# Extended Warranty on Electronics



## Financial Highway (Apr 3, 2009)

I am just wondering how many people purchase the extended warranty when they purchase big electronic items (TV, Laptops, computers etc....).

I spend a lot of time looking for bargains when it comes to electronics, but one thing I never save on is the extended warranty. I ALWAYS bargain with the retailer to get a lower price for the extended warranty and almost 99% of the time i get it. I think it's expensive items I purchase that suppose to last me for a long time so it makes sense to protect it. I purchased a laptop in 2006 and extended warranty ($500) for three years and I am just about to place my laptop for the second time.

I know some dont think it's important, canadian finance blog had a post on it a little while back
http://canadianfinanceblog.com/2009/03/11/just-say-no-to-extended-warranties.htm

Do you buy extended warranty?


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

That's one thing that I never purchase. I always use a credit card that has extended warranty included which usually adds another year onto the manufacturers warranty... free.

Here's a list of my fav credit cards in Canada:
*Top Cash Back Credit Cards in Canada*
*Top No Fee Rewards Credit Cards in Canada* 



Financial Highway said:


> I am just wondering how many people purchase the extended warranty when they purchase big electronic items (TV, Laptops, computers etc....).
> 
> I spend a lot of time looking for bargains when it comes to electronics, but one thing I never save on is the extended warranty. I ALWAYS bargain with the retailer to get a lower price for the extended warranty and almost 99% of the time i get it. I think it's expensive items I purchase that suppose to last me for a long time so it makes sense to protect it. I purchased a laptop in 2006 and extended warranty ($500) for three years and I am just about to place my laptop for the second time.
> 
> ...


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## mesaana14 (Apr 4, 2009)

I did in the past, then had so much trouble getting something fixed when the salesperson had specifically said that it would be covered (I was called a liar by the manager, it was horrible, but I stuck to my guns and they eventually paid) that not only have I not shopped in that store anymore, but I also refuse all offers of an extended warranty.

Warranties, like insurance, are for things I can't afford to replace. I could replace a one year old laptop, which is pretty much the most expensive thing I'd buy (I'm not into 52 inch plasma tv's).


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

Never bought one, never will.

I think I've been fortunate, but nothing I've purchased (knock on wood) has ever required repairs under warranty, or even under the period of an extended warranty.

In my eyes, its a big cash grab. With the way technology progresses these days, you'll be upgrading before anything breaks down. YMMV


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## Cammac46 (Apr 10, 2009)

*Get one year extended warranty free!*

I never purchase the extended warranty ever and it has saved me literally thousands of dollars. I learned that lesson the hard way on a $1,600 video camera many,many years ago. We paid about $269 for a 3 year extended warranty....used it lots and sure enough...the dam thing quit working 2 weeks after the warranty expired and the store would not honour the expired warranty even though it was only expired by 2 weeks...the video camera was not worth fixing as newer models were cheaper than repair costs by that time.
After that, I never purchased an extended warranty ever again and nothing has quit on me at all really so I have saved thousands on those costs.
What I have done though is used Mastercard to pay for electronics as MC gives one additional year warranty coverage if you use MC to purchase the item...just pay off the MC immediately to save interest costs...simple as that!


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## CanadianCapitalist (Mar 31, 2009)

Extended warranties are one of my pet peeves and they are especially a waste of money on electronics. The reason is that for electronic goods the probability of failure is highest in the first few days and drops exponentially after that. So, if the electronics you just purchased lasted two weeks (the typical return period), it is then almost certain to last many years. By the time, it fails, a better item can be purchased for a lot less. Insurance should be purchased for risks you are unable to bear. An electronic item isn't that big a loss and if you always avoided extended warranties, you'll almost certainly come out ahead.

I'm curious: have you ever had an electronic item fail? Not for me. Even items we purchased refurbished have lasted many years.


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## Financial Highway (Apr 3, 2009)

Well here is the extended warranty I purchased for my laptop. It was an HP laptop for about $1100, the extended warranty was offered by HP one that I never knew it existed. It covered EVERYTHING except theft. INCLUDING water damage and physical damage, it cost $500. I thought it was just a great deal, ever since then my original laptop broke when i fell of the stairs they replaced it with a new laptop worth $1200 and a few months ago as we had guests over someone spilled water on my laptop and burned so I send it in and got it replaced again. To me the $500 has already paid off big time. But i must admit the HP service is HORRIFIC! It is UNBELIEVABLE, I promised to never buy HP again.


