Helpful consumer hints...extended warranties are a waste of money

So says this report:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163544613701&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

There are only two products for which an extended warranty makes sense, the group said. They are rear-projection microdisplay televisions, because replacing the bulb costs three times the extended warranty, and Apple computers, because they come with only 90 days of technical support.

Other unreliable products, such as laptop computers, which break down 43 per cent of the time, and desktop computers, which break down 33 per cent of the time, do so after the typical three-to-four-year warranty

 

If you have a treadmill and don't have an extended warranty, you better be a heck of a mechanic or looking to use it as a clothes hanger.

 

Ace's law of commerce.

They harder they try to push something on you -- especially at the point of sale -- the bigger the money maker it is for them.

I do have to get my treadmill fixed soon, though.

 

When I worked lawn and garden retail for a company that rhymes with Beers, I had to sell "maintenance agreements."

In theory, if the customer used them for preventative maintenance and start-of-season tune-ups, they'd get the $119 out of it over three years. But how many people actually remember to take the mower to the shop to get the work?

For every $119 agreement I sold, I earned as much commission as I did on a $300 mower.

 

Getting the extended warranty on my piece of fucking shit Dell was the best thing I ever did. It got me a new, slightly better piece of shit Dell last spring when the old hunk of fucking shit died.

 

Since the average lifespan of a laptop is less than what my extended warranty is, I'm banking on the same thing in a couple of years,

 

same here although i didn't get a new one...just got mine fixed up

 

I would have been happy to do that, but Dell tried fixing everything except, you know, the fried hard drive.

"It might be the motherboard." No, you fixed the motherboard two months ago...oh you're at my door. Well, thanks for the new motherboard. Guess what? It's not the motherboard.

"Oh then let's run a series of diagnostic tests that will be interrupted by me hanging up on you." Hello? Hello? Anyone there?

It took me threatening to sue their worthless asses before I got anywhere. "Looking at your record it looks like you've had a lot of problems with this computer," guy says. Really? No shit. I've only been calling you assholes for four months.

So he offered to send me a new computer. So far so good. Fuck Dell. I'll never buy them again.

 

These extended service plans are almost all profit for the retailer. People buy them and don't use them. They are from the devil.

 

Words to live by.

There is no such thing as "customer service" department anymore.

They're now called "client service" departments whose mandate is not to help you poor saps with their problem but is to sell you more shit in the guise of helping you.

 

When I bought my first mp3 player, I purchased a three-year warranty with it.

I went through somewhere in the neighbourhood of five of those damn things. Thanks, Consumer Reports, for letting me know it wasn't worth the $40.

Oh, and at the end of the story there's this lovely nuggett: "The survey didn't include the PlayStation 3 because Consumer Reports doesn't rate video game consoles."

Well gee, thanks for letting me know you didn't survey for a product that's not even on the shelves yet.

That said, I would agree most warranties aren't worth getting.

 

I used to work at Best Buy and I HATED selling that crap. I was just a shitty cashier, which actually made it worse because they had sales people to sell the plans on computers and TVs and shit people might actually think about, but I had to sell them on headphones and clock radios.

The price varied depending on how expensive the product was, but the least they could be was $5. And we HAD to sell them. I always tried not to and always got in trouble, but my dipshit manager never figured out why I felt like an idiot asking some dude if he wants a $5 service plan on his $12 headphones.

Most people were smart enough to ignore me, but you'd be amazed how stupid some people are. I honestly saw a guy sell the $5 plan on a $5 product once.

I quit a long time ago and last time I went in they tried to sell me a service plan on a computer game. I was like "What the hell could possibly happen." Bla bla bla, it could break or something. "Uh, I'll make sure I keep it safe."

As for the bigger products, the only think I'd ever think about buying one for is the computer. But there people get super screwed to. Our "best" sales guy was this asian dude who could sell those plans to everyone. I mean EVERYONE. I asked him how and he told me he just asked them until they stopped saying no, kept pestering them, and no matter what, put it in the cart. They also threw $100 battery backup surge protectors and crap like that in the cart without telling people too. The guy eventually left to go somewhere where he could make more money. He was a total snake, but I have no doubt he's loaded today.

So ... watch yourself. That was great advice from Ace ... your need to buy something extra is probably exactly the inverse to their desire to sell it to you.