Extended Warranties - worth it or not?

[Darcy]

I am finally entering this century and planning to buy a DSLR camera (although my I-phone camera does take pretty good pictures). I'm wondering if it would be worth it to take out an extended warranty on the camera. I generally do not buy extended warranties for anything, but seeing as I am not familiar with DSLR cameras and have never owned one, I'm hoping there are some photographers here who can give me some advice. The camera I am looking at is beginner/mid range, and I am reluctant to fork out 20% of the cost of a camera on a warranty. Do DSLR cameras generally need repairs or maintenance? Should the 1 year manufacturer warranty be sufficient? Any advice would be welcome!

 

[pokerpro]

What i do is i NEVER take extended warrenties . With all the money i save, IF i have something that breaks or mallfunctions, i have the money to buy a new one or get it repaired.

 

[EagerBeaver]

I just bought an electric range for around $760 2 weeks ago and they offered an extended warranty for another $150, which basically extended the 2 year manufacturer's warranty to 5 years. The saleswoman pitched it by saying, "the modern appliances break down a lot sooner than your parents' appliances did." Basically, she was shitting on the product they already sold to me in order to make yet another sale. I declined.

 

[hornylouis]

I second pokerpro. Never get extended warranties for the following reasons,

1. Unless you plan on throwing your camera around it's unlikely it'll break. And you can't plan whether it'll break before or after your warranty expires.
2. Manufacturer warranty is usually good enough to cover repairs even though it's a bit more troublesome because it's handled by the manufacturer, not the seller.
3. If you purchased with a credit card, check your terms. These days, most credit cards (usually any kind of rewards card) will double your manufacturer's warranty. Many see credit cards as evil things but there's several perks to leverage from. Case in point. Before some regulatory changes, I had a rented car stolen. I had not purchased any insurance from the car rental because it was covered by my card. Called up the bank and it was handled. After the change though, your credit card rep will check to see if you have your own car insurance before using the bank's.

Only reason to get the seller's extended warranty is you don't want to deal with the hassle of repairs if the camera breaks. Then in that case, you're a perfect candidate for the extended warranty.

HTH

 

[Halloween Mike]

Personally i only take it on Xbox controllers and microphones at ebgames, cause those usually break fast, at least in the pass. Nowadays maybe i don't play as much(and as intense in general) to when i was younger so it may explain why they seem to last longer but back in the days of the 360 i would pass a mic by 3-4 months and a controller every 8 months or so. I didn't threw it around or anything, its when i play online i am stiff holding the controller, i play competitive shooter games etc... So i was better to pay the warrenty when that happen, i didn't had to pay a full controller again etc.

On other stuff tough, especially stuff where you gonna use moderately, its useless. Your usually covered well by the manufacturer.

 

[charmer_]

Normally for things less that $1000 I don't get the extended warranty. If they break, I get the next model which is usually the time to upgrade anyways.

But for stuff over $1000, that's when I would consider it. It all depends on how much the warranty is, and how worthy it is.

Right now, I'm shopping for 4K TVs, and am deciding to go with Costco. They slap on 1 year extra for warranty (making it two years), without any extra charge. Then for TVs over 1K, you can pay $100 more and make it 5 years. I asked @ BestBuy, and they were charging ~$400 for a 4 year warranty, which is horrible in comparison.

 

[A12B]

The only extended warranty I’d buy is the Apple care for iPhones. That warranty is worth it really. The rest I don’t really care as the 1 year manufacturer’s warranty is good enough.

 

[Doc Holliday]

It always depends on how much an extended warranty costs and the details. Several years ago i bought an extended warranty on my car & wound up not having to use it. Something major broke on my car two months after the extended warranty expired but i read the fine print and it wouldn't have covered the repair anyway. I wound up buying the piece on Ebay for a fraction of the price and did the repair on my own saving myself a couple thousands in the process. I swore i'd never buy an extended warranty on a car anymore.

However i bought an HD television and a high-end home entertainment audio system a few years ago. I bought the extended warranty because i'd get a $50 rebate if i didn't have to use it once it expired. The cost for the warranty on each items was $100. I ended up having to use it for the tv when it died. They gave me a brand new tv. And once the extended warranty on the audio system expired they gave me a $50 rebate on anything on wanted in the store. So i ended up happy i bought the extended warranties.

A12B is correct that the Apple care warranty for the iPhone is a valuable. It's costly but it's really worth it if something goes wrong and this can happen often when it comes to a phone.

 

[jalimon]

Ho yes always buy it for Apple product! We have about 20 apple laptops and mac mini pc at the office. 75% of them got a problem after 2-3 years. Much worse ratio then windows based product for which I have stopped buying extended warranty long ago (except for Windows surface tablets).

