The Extended Warranty, A Good Idea….Sometimes

September 18, 2007 · Filed Under · 4 Comments 

Baby spit up on it, dog chewed on it, you know the usual stuff …

You hear all the time that the extended warranty is a HUGE money maker for many stores. Especially your big box electronics stores like Best Buy and Circuit City. Because of this, I have always passed when the salesman gives me the standard pitch which always involves amazing detail about how I cannot possible live without it and makes me feel like I am taking food off his kid’s plate by declining. I always find it interesting how they know more about the extended warranty than the actual product you are interested in buying.

But I have found that it can be a good idea if you are buying a product that takes a beating. Case in point, about 3 years ago, my wife bought a cordless phone/answering machine combo from Best Buy and was talked into the extended warranty. I’m sure the picture of the kid with an empty dinner plate got her. The phone’s cost was $95 and the extended warranty was around $25. We used the phone for a few months, dropped it a couple times, baby spit up on it, dog chewed on it, you know the usual stuff, and low-and-behold one of the receivers stopped working. We take it in and no questions asked, we get a new phone. We have done this 3 times and get a new phone everytime. Well worth the extended warranty. Maybe our Best Buy has a very lax staff and takes back almost everything. Has anybody had a different experience with the extended warranty?

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4 Responses to “The Extended Warranty, A Good Idea….Sometimes”

  1. Lynnae @ Being Frugal on September 18th, 2007 6:02 am

    I don’t usually buy the extended warranty, but I did buy one for a phone we bought at Staples several years ago. I had much the same experience as you. They took my phone back, no questions asked, and I got a new one.

  2. Kyle on September 18th, 2007 8:26 am

    That is funny, must be a phone thing! Did you buy the extended warranty because you thought it might get thrown around quite a bit?

  3. Kookaburra on September 18th, 2007 8:54 am

    I always buy the extended warranty on our laptops. I loooove the portability and easy storage of a laptop. Also there aren’t all those pesky wires in the way.

    Anyway, I hate how cheaply they are made and they always end up overheating and dying. Sooo, we always, always get the extended warranties and they are always purchased at Best Buy (even though we actually hate that store). We’ve gotten our laptops fixed and/or replaced several times at no charge due to having that warranty!

  4. Kyle on September 18th, 2007 9:09 am

    Kookaburra, wow that warrenty quickly paid for itself. Yeah we have a laptop also that can also heat a bowl of soup if need be. Kinda convenient! Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

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