08-13-2019, 12:41 PM
I've always hated when I'm buying something- anywhere, and the question of the extended warranty comes up. It's like they are saying "this product is going to break. Do you want to pre-pay for a potential remedy or not?"
Over the years I've learned that anything with moving parts its a good idea to get the warranty. Expensive phones for the first year or two. But 18 months ago I was checking out on Amazon when they offered the warranty on a solar panel. No moving parts. Solar panels typically work fine without problems. But the warranty was only $5 for 4 years and it was a cheap Chinese brand I had never heard of before so I bought the warranty.
The panel failed! Was I going to fight an extended warranty system designed to beat me down so that I would give up? I didn't know. Also, I wasn't sure what I was going to get because...
The panel was selling for $99 but I had a 50% off coupon from the seller so I actually paid $49. To complicate matters the panel was currently selling for $69 at the time mine broke. I was under the impression they could either refund my money or send me a working panel by the terms of the what I thought I had bought, but I didn't know. Was I getting $49, $69, or $99 ?
They refunded me $99. When they sent me my refund email they clarified that my plan covered "what I paid including sales tax" but I don't think Amazon was collecting Hawaii GET when I bought it. But I also didn't pay the $99 they refunded, I only paid $49 (plus $5 for warranty). HOWEVER, the plan I paid for covered home goods up to $99. The plan that covered home goods up to $49 would have been cheaper. So I think they had to refund the cost that was the replacement value at the time of purchase (coupon or not). Why didn't they send me a $69 panel? It would have been cheaper. Because they were 18 months into a 4 year warranty and might risk having to replace it again. This way they were done with me.
So here's the Hawaii part: Normally when you use a manufacturer warranty the buyer is on the hook for sending the unit back for repair or replacement at their own expense. As we know that is expensive in Hawaii. But with the extended warranty they emailed me a pre-paid UPS label to send the crap panel back to them. They didn't make me wait until they looked at the panel, I got my refund a few hours after UPS scanned the label.
The process itself wasn't too bad. I did have to enter a bunch of information into a web form and then it went to a live chat where somebody asked me the exact same questions I had already given. Then the next day I got a voicemail from India. Then I re-did the web form and web chat again (exactly as before) and they sent me the return label. And the next day I took it to UPS and got my refund.
Over the years I've learned that anything with moving parts its a good idea to get the warranty. Expensive phones for the first year or two. But 18 months ago I was checking out on Amazon when they offered the warranty on a solar panel. No moving parts. Solar panels typically work fine without problems. But the warranty was only $5 for 4 years and it was a cheap Chinese brand I had never heard of before so I bought the warranty.
The panel failed! Was I going to fight an extended warranty system designed to beat me down so that I would give up? I didn't know. Also, I wasn't sure what I was going to get because...
The panel was selling for $99 but I had a 50% off coupon from the seller so I actually paid $49. To complicate matters the panel was currently selling for $69 at the time mine broke. I was under the impression they could either refund my money or send me a working panel by the terms of the what I thought I had bought, but I didn't know. Was I getting $49, $69, or $99 ?
They refunded me $99. When they sent me my refund email they clarified that my plan covered "what I paid including sales tax" but I don't think Amazon was collecting Hawaii GET when I bought it. But I also didn't pay the $99 they refunded, I only paid $49 (plus $5 for warranty). HOWEVER, the plan I paid for covered home goods up to $99. The plan that covered home goods up to $49 would have been cheaper. So I think they had to refund the cost that was the replacement value at the time of purchase (coupon or not). Why didn't they send me a $69 panel? It would have been cheaper. Because they were 18 months into a 4 year warranty and might risk having to replace it again. This way they were done with me.
So here's the Hawaii part: Normally when you use a manufacturer warranty the buyer is on the hook for sending the unit back for repair or replacement at their own expense. As we know that is expensive in Hawaii. But with the extended warranty they emailed me a pre-paid UPS label to send the crap panel back to them. They didn't make me wait until they looked at the panel, I got my refund a few hours after UPS scanned the label.
The process itself wasn't too bad. I did have to enter a bunch of information into a web form and then it went to a live chat where somebody asked me the exact same questions I had already given. Then the next day I got a voicemail from India. Then I re-did the web form and web chat again (exactly as before) and they sent me the return label. And the next day I took it to UPS and got my refund.
