Are Extended Service Plans for Electronics Ever Worth It?

[XXXNoahXXX]

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I think the regular extended warranties aren't worth it, but I recently bought a new laptop and bought the best buy 3 year accidental protection plan. It covers stupid things like if I spill something on it, drop it down the stairs. Pretty much anything that could happen to it, they will fix/replace it as long as it doesn't look like it was intentional (like I hit it with a hammer - sales guys example). I carry mine everywhere and beat the hell out of it. So 2 days and 11 months from the purchase date, I might happen to eat breakfast and accidentally spill my orange juice on it while its on.

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On two occasions I have witnessed Dell laptops meet there timely demise just before the warranty was up.

If something breaks on a Dell, you send it in and they keep trying to stick reconfigured parts and whatnot in it, hoping to patch it up long enough for the warranty to run out. If it gets run over by a car, however, you usually get a new one, or at least a completely refurbished one.

So if something goes wrong near the end of the warranty, you either can take their [censored] patch up job and pray it works, or you can leave your laptop on the roof of your car and then forget about it and driver away, back up over it, and then get a new one.

Tough choice.

[ohgeetee]

If you bought the service plan on every item you purchased, would the cost to fix items that broke in the extended period be more than the total cost of the service plans?

I think most people would say no, which would mean they aren't worth it.

There are also different types of service plans, those that extend warranty, and those that offer replacements. Depending on where your ethical line is drawn, replacement plans can be very advantageous for the consumer. Buy an ipod, pick up a 3yr replacement plan, then have the ipod break just before the 3 year mark, basically getting you a 2 generation upgrade for free. When you tell the sales Mgr that you want a replacement plan on the replacement, they will almost bend over backwards to get your replacement for you.

[AmadisSB]

These things will rust up on you so fast... ahh dont blow this one Gill!

[TheCroShow]

for my lcd tv i would say it's worth it, gives me peace of mind.