truthfully it depends on the product. For some newer products which dont have a proven track record, or for any product that has a track record of being fragile, then extended warranties may be a good idea.
I dont get extended warranties on anything i get myself, Im generally good with the stuff I buy. But I get them whenever i buy the (now ex) gf things, she breaks everything.
I think it depends. We bought a warrantee for in-home next-day service for our Dell laptop...and it's a good thing we did because I kept breakign the dang thing or something would go wrong. I had the entire keyboard/mouse top thingy replace three or four times, the hinge on the screen replaced once, some big important mothery type part replaced once...the cordy part on the plug-in charger...that's all I can think of right now. And that was all in my house and free of charge. Plus, the Dell guy was hot
However, we bought a warrantee for this computer here (HP not dell) and we've not needed it once.
Did you get the AppleCare Protection Plan or was it a Futureshop warranty? AppleCare would require you to send the product either to Apple, or an authorized repair centre. AFAIK, Futureshop is not authorized to do repairs, and, correct me if I'm wrong, all repairs to iPods are done directly through Apple. Unfortunately, it does take time, but shipping should be covered.
Apple is not too bad to deal with, and if you end up with any problems, they are very good about making it right. This summer I had to send my gigantic 17" CRT monitor back to Apple for repair (for a known issue outside of warranty...the monitor is 5 years old now.) They paid for shipping, and repaired the item for free. Took a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, Purolator Courier damaged the box (looks like a forklift went through the box)...and the stand broke off. Back it went for repairs, should have been a really quick turn around, but had some problems with shipping to the correct address (they had an old address on file.) Because of the hassles I went through, Apple gave me $250 in software and a choice between a free iPod mini, or a $250 discount off anything else. I picked a 20G iPod Color. Any further problems with the monitor, and they will take care of it again.
I usually say no to extended warranties, but with some products it can be worth it. I think iPods are one of those products. I am considering buying their extended warranty as well for my iPod Colour. The other item I would consider getting a warranty for is a laptop.
But i'll tell you, the biggest scam going right now is HP printers! Those ***holes! Ok, you go buy yourself a printer/fax/scanner/copier all-in-one. Comes with a one year warranty. Of course, not one of these things has lasted longer than 2 years for us... and we DON'T print that much material at ALL! So, the thing craps out after maybe 18 months, you call HP, you get your call answered by a chick in India who tells you that you're "out of warranty" and for $15 they will connect you to a Tech rep that will help you fix it. You pay the $15 because you're "out of warranty". They connect you to a tech rep who spends an hour telling you to try this and that. When it doesn't work, they tell you "it's broken" and to take it to your local Best Buy/ Circuit City/Whatever, who tells you that they'll charge you $25 to ship it off to Timbuktoo to "see what's wrong with it". When you decide not to do that, HP is right there saying "....for $130 we'll send you the NEWER version of that printer/fax/scanner/copier and a shipping label for you to send us back the OLD broken printer...."
The printer you get is a "refurbished" machine from someone else that had the same problems.... So HP gets money and money and more money for their piece of crap machines!
Hehe, my HP printer (deskjet 5150) works fine. The quality of printing is great for what we use it for - mostly papers but also photos. And we got it "free" with the computer from best buy. Technological gadgets are just one of those things; no two people will have the same experience!
you still owe me thirty dollars for the de-tangling support call :laugh:
I only get extended warrantys when:
1) They are too cheap to pass up. I bought a three year warrantee for my desktop pc setup for like 60 bucks. I haven't even had problems, but I still have two more years on this (got it last black friday )
2) Like slip said, when the product is new (xbox 360 is a great example seeing as the first Xbox's had major problems when first released) or when the product is fragile.
Yeah, all the printer companies are the same. It's cheaper to buy a new one than get one repaired. But the ink is really where they make all their money! It's a total rip off! Next printer we buy will be a Laser, costs more up front, but it's a better deal quality-wise and ink-wise.
Two years ago I bought a digital camera there and then I broke it 3 months later. I went in, with the original box, receipe, warranty slip etc and they replaced it on the spot.
My cell phone kicked the bucket, after only 9 months. Went in with the warranty and got a new one within 15 minutes. They were going to give me the exact same one, but because it wasn't in stock they gave me the next model up.
Broke my MP3 player a couple months ago. Went into futureshop with it. Because these things become obsolete within months they didn't have the same model available. This one had cost close to $300 when we bought it 2 years ago. A similar MP3 player goes for around $150 today... something with even more functions etc and you might pay around $200. We were told to go pick anyone that we wanted that fell under $300. We picked one for $200 and then FutureShop gave us a store credit for $100.
I also bought an external single layer DVD burner from them. Bought the warranty and am glad I did. A couple months ago my dog ran suddenly under the desk and snagged the usb cable for teh burner. The burner went flying... took it into FS and because this one was now considered obsolete, they gave me the newer model, an external double layer DVD +- burner.
So.... my point? I break everything! But I also buy the FS extended warranty (never paid more than $40 for it) and have always been happy with the results.
If I were you I would call and ask for a manager or supervisor and explain the situation.
*Note, I just spoke to my cousin, a futureshop employee... each location has slightly different rules. I.E. some stores will give you the change if your replacement credit is supposed to be $300 and you onyl take a $200 item. And some places won't give you that back. Not sure about the other rules, but from what I understand the main extended warranty rules are supposed to be the same throughout locations - if it breaks you get a replacement on the spot. I'd give them a call and try and sort it out. It might have been a newbie or dumbie that just doesn't understand the policy.
I refuse to buy an extended warranty on anything. I Take the money that extended warranties would cost and put it in a money market acoount or a mutual fund and then in the event something breaks I withdrawl enough for the repair or replacement. In the event something drains the account, I scratch that companies products off of my list of things I will buy. After a couple of years the money market will be big enough to handle anything that happens. It would take a serious level of bad luck for this program to backfire (or maybe a dell computer). More or less this is how insurance and extended warranties work. Someone takes your money, and agrees to take your risk factor for that money. if it wasn't lucrative they wouldn't offer it. The only catch is you have to be disciplined with your money and not spend the cash you saved on some other toy.
Dave
Thanks for your thoguhts./... one thing is for sure, I won't touch extended warrantees anymore.
I guess I'll go back to futureshop and talk to a manager or something. Problem is, i was never the type to "talk the loudest".... I seem to always manage to feel bad for the people behind the counter. in any case, I'll just put on some System of a down in my car or on the way to the store to help get the blood rushing!!!!!!
