Are extended warranties worthless?

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  nicksnoobie on 17/01/2012 - 23:34

  Some ext warranties are very useful. Bought xbox 360. RROD just after 1 year. Lucky I bought ext warranty. Some products aren't worth it.

  • 

    lplau on 19/01/2012 - 09:07

    i thought MS had 3yr warantee on RROD related faults.

    • 

      nicksnoobie on 19/01/2012 - 13:35

      Bought it from GAME. It was back in 08. Not sure if it matters

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  bernsy on 18/01/2012 - 00:00

  I bought ext warranty for my PS3 but so far has not had the need to use it.

  I also have extended warranty for my notebook and when the hard drive failed
  I sent it back they replaced the hard drive for me, before the extended warranty eventually expired.

  It really depends on what you are buying, and how often you will be using it.

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  rack on 18/01/2012 - 09:39

  +1

  I made a claim on a laptop which was out of warranty once. Manufacturer initially said they won't fix, then i contacted the seller and mentioned ACCC statuory right blah blah. They contacted manufacture. The laptop was picked up, repaired according to them, sent back, same issue, picked up again and replaced with a new one.

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  cwongtech on 18/01/2012 - 12:51

  With laptops, don't bother having a total amount of 2 years warranty. New toys always around the corner.
  I guess it depends with how long you're planning to use the item for (and how fast newer toys come out)

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  _Bruce_ on 18/01/2012 - 13:34

  I see it this way, they are either offering a service that isn't going to cost them (manufacturer will cover anyway, as suggested above), or they are confident that the cost of repairing the faults will be less then the revenue received. In the first case, you are covered also. In the latter case, the inverse is true, which means in the long run you are better off without paying for it. The catch is that for expensive items that you are not easily able to pay for, it still makes sense (why house and car insurance works).

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  llama on 18/01/2012 - 18:11

  +1

  I tried consumer affairs and teh whole "Merchantable Quality" thing a few years ago on a Sansui LCD TV. The power supply failed, cost me $70 for warranty assessment and they quoted $500 to repair it.

  The unit was 18 months old, and had a 12 month warranty. It was purchased from K-Mart and neither K-Mart, the Importer nor Dept Of Fair Trading NSW did anything to assist.

  So, there is a BIG gap between the "theory" and the "practice" when claiming for repairs outside warranty period.

  • 

    samfisher5986 on 19/01/2012 - 02:27

    If it was a decent brand it would have worked.

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      llama on 19/01/2012 - 10:48

      Brand is irrelevant… I told the story to demonstrate that repairs outside the manufacturer's warranty period are not "a given".

      Even Dept of Fair Trading could/would not help… and this was a $700 TV that completely failed in under 18 months!

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        samfisher5986 on 19/01/2012 - 12:46

        I can't look it up where I am, but brand is very important.

        In short, you get a free extended warranty past 12 months if you buy an expensive product that is clearly intended to be high end and high quality.

        If you buy a 12 month warranty Sony TV for $3000 and it dies in 15 months, it is still under warranty.

        If you buy a 12 month warranty Sonic TV for $500 and it dies in 15 months, its not.

        The same works for many things, white goods, electronics etc

        ---

        In my experience only 50% of extended warranties are worth it anyway, the only way to know this is to have a general idea of the failure rate and the cost to fix.

        For example I purchased an office chair from officeworks for $120. I'm fully aware that unless I buy a $300+ chair its not going to last. I paid something like $25 for a 3 year warranty.

        Result? I got a new chair after 14 months because the gas lift stopping working. I'm expecting another new chair in the future as I doubt it will last the remaining 22 months. Well worth the extended warranty.

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  epicaricacy on 19/01/2012 - 02:54

  +1

  Interesting - I had an issue with the exact same brand… a 26" sansui. Power was knacked. For a while it was hit and miss as to whether it would turn on, then finally it would no more. Swapped for a sixpack of Beam and Coke via Gumtree..

  • 

    llama on 19/01/2012 - 10:47

    Yes, mine was a 26" too. The power supply in that model had a "known fault". The service centre stated that even with a $500 replacement, there had been no alteration to the basic design and that it as unlikely to last any longer next time.

    I left mine at the service centre, and cut my losses. I was already almost $800 down at that point, so there was no way I was gunna chuck another $500 at a no-name 26" LCD!

    Ironically, just a few months ago I had some Viewsonic video monitors that were doing a similar thing. After searching the net I discovered that it was also a power supply problem, caused by faulty capacitors. I purchased new ones from Jaycar and soldered them in and fixed the monitors for about $5 each!

    If I had known then what I know now, I would have fixed the bloody thing myself!

    • 

      Geewhizz on 19/01/2012 - 16:07

      The sad thing is they probably did just that, and passed it off onto some other poor sucker.

      Until 12 or 18 months ago when the media made a big thing of it, we didn't know about statutory warranty (just how the manufacturers and sellers of extended warranty like it), so bought extended warranty on everything, and never bought it without having to use it ie, we used every extended warranty we'd bought. Fischer and Paykel washing maching computer board died 3 weeks after expiry of manufacturers warranty, for instance.

      If you do decide to purchase extended warranty, be VERY cautious of Hardly Normal's extended warranty - it will only cover you for repairs deemed to be up to the value of what you originally paid for the item, so if they decide that a repair to your $800 digital camera was valued at $600, they will only cover a further $200 of repairs, taking it up to the original price you paid. whereas most others provide proper warranty coverage for the full extended period. The ridiculous thing is that the majority of their staff are unaware that this is the way it works.

      If you're contemplating buying from HN and want extended warranty, check whether the manufacturer provides it. A lot of them seem to these days.

      • 

        tonyjzx on 19/01/2012 - 16:57

        +1

        HN is probably the centre of the extended warranty evil.

        They have a lot of buying power. They requested all their items to only have a 1 yr warranty so that they can sell you an extended warranty. It's a huge profit centre. Just like monster cables and other crap you don't need.

        As always its a judgement call. If you buy a $2,000 item you'd be wanting some kind of coverage after 1 yr.

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  cloudy on 19/01/2012 - 18:17

  My understanding is that statutory warranty does cover most items, but to make a claim under the law is much harder than if u had extended warranty. So in essence u pay for convenience, it's not fair or ideal, but I guess that's how it is

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    samfisher5986 on 19/01/2012 - 22:25

    Statutory warranty doesn't cover most items, it really depends what your buying.

    Extended warranty is for cheapo products that aren't designed to run for 5+ years.

    Otherwise you would hope it comes with 3+ years warranty from the manufacturer.

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  bendertiger on 22/01/2012 - 20:01

  I buy the cheapest reliable product there is (or it's so cheap, I don't care).

  Let's see…my mobile phone is $24, if it dies after a year. I'll just go out and buy another $24 phone (with better specs most likely). If it dies after three years and I haven't upgraded in that time…PROFIT!

  You want some sort of warranty that it's not going to cark it after three months, but if it keeps going it'll probably go for a while. I generally just buy cheap as an insurance policy, just so it's cheap to replace if it does screw up!