Is getting extended warranty worthwhile? Is postage insurance worthwhile?

Nazy on 26/11/2013 - 14:09

Hello everyone, my questions are:

1) Is getting extended warranty worthwhile?
2) Is postage insurance for items that you order worthwhile/necessary?

I have read on several occassions and it seems ozbargain is against extended warranty (This is a generalisation).

And I read in another thread (Bad Customer Experience from COSTCO on XBOX ONE Purchase), and razzor wrote:
"Paid extra for warranty !?!
What sort of Ozbargainer pays extra for warranty when the Australian Consumer Law covers it."

And that made me slightly confused, what does he mean by that statement?

General Discussion

Comments

  • Linkwick on 26/11/2013 - 14:25

    Consumer Affairs (or whatever the gov't department in your state is called) generally offer by law protection for consumers in certain circumstances. For example, the ability to return faulty products regardless of whether it's the "store policy".

    What most people are against for "extended warranties" (or so I'm presuming) is when, for example, you buy a phone on a 2 year contract and they offer you - for an extra cost - an extended warranty to cover the 2 year contract. If the product has a manufacturing fault (not something inflicted by the user, etc.), it should be EXPECTED too work for said 2 year period (and thus repaired at their expense).

    Your local gov't department can be found from the links here:
    https://www.accc.gov.au/contact-us/other-helpful-agencies/st…

  • Almost Banned on 26/11/2013 - 15:31

    The Australian Consumer Law is a piece of legislation that is a schedule to the Federal Competition and Consumer Act and is also annexed to the states' Fair Trading Act (or similar).
    It provides for similar warranties as existed under the TPA - which relevantly for you guarantee that an item will be fit for purpose and of merchantable quality.
    What this means is that a seller of goods already provides a warranty by law for all the goods they sell.
    That warranty is that a good will perform as it is supposed to for a reasonable period of time. What that means is subject to judicial determination.
    So - you do not need to buy a warranty because you already get one pursuant to law. How long the statutory warranty runs for is the issue.
    If an extended warranty extends beyond the reasonable period that is covered by the ACL then it might be worth something.
    There has been a bit of a campaign about extended warranties lately. See for example here: http://www.news.com.au/money/cost-of-living/extended-warrant…

  • c64 on 26/11/2013 - 15:57

    it's all well and good saying that the consumer act will help you after your factory warranty expires, but it might be another thing actually getting satisfaction.

    extended warranties are cash cows for retailers. extended warranties also contain lots of provisos in the fine print, so you need to read the contract vary carefully.

    http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/money/shopping-an…

  • msmhw on 27/11/2013 - 08:41

    I tried once and bought extended warranty for my old laptop, from my experience it does not worth it. It's like paying extra tax that you don't have to do it.
    Before you buy it they will show you how the life is better with extended warranty and you don't have to worry about anything they get you covered. BUT they don't tell you everything in the T&C in my case when I bought it they told me I will get a brand new replacement if there is any problem in the first 3 years. After the first year h problems started, went to the store to clime ,the store directed me to different company to look at the problem and try to fix it then send it back to me. I tried to explained what I have been told but they told me no everything in the T&C and after 3 attempts to fix the same problem I will get a replacement in the fourth time which will never happen. As the other company will decide if its the same problem or not even if you know it's the same problem each time they claimed something different cz the problem

    By the way the store is DSE

  • rover on 27/11/2013 - 09:38
    +1

    When I read the comment "Paid extra for warranty !?!" I assumed the poster was making the point that he was so annoyed with Costco that he money for extended warranty elsewhere when that was something he would have got from Costco without paying.

    In general not worth it, but when buying you can sometimes get it thrown for free (in lieu of additional discounting??) or as part of a bundle. I just 2DSs for the kids, these were bundles of console, game and extended warranty… I was happy with the overall price.

    Extended warranty can be good on bigger items where you get in home service (e.g. fridge). It's also good knowing it's generally going to be hassle free getting the service. That said when the extended warranty is provided by a third party you have the retailer, the warranty company and the service agency to deal with.

    But overall, if retailers honoured their repsonsibilities under consumer law better, extended warranties are a waste.

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