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## mfd (Apr 3, 2009)

It all depends on the item. I bought a sony xbr6 LCD tv. Its one of the best out there and not a cheap item to replace. The TV cost $2600 and the extended warranty cost $200....well worth it I think. Now if it was like $600 then I would have to think a bit harder about it. 

Now I generally would never buy a warranty on a computer simply because everything comes apart easily so I can replace the parts myself for relatively little expense. 

I deal with HP and Dell support on a corporate level. We usually have the highest level of support with 4 hour turn around. Both are pretty bad but HP is by far the worst.


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## lb71 (Apr 3, 2009)

Extended warranties are generally a rip off. They produce a nice profit for the seller, and do little for the buyer. (Those that work on commission like at Future Shop really push it because of the extra commission they earn on the extended warranty.) Unless you get it for free or at a deep discount, don't bother.

(For those of you with a Costco membership, they offer two year warranties on electronics free of charge.)


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## Canadian Finance (Apr 3, 2009)

Financial Highway,

Thanks for including my post, as you know I'm not a fan of extended warranties.

Obviously with the bad luck you've had with your laptop, the warranty definitely paid for itself a few times over. Because of that, you came out way ahead. That also sounds like a pretty decent amount of coverage.

I guess my issue with them is most just cover the parts from failure, and in that case the odds are that parts will either fail within the manufacturer warranty or well past any extended warranty.


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## PMREdmonton (Apr 6, 2009)

For those of you in Western Canada, Visions electronics runs a program where you get the money you put in refunded as a store gift card if you don't use the extended warranty. I have used this when buying expensive items like LCD TVs.


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## Canadian Finance (Apr 3, 2009)

PMREdmonton said:


> For those of you in Western Canada, Visions electronics runs a program where you get the money you put in refunded as a store gift card if you don't use the extended warranty. I have used this when buying expensive items like LCD TVs.


Now that's appealing, more stores should do this. They would still come out ahead with basically a free loan from us for a few years, plus the future sale from the gift card. Next time I’m shopping for electronics I’ll give this a serious look!


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## pwo (Apr 5, 2009)

I never buy them. These products are extremely profitable, thus why they are pushed so aggressively to consumers.

Take the money you would spend on a "Performance Service Plan" and put it in a savings account, then draw from it whenever anything needs to be replaced.


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## dotnet_nerd (Jul 1, 2009)

Got a real slime-ball salesman at Future Shop when buying a new receiver. Very, very pushy.

He offered an additional $100 off if I took the extended warranty.

So I took the offer. Next day I went back to the return desk and 'returned' the warranty. I got a full refund for the policy (but kept the receiver at the discounted price). 

I wish I could see his face on payday. The guy deserved it though. I quit buying at Future Shop because of the high pressure. You can never just get a straight answer. "Does it come in green?" "If it does, will you buy it?" [/rant off]


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## canadianbanks (Jun 5, 2009)

dotnet_nerd said:


> Got a real slime-ball salesman at Future Shop when buying a new receiver. Very, very pushy.
> 
> He offered an additional $100 off if I took the extended warranty.
> 
> ...


I like your style . I hate shopping at Future Shop as well.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

I never buy extended warranties either, with one exception: computers from Apple. I use both Mac and Windows, and have for many years, and like both systems. But while my IBM (now Lenovo) computers have never had any hardware problems, every one of the dozen or so Macs I've owned over the years has developed (or came with) serious hardware issues within the first few years. So with my latest laptop (a 15" MacBook Pro that I bought last year) I got AppleCare. Ironically this machine appears rock-solid so far and I haven't had a single thing go wrong with it.


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## cashinstinct (Apr 4, 2009)

brad said:


> I never buy extended warranties either, with one exception: computers from Apple. I use both Mac and Windows, and have for many years, and like both systems. But while my IBM (now Lenovo) computers have never had any hardware problems, every one of the dozen or so Macs I've owned over the years has developed (or came with) serious hardware issues within the first few years. So with my latest laptop (a 15" MacBook Pro that I bought last year) I got AppleCare. Ironically this machine appears rock-solid so far and I haven't had a single thing go wrong with it.


Apple has a strong brand for people to buy it even if they always have problem with them.

(I know all laptops have their problems)


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## Alistein (Jan 8, 2015)

I did and I have no regrets getting one. Extended warranties are a great help to many customers out there. I'm sure many people will agree. Making a serious home or customer electronics buy is a big decision. Many retailers are getting to the extended warranty sport. Extended warranties are essentially short-term insurance on your purchases. More often than not, they are themselves very expensive. But I'm sure it's worth the price. Most customers are not aware that the credit cards they already have may provide free extended warranties.


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