An Experience with Square Trade Warranties

Square Trade Warranty 

“Yesterday I received an email from square trade regarding my Motorola that they were unable to repair the phone and a check for the amount of $169.00 has been issued to cover to the cost of the phone. I couldn’t believe if the email was true therefore I decided to call square trade myself to verify if I am getting $169.00 from them.”

Hospital to Offer Warranty

from the Chicago Tribune…

“Why shouldn’t doctors stand by their work, especially given what we pay for service?

This is the idea behind the radical “surgery with a warranty” program launched by Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, which essentially pays surgeons for their patients’ outcome, rather than their effort.

The program, called ProvenCare, charges a flat fee that includes 90 days of follow-up treatment on elective heart bypass surgery. The warranty charges more upfront for the surgery, but covers post-surgical outcomes and is seen as a revolutionary business model in health care. “

More Consumers Say No to Retailer Warranties

From PC Magazine…

“According to retail analysts The NPD Group, more and more American consumers are opting to buy their warranties directly from the manufacturer, or from a third party.

However, the choices did vary. PC owners chose to do it themselves, as 52 percent of consumers surveyed said they bought their PC warranty either from the manufacturer or a third party, with 27 percent buying from a big-box retailer.

However, the big-box retailers also convinced a growing number of PC consumers to buy an extended warranty, covering additional years or levels of support. In general, PC OEMs either did not offer an extended warranty or were simply outsold by the big-box retailers, as manufacturers only captured between 7 and 8 percent of the PC extended-warranty market.

Independent installers convinced more consumers to buy a warranty for home theater installations, or 26 percent. But when it came to flat-panel TVs, the big-box retailers owned the secondary warranty business, NPD found.

Fifty-two percent of consumers who said they purchased installation services for their desktop computer in the past year did so from either an independent installer or directly from the manufacturer. Only 27 percent purchased installation services from big box retailers.”

Best Part is the SquareTrade Warranty

“Ok enough of the weather. I’ve been a bit busy working (UGH) lately so the website has been abused. I did correct my cell phone problem by going the Ebay route and getting a SLVR from aVZW reseller no doubt. Yes it cost less than buying it direct from VZW, I didn’t have to extend my contract, there were no questions or restrcition placed on me and the damn thing works.

The best part is for a $29 one time payment I get a SquareTrade warranty for 3years vs paying some crappy VZW sub-contractor $6 a month for insurance that doesn’t cover as well as the $29. In those 3years if the phone fails for any reason, they either get a few days to fix it, replaxce it with a new like / same phone or give me my original price paid back to me. Sounds too good to be true but better than VZW’s insurance giving you a POS phone as a loaner while they break your original overpriced one…”

Warranty Registration Cards too Much?

From the New York Daily News

“Warranty or product registration cards often have more to do with marketing and mailing lists than documenting ownership of a product. For warranty purposes, the only information a manufacturer needs is your name, the date you purchased the product, its model and serial numbers, and a way to contact you in the event of a product recall.

But the registration cards usually ask you to provide much more, including marital status, the size of your household, frequency of travel and favorite activities. There’s no good reason why a company that makes microwaves is interested in knowing you like to ski – except one.

Profit. Companies use warranty registration forms to compile buyer profiles, which they sell to other companies for marketing purposes. Much of the data end up at companies like Equifax, a credit-reporting agency that counts warranty registration forms among the sources of information it uses to compile information on about 400 million consumers and businesses worldwide…”