I’m quite familiar with the way that most extended warranties work- they’re really insurance policies, not something the manufacturers come up with.
That said, we did get the 2 yr Depot and Accidental Damage warranty on the laptop we bought about 20 months ago, because we had a 2.5 year old at the time, and another boy on the way, and we figured there was a better than even chance that one or the other would somehow manage to thrash the laptop, since my wife keeps it near the couch.
Looks like it may actually pay off; turns out my wife spilled a glass of wine into the laptop, utterly killing it, which is believe it or not, covered by the accidental damage portion of the warranty.
Otherwise buying extended warranties on electronics is stupid; most electronics are going to fail instantly when first powered up, or very shortly thereafter. If it makes it past that point, it’s likely to function correctly for a very, very long time as far as consumer electronics lifespans go.
Unfortunately the warranty gives you no actual peace of mind in relation to fragility. It only covers manufacturer’s defects. “You dropped it, and it’s too fragile to withstand a drop,” isn’t a manufacturer’s defect by the terms of the warranty.
As soon as it’s apparent that the warranty claim was caused by physical damage, it gets denied.
Unless specifically stated otherwise, the warranty won’t cover anything related to your treatment of the product.
That’s more than likely very dependent on the particular warranty and its exact wording. I don’t doubt that someone offers an accidental damage “warranty” for cell phones- you probably pay more, as it’s more likely than an electronic component spontaneously fizzling out in your phone’s daily use.
Zero things. However, next time I buy a gaming console I’ll go to Best Buy and pay for the extra warranty there where you just bring it in and they give you a new one. Those things always break, and even though it’s usually covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, it’s easier to go swap one out at a store than it is to ship it to the manufacturer, then wait for them to fix it and ship it back.
I used to go through headphones every three months. It was basically wear them a few times then they’d break. Finally, I went to some electronics store and bought a classy new pair for about $25. When the bored kid behind the counter pitched the warranty. It was $7. I said, sure. I figured at my rate of MTBF, even if I only got one new pair out of the warranty I’d be ahead.
Those headphones last around 2- 3 years. I think the company went out of business before the headphones died.
On the other hand, I got a home warranty when I bought my house, and those things are basically a scam.
Shouldn’t you pay for warranties on things you can’t afford the variance on?
If you can afford to replace the product out of petty cash reserves, you come out ahead without the extended warranty. If it’s something extremely expensive, and the warranty prevents a massive bill (depends on how rich you are - some people a 10k+ bill is no big deal, other folks can’t cover a 1k+ bill), you buy it to protect you from the variance.
Negative bet overall but it protects you if you have a bad dice run.
15 years ago, I bought hedge clippers at Sears–$35, I think. Warranty was $3. Why not? Later that summer, I was mangling the hedge and I SLICED right through the chain-link fence behind it and burnt out the motor. Did I take it to Sears and get it fixed? Oh, no, no, no; I forgot I had the warranty for it. I called Sears central and ordered a replacement whatever-the-thingie-in-the-middle-of-the-motor-is-called–it was relatively cheap–and installed it myself. Now, I did get another 13 years use out of it, but if anyone finds that piece of my brain I lost in Florida, would they send it to me COD, if you can still do that? Thank you very much.