TechDish: Warranties, Extended Warranties, and What to Watch For

Posted on: Fri, 11/05/2010 - 08:05 — us104_techdish

With Christmas shopping season in our midst, gifts are being purchased (or will be, in the coming weeks) to go under that tree at home for the holiday. And, if you're buying any type of electronics, you more than likely will be asked the big question: "Would you like to purchase an extended warranty for that?". Now here's the kick—most of the time, you aren't asked this until you get to the checkout line. You're already set to pay for your items and get to your car, and your mind is already thinking about the next destination; but wait—this teenage cashier wants to talk to me about warranties?

So what should you do? Are extended warranties worth the extra cash? Are manufacturers warranties worth their salt? Or are you stuck with you get after 30, 60, or 90 days when the store won't take a return?

On today's installment of TechDish, we're talking warranties of all kinds. Read on for the goodness!

Manufacturers Warranties—what to know

Manufacturers warranties come in many different flavors. When we're talking computers though, the thing to keep in mind is that the manufacturers warranty supercedes all other part warranties inside the equipment. For example, your shiny new Dell may come with a Western Digital hard drive that normally carries a 3-year manufacturers warranty. However, the computer system carries only a 1-year warranty. Because all parts, including that hard drive are OEM parts, their warranties are moot—so all parts have the 1-year warranty on the system.

Extended Warranties—what to know

I had a horrible experience at a certain blue-with-a-yellow-boxy-logo store and the extended warranty some pimple-faced teenager talked me into. Don't let this happen to you! A lot of times, an extended warranty from a big-box store is a great idea; however, each store varies on the terms of the warranty, what types of things are covered, and how repairs are handled. Some stores own up to the warranty you purchased and make it a very pleasant experience. Others aren't worth the paper they are printed on. Don't be afraid to hit the pause button on your purchase to take your time reading through the extended warranty terms. Better yet, grab the literature to read while you're browsing through the store, or even before you leave your house. Knowing the full details of the extended warranty before you get to checkout will prevent you from making a rushed decision.

Extended Warranties and online shopping

Remember the extreme volatility of business health for online stores. You don't want the extended warranty you paid good money for to vaporize when a store closes (although many times these warranties are actually covered by a third party). So it's important, and much less of a hassle, to purchase your big items you want the extended warranty for from a reputable business that isn't going anywhere. It may be more expensive than those bargain basement deals you found; but no-hassle returns and repairs carry a lot of value too!

Read the terms of the warranty

Thine own warranty thou must know. When your new equipment needs a warranty claim, you don't want to be surprised with details you weren't told when you purchased your computer. Read the full terms of the warranty before you purchase so you know exactly what you're getting into. Here's some things to watch for:

• Who do you call when you need to make a warranty claim? Can you call the store directly? Or are you stuck calling some customer service line leading to an overseas call center?
• Where do you bring your equipment for a warranty claim? Do you bring it back to the store, or do you have to pay out of pocket to ship and insure it?
• If you have to ship your item, what's the cost of the part that is broken? Is it cheaper to just replace it on your own, rather than to pay to ship it to be replaced for free?
• What kind of replacement parts are going into your system? Are they new or refurbished?
• What happens to your extended warranty after a claim? Do you need to purchase another extended warranty once your claim is completed?

Hopefully you won't have to deal with the headaches that I have when doing warranty and extended warranty claims, but if you do, hopefully you've learned at least a few things about what to look for when getting into all of this. Until next week, later!