I know extended warranties are a huge profit maker for the retailer and for the most part a rip off for the consumer. I’ve gone through a number of mp3 players and accept the fact that these things die but at 50 bucks a pop it’s no big deal. Having just spent $299 on a 16gig ipod touch as a gift I’m wondering if I should spend the extra on the warranty- 2yr $60 3yr $100. I’m in a quandry because I’m spending waaaaay more on a product for someone else than I would on myself, and I also have a problem with the whole Apple cult thing. I just don’t think their stuff is worth a 200% price premium. But it’s a gift so fuck it. What would you do?
God no. The person who’s receiving it can pony up for a warranty themselves if they’re so inclined.
I’ve never paid for an extended warranty on anything: ever. It’s never come back to bite me in almost 3 decades as a consumer.
I think a warranty for a consumer product that cost 300 lousy bucks is goofy. The purpose of insurance is to protect you against a sudden need for cash that you can’t cover. If your iPod breaks, you’ll probably have the cash to cover it, and if not, then it’s not like it absolutely needs to get replaced anyway.
If it covers glass breakage, it might be worth it.
Although they are rugged, if you drop it onto concrete, the glass can break, and it’s very expensive to replace.
In my experience, if the owner is going to be a 14 year old girl, get the extended warranty. (and get the crazy insurance on the cell phone too) (and block international calls…that’s another story)
There’s normally a decently long standard warranty on most electrical goods, the only difference being that taking advantage of them is much more of a PITA. (Have to keep receipts, mail the goods someplace, follow up, etc).
YMMV of course… I recently had to get the BBB involved to get a certain mouse/joystick company to follow through with their obligation, whereas an extended warranty would have been way simpler to cash in on.
My experience with iPods is that battery life alone gives them a useful lifespan of somewhere between 20 & 30 months. When I buy an iPod, I pick up the three-year warranty as a matter of course because having the battery replaced at that point is as good as renovating the device and much cheaper.
For a gift, though? Never.
I’ve heard many stories about ipod battery failure which is why I’m considering the warranty, otherwise I wouldn’t bother. And the ipod is a gift for my 40 something girlfriend not a teen so it will be treated with a greater degree of care.
In that case, when is she likely to want to upgrade? If she gets a new phone every year, she’s likely to want to replace her iPod in a similar timeframe when the ones with all-new bells and whistles come out. Otherwise, I’d get the Applecare warranty (from the manufacturer) for three years as a matter of course.
Look at it this way. If you get a 3yr warranty for $100 and the ipod breaks, you will save $200. If it doesn’t break, then you are lose $200. There is also one year limited warranty, so that means somethings on your ipod will have to break between years 2 and 3 in order for you to save money.
Keep in mind that battery replacement without the warranty will cost you $86. So you’d need to have the battery fail twice in order to save money.
So what it comes down to is can you risk $200? Considering that you might eventually spend that money on a newer ipod. Also considering that you probably rarely encountered a time where you actually needed to use an extended warranty, so you know the risk is low.
Finally, since this is a gift, your girlfriend won’t actually lose any money if the ipod breaks and you don’t really save anything from buying the warranty.
Thanks for the input folks, I’m going to pass on the warranty.