Comments on: Extended Warranties are for Suckers http://www.globalnerdy.com/2006/11/02/extended-warranties-are-for-suckers/ Tech Evangelist Joey deVilla on software development, tech news and other nerdy stuff Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:30:00 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Global Nerdy » Blog Archive » On Extended Warranties http://www.globalnerdy.com/2006/11/02/extended-warranties-are-for-suckers/comment-page-1/#comment-23 Global Nerdy » Blog Archive » On Extended Warranties Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:00:28 +0000 http://globalnerdy.com/?p=90#comment-23 [...] response to an article from last year titled Extended Warranties are for Suckers, a reader going by the name “any non moose” pointed out in the comments that: [...] [...] response to an article from last year titled Extended Warranties are for Suckers, a reader going by the name “any non moose” pointed out in the comments that: [...]

]]> By: any non moose http://www.globalnerdy.com/2006/11/02/extended-warranties-are-for-suckers/comment-page-1/#comment-22 any non moose Mon, 17 Dec 2007 06:36:49 +0000 http://globalnerdy.com/?p=90#comment-22 Corporates often prefer to warranty their purchases, since having a fleet of consistent items is much cheaper than having a hodge-podge of all different ones. Being able to swap one item for an identical one within your own organisation without having to retrain the user(s) is very very useful. But I agree that for a SOHO or hobbyist, warranties are as you say, for suckers. There are items where you can predict that it will in fact fail within some months of the warranty expiry date, a certain all-in-one printer comes to mind, where having the warranty gives a good chance of using the warranty if the item sees heavy use. But as you yourself surmise, by that time, most individuals would prefer to simply buy the newer model. And no sane person would buy an all-in-one inkjet .. most of us have figured out to avoid inkjets altogether, huh? Corporates often prefer to warranty their purchases, since having a fleet of consistent items is much cheaper than having a hodge-podge of all different ones. Being able to swap one item for an identical one within your own organisation without having to retrain the user(s) is very very useful.

But I agree that for a SOHO or hobbyist, warranties are as you say, for suckers.

There are items where you can predict that it will in fact fail within some months of the warranty expiry date, a certain all-in-one printer comes to mind, where having the warranty gives a good chance of using the warranty if the item sees heavy use. But as you yourself surmise, by that time, most individuals would prefer to simply buy the newer model. And no sane person would buy an all-in-one inkjet .. most of us have figured out to avoid inkjets altogether, huh?

]]> By: colin roald http://www.globalnerdy.com/2006/11/02/extended-warranties-are-for-suckers/comment-page-1/#comment-21 colin roald Mon, 27 Nov 2006 14:24:32 +0000 http://globalnerdy.com/?p=90#comment-21 For my sins, I spent the year 2000 at a company working on ways to bring extended warranties ("extended service plans", we were instructed to call them) to online retailers. And yes -- retailers make a *ton* of money on them. Which, for an insurance product, almost automatically makes them a very bad deal for the consumer. If you can afford to self-insure the risk (that is, if you can afford to pay for the replacement or repair yourself if necessary), you'll come out way ahead in the long run. (I'm told the one exception is hot-water heaters, where the lifetime of the tank is more or less determined by the size of a sacrificial anode, and if you buy a longer warranty you get a bigger anode.) For my sins, I spent the year 2000 at a company working on ways to bring extended warranties (“extended service plans”, we were instructed to call them) to online retailers. And yes — retailers make a *ton* of money on them. Which, for an insurance product, almost automatically makes them a very bad deal for the consumer. If you can afford to self-insure the risk (that is, if you can afford to pay for the replacement or repair yourself if necessary), you'll come out way ahead in the long run.
(I'm told the one exception is hot-water heaters, where the lifetime of the tank is more or less determined by the size of a sacrificial anode, and if you buy a longer warranty you get a bigger anode.)

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.globalnerdy.com/2006/11/02/extended-warranties-are-for-suckers/comment-page-1/#comment-20 Anonymous Thu, 02 Nov 2006 19:24:43 +0000 http://globalnerdy.com/?p=90#comment-20 The one place where I'd disagree is over AppleCare. My older (replaced but still functional and occasionally used) iBook is from late 2001, a full 5 years old now. A few months before its official end of life, it had a bunch of major problems, and all were fixed under AppleCare, leaving me with in many respects a brand new computer (new hd, logic board, airport card, keyboard). It's lasted 2 full years since then, and over Christmas it'll go to my broke adjunct professor friend who's still laboring away on an indigo iBook. Without AppleCare I'd have been stuck replacing my old iBook in late 2004, instead of choosing to upgrade in summer 2006. It's worth it because Apple products, unlike many others, in general last well even far beyond their expected end of use date, so getting free repairs means more useful product life, not fixing an almost-useless-anyway machine. The one place where I'd disagree is over AppleCare. My older (replaced but still functional and occasionally used) iBook is from late 2001, a full 5 years old now. A few months before its official end of life, it had a bunch of major problems, and all were fixed under AppleCare, leaving me with in many respects a brand new computer (new hd, logic board, airport card, keyboard). It's lasted 2 full years since then, and over Christmas it'll go to my broke adjunct professor friend who's still laboring away on an indigo iBook. Without AppleCare I'd have been stuck replacing my old iBook in late 2004, instead of choosing to upgrade in summer 2006. It's worth it because Apple products, unlike many others, in general last well even far beyond their expected end of use date, so getting free repairs means more useful product life, not fixing an almost-useless-anyway machine.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.globalnerdy.com/2006/11/02/extended-warranties-are-for-suckers/comment-page-1/#comment-19 Anonymous Thu, 02 Nov 2006 18:02:46 +0000 http://globalnerdy.com/?p=90#comment-19 How about Applecare for a new MacBook Pro? I have heard that laptops fail quite frequently, and are very expensive to repair. How about Applecare for a new MacBook Pro? I have heard that laptops fail quite frequently, and are very expensive to repair.

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