’s just like the insurance business. They determine the risk, then they charge premiums, just enough so they’ll cover claims and make a little bit more on top of that. Except I think in the case of extended warranties they are big-time overcharging!

By: chani

chani — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 00:51:15 +0000

for a cable.. yeah, that’s pretty ridiculous. but what about expensive, easily damaged stuff like a psp? wouldn’t it make sense to get one for those in case it gets dropped off a balcony or something? I suppose it depends on how accident-prone you are… and what exactly the warranty covers…