Cheers,

 

[hungry101]

Clark W. Howard has a radio show about money management and consumer advocacy. Clark says never, ever buy a warranty on electronics or appliances. I remember him saying on his show one day that the margins on the Warranties at Best Buy was something like 75% Clark says that there are only two instances that he would ever consider a warranty: 1. If he were selling a house he may consider buying one as a way to show confidence on paper to a perspective buyer or 2. for a new car if you do not have the money saved to pay for a major component breaking. He also said you should never purchase a car warranty from a third party. Buy it directly from the manufacturer. There was a time in the USA in the early 2000's were the dealer would offer you an extended auto-warranty from a third party for a significant discount. They were pushing these warranties hard. As the first cars got 5 or 6 years old, all those low-cost warranties went bankrupt and you were stuck with the repair bill anyway. Clark told stories about Sheriffs conducting raids on warranty companies only to find vacant offices as the warranty companies absconded with the funds just days prior. If you buy a Ford truck and you think you need a warranty than buy one from Ford Motor.
http://clark.com/shopping-retail/clark-does-not-purchase-extended-warranties/

 

[bignasty]

Whenever a salesperson at Best buy, etc. is giving me the hard sell to buy the extended warranty, telling me what a great deal it is, I always ask one simple question - Does the warranty cover accidentally dropping the electronic device and breaking it? So far the answer has always been "No". End of hard sell. Unfortunately the most common way that electronic devices are broken is if you drop them. I'm guessing there are some exceptions, such as a warranty against breakage for some "gorilla glass" devices. I think I read where Apple has such a deal on their iPhones. Not sure though.

 

[EagerBeaver]

I seem to have better luck with iPhones than everyone else. I am still going with a 6+ that I bought Black Friday 2014. It is showing signs of wear and tear, especially in responding to touch screen commands.

 

[Doggyluver]

The only time I bought an extended warranty and used it, I bought a Maytag dishwasher and over the five year warranty must have had it serviced 15 times. I had a No Lemon warranty and the service guy said the only time that kicks in is if the same problem is repaired 3 times which as he told me is impossible. He was the one who told me that I was the 1 in a million who benefited from an extended warranty and that no on should ever buy the warranty

 

[EagerBeaver]

The way I knew the retailer’s proposed extended warranty was a waste of money is they offered 50% of the $150 back if there are no warranty claims. That tells me the chances of no warranty claims are high, so high that they offer you money back after getting use of it for 5 years. Rip off!

 

[hungry101]

Negan and Nylon legs that is hilarious. If you read the article that I added the link to you will see that the Best Buy conman was selling an electronic gadget to Clark W Howard's wife. The con-man didn't realize who she was. The con-man pulled out a doctored computer record to prove that even the great Clark W. Howard bought an extended warranty there.

Here is a link to the late great John Pinette buying a TV. This is the one where he challenges the salesmen with "Why do I need the warranty?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6YEpXS_ugU

 

[EagerBeaver]

I asked the saleswoman that very question. Her answer was, “these appliances do not last and aren’t as durable as they were years ago.” Essentially shitting on the products they just sold you.

 

[ocean]

If it does ot have accidental spillage or breakge ie physical damage , then its not worth it.


COSTCO has good warranties.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Ho yes always buy it for Apple product! We have about 20 apple laptops and mac mini pc at the office. 75% of them got a problem after 2-3 years. Much worse ratio then windows based product for which I have stopped buying extended warranty long ago (except for Windows surface tablets).

Are you using the Macs to cut firewood? They're not made for that, you know. I have four Macs in my office and a MacBook Pro at home. We've been using them since 1988 and have never had a whit of trouble with any of them. We used to, way back when, used to have to replace them when Photoshop updated, but no longer. I might add that every one for at least the last 15 years had been a re-furb bought direct from Apple.

Btw, NEVER, EVER buy an extended warranty. They are the single highest profit item anyone who sells them sells, which explains why they try so hard to sell them.

 

[jalimon]

Are you using the Macs to cut firewood? They're not made for that, you know. I have four Macs in my office and a MacBook Pro at home. We've been using them since 1988 and have never had a whit of trouble with any of them. We used to, way back when, used to have to replace them when Photoshop updated, but no longer. I might add that every one for at least the last 15 years had been a re-furb bought direct from Apple.

Btw, NEVER, EVER buy an extended warranty. They are the single highest profit item anyone who sells them sells, which explains why they try so hard to sell them.

True that they are good for resell. That proves a lot of their value. I buy Macs for my employees. Many laptops for employees who need to travel and many mac mini for office worker. I buy them because our staff likes to work on them. They are extensively used as we run Internet services. I have to say I buy them directly from apple web site or apple store, never ever from other shop like best buy. My suggestion is to buy the apple warranty. For window based product the price is so cheap and the value over time so low that it's not worth it.

Cheers,

 

[lady_lover]

I disagree. I buy high end laptops and am pretty hard on them. Generally they last me one to two years since i frequently drop them and so on. This time, I decided to get the extended warranty with accident protection and sure enough, I managed to spray the laptop with water to such a degree that it didn't work anymore.
Called Dell, next day I had a shipping box, send it off and in 8 days had a repaired laptop., new motherboard, new keyboard, new display and new power supply. Cost of the extended warranty, $380...cost of laptop $3000.
Repairs, would have been far more than$380.
Same thing with a Sony Z-1...Display went bonkers after 1.5 years...Cost of warranty 200, cost of laptop $3500...They had no parts so I got the newer model.
Bought a samsung over the range microwave, 1.5 years later it's dead. No warranty... Bought another, $50 for extended warranty, if I have any issues over 5 years, they replace it.
It will fail again...
So for a DSLR, if it's less than $1500, don't bother. If more go for it. Especially if you get accidental damage..