# How aggressively do you use product warranties? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-aggressively-do-you-use-product-warranties/999875 "2024-04-05T13:47:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-aggressively-do-you-use-product-warranties/999875/21 "2024-04-07T12:06:28Z")
And if I included the value of all the “free” gifts I got with the knives, it would push that total up for certain, but they no longer carry those “freebies.” Anyway, I’ve been really happy with them and I wouldn’t hesitate to have one of the bigger ones replaced if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-aggressively-do-you-use-product-warranties/999875/22 "2024-04-07T13:58:55Z")
I think I took advantage of the Eastpak warranty at least once in college. Another one I remember from my college days, although it may not exactly have been a warranty issue. I had a TI-55 II calculator and I started having problems with either the display or maybe some buttons not working. I took it in to the college bookstore and found out Texas Instruments was replacing them with TI-55 IIIs because the IIs had some sort of manufacturing defect. (40 years later I still have that TI-55 III on my desk and use it regularly.) ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-aggressively-do-you-use-product-warranties/999875/23 "2024-04-07T14:11:41Z")
I don’t use product warranties much. When a product fails under warranty, it’s not your money, it’s your opportunity to earn yourself money. For most products that I’ve had fail, the opportunity hasn’t been good enough to take advantage of. Figuring the worth of my time, and the obstacles involved (which can include communications, getting return authorization, packaging and shipping the product, and the like), warranties usually aren’t worth using for me. I can post an accurate negative product review in less than a minute, so I often do that. For products expensive enough to make the warranty worth using, I do. I think the last one of those was a bandsaw that cost maybe a couple hundred or so, several years ago. I wouldn’t ever hesitate for the seller’s sake – for me it’s just a question of whether it’s worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-aggressively-do-you-use-product-warranties/999875/24 "2024-04-07T17:00:39Z")
my general concept here is **(subjective) fairness**… I’d not ask for warranty replacement for socks that served me well for 3 years (I feel I got reasonable use out of them) … but I did use my rights for 3 solar lights that crapped out on my after a week … (no reasoable use were gotten from those) … even if it cost me 2 hours of my life - somewhat it felt like being sucker-punched and that cannot go unanswered. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-aggressively-do-you-use-product-warranties/999875/25 "2024-04-07T17:23:07Z")
A number of years ago I bought a tablet from Best Buy. It was not a name brand; in fact Best Buy sold it under a name something like “Unbranded”. While it was still under warranty it stopped working, so I took it back to Best Buy. After fiddling with it a bit, they decided it was not repairable, and gave me a new one off the shelf. When I got it home and took it out of the box, I found that what they had given me was not only the tablet, but also the optional keyboard, which I had not gotten with the original tablet. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-aggressively-do-you-use-product-warranties/999875/26 "2024-06-26T22:48:16Z")
> [@ColdBrew50](#): > > But any retailer that sells Darn Tough socks will also exchange in person. REI, or whatever random tiny shop. They’re supposed to, anyway. I think that’s probably literally written into their vendor agreement or whatever paperwork exists between those entities. Just got back from REI. They said we have to send them in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-aggressively-do-you-use-product-warranties/999875.md?page=1)