SquareTrade - Excellent, but understand the results
Written: Feb 07 '08
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Getting warranties through SquareTrade is an excellent deal as long as you understand exactly what you're getting.
First Off: Yes, they are the legitimate company. Yes, they have friendly people (that speak English!) and Yes, the process will probably be very smooth.
Here's what you need to know:
Coverage:
- NEW Items: 3 Year Warranty
- REFURBISHED: 1 Year Warranty (2nd Year available usually for an extra 50% of the 1 Year Cost)
- USED: Same as Refurbished BUT (*VERY IMPORTANT*) the warranty does not start till 60 days after you receive it. Most complaints about SquareTrade have to deal with this. Sorry, but that's the way it is - if you're used iPod breaks in under 2 months, that's really not SquareTrade's fault.
Reimbursement:
You need to realize that SquareTrade has the option (and they'll do it frequently) of giving you your money back (after you ship them the broken item) minus a small shipping fee for smaller items.
Generally, this is exactly what you want. You item is broken and you want to buy a new one. But, there are exceptions. If you're amazing-deal $400 laptop dies which 2 years worth of your personal data, you may not want your money back - you want your laptop fixed. You'll want to backup all of your personal data before sending it to them because you might not get it back.
In addition realize that if they reimburse you for the item, the remainder of the warranty ends at that time which means you'll need to purchase a new warranty if you purchase a new item. They also don't reimburse tax.
If you purchase accidental insurance (extra cost) and file an accidental claim, there is a $50 deductible.
So, if you buy an iPhone at your AT&T dealer for $400 and pay $20 in tax and $100 for the 3 year warranty with accidental coverage (typically it costs 25% for the warranty + accidental), you've spent $520. If you drop the iPhone a month later, you'll get back $350 ($400 - $50 deductible) and it'll cost you another $520 to buy a new one, so it'll really cost you $170 ($520 - $350).
Keeping things in perspective, though, SquareTrade is amazing. I've had 2 claims filed successfully already (including getting $550 back for my $600 iPhone when we dropped it [we had accidental insurance on it]) and both claims were processed quickly with minimal issues.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Warranty Service
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Epinions.com ID:
kirkhilles
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Reviews written: 6
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