Please Spare Me the Extended Warranty

[snopes]

It seems every time I buy something these days, someone wants to pitch me an extended-service plan. I recently bought a $90 weed whacker at Home Depot and was offered an extended warranty by the cashier. No, thank you.

What's next? Extended warranties on shovels?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB2000...476290978.html

[snapdragonfly]

I've had them offer me warranties on 25 dollar small kitchen appliances.

I don't buy warranties. I refuse to be held hostage that way. I figure I am paying enough money to warrant sufficient quality for something to last longer than a year. I'm not going to reward their making a crap product by giving them even more money with a warrantiy.

Plus so often those warranties are hardly worth anything - it's not like you can have any confidence that they will fix it fast, fix it right, fix it free, or fix it at all. The internet has more stories about people who are furious with Best Buy because they have a warranty and a pile of junk that the warranty won't fix, than you can shake a stick at.

I did buy the warranty on my Prius because I thought the odds of it being worth the money were more than on most other items.

Every financial advisor's column I have can recall reading says that most of the time warranties are a waste of money.

[Eddylizard]

I find that often the extended warranties cost about 1/3 pa of the price of the product itself. At that rate, I'll take my chances, play the odds and gamble that it will last three years over the manufacturers warranty. If I end up having to buy a new whatsit earlier because it is broken, then I lose my bet, but consumer goods are that reliable I'm not too stressed.

The last but one mobile phone I bought, the chap in the shop said nervously "I have to ask you this because it is one of my job responibilities, not because I want to, but would you like to take out insurance against loss or damage?" The phone cost £15, the insurance was nearly £4 a month. I reassured him that I understood his predicament, but declined the insurance.

[Stoneage Dinosaur]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

I find that often the extended warranties cost about 1/3 pa of the price of the product itself. At that rate, I'll take my chances, play the odds and gamble that it will last three years over the manufacturers warranty. If I end up having to buy a new whatsit earlier because it is broken, then I lose my bet, but consumer goods are that reliable I'm not too stressed.

Most products have a one year guarantee anyway, so you've wasted that part of the warranty cost straight away.

The UK Sale of Goods Act also states that "For up to six years after purchase (five years from discovery in Scotland) purchasers can demand damages (which a court would equate to the cost of a repair or replacement)", so if the fault is with the product (rather than it being mistreated) you can have it repaired or your money refunded without needing any warranty.

[Eddylizard]

I think I wrote that badly. Most extended warranties I've seen are about 1/3 of the cost of the product, and extend for usually three years after the manufacturers warranty expires. The point stands - it is still a rotten deal IMO. I'll save my 1/3 and gamble on having to find the other 2/3 should things go wrong.

I did not know about that clause in the Sale of Goods Act. Rather useful to know if it's a large cost purchase of an item that proves to be faulty.

[Andrew of Ware]

Further to the posts about the Sales of goods Act, the BBC had an excellent article in their magazine section a few weeks ago.

Five consumer laws you really ought to know

The first one deals with the Sales of Goods Act and makes the point the extended warranties are all but a waste of money (at least in the UK).

[lynnejanet]

I am of two minds about extended warranties. We did buy a 5-year extended warranty on our front-loading washer and dryer, because we know that they are prone to problems with the seals and bearings. It's partially paid for itself, because we've had them repaired twice. However, we have given up the fight with the same warranty company regarding our upright freezer. We bought that warranty at the same time we bought the washer and dryer. The freezer is a disaster, but the warranty company refuses to service it. The retailer has called them, we have called them, they have been faxed copies of the paperwork, but they insist the warranty doesn't exist. So that was a complete rip off.

[snapdragonfly]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

I think I wrote that badly. Most extended warranties I've seen are about 1/3 of the cost of the product, and extend for usually three years after the manufacturers warranty expires. The point stands - it is still a rotten deal IMO. I'll save my 1/3 and gamble on having to find the other 2/3 should things go wrong.

Exactly. That's about right, too, they wanted somewhere in the vicinity of 20 dollars for an extended warranty on a blender that cost me under 50 dollars.

The car warranty was a much smaller percentage of the cost of the item and I would not be wanting to just throw out the car and buy a new one. I wouldn't buy a warranty if it was one third the price of the car though. Can you imagine?

[Latiam]

I don't buy extended warranties as a rule except on one thing: cars. I had the six year extended warranty added to my payments. It was probably a dollar or two each time, so I didn't notice it, and I had the piece of mind that any repairs would be covered and I wouldn't have to come up with money for tham.

In addition to the warranty, it gives you 24-hour protection against other things, so I had my car towed out of the mud and on another occasion someone came and changed my flat tire. I know how to change a tire, but I'd rather not if there's any way to avoid it, so I liked this. The guy wouldn't even take a tip.

As it's turned out, there's been some issues with my emissions control system and they've fixed a whole bunch of it, including the computerized part. They've replaced my front brakes and all the bushings and part of the steering column. And each time I've driven away without paying a cent. The only things I've paid for are the semi-annual service and oil changes.

Someone said,"Oooh, it sounds like your car's a lemon." I don't feel that way. It's almost five years old and it has never given me any trouble on the road; these are things that have come to light in the semi-annual inspections I pay for and are taken care of before they become big issues. Other than the emissions system. Don't know what's going on there.

Of course, we've bought six of these cars so I know they tend to be reliable.

ETA: I bought a Best Buy warranty on one thing and my sister bought me one on another and both times when I called the number they "couldn't find me in the system." I would have had to find the receipt stapled to the pamphlet. I think they're banking on the fact that most people lose those.

[DaGuyWitBluGlasses]

If i'm buying multiple identical items, then i'll buy one warranty (as long as it doesn't require a serial number) since there's no way to tell which one is which, the warranty will apply to any of them.

[Insensible Crier]

I was offered an extended warranty for a $20 game controller. A game controller. The only time I ever had a game controller break is when I was the one who broke it, in which case the warranty is useless anyway.

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by Insensible Crier

I was offered an extended warranty for a $20 game controller. A game controller. The only time I ever had a game controller break is when I was the one who broke it, in which case the warranty is useless anyway.

Office Max once offered me a warranty on a $20 USB flash drive. There's really very little that can go wrong with a flash drive.