On Monday, Apple announced a new batch of iPhones. What the next-generation iPhone 8 and the next-next-generation iPhone X in have in common is glass all around, on both front and back, making them extra slippery. Apple has raised the price of its Applecare+ extended warranty and limited accidental damage program for some users. [More]
extended warranties
TV Reporter Drops iPhone In Toilet, Runs It Over With Car, And It Still Works
By 11.7.13
Smartphones are tiny devices filled with delicate electronics, and ought to be coddled and shielded to ensure their safety…right? As part of a story about third-party mobile phone warranties, a TV reporter in Houston trashed an iPhone by dropping it in water and running it over with a car. These things rendered it completely unusable, right? Nope. [More]
3 Years Is The Warranty Length, Not How Long It Should Take To Get Your Computer Back
By 10.23.13
The state of California has pretty good consumer protections, but not when it comes to extended warranties. That’s what a family who bought a laptop computer at Fry’s learned after a planned five-week repair of an HP laptop ended up taking three months. Three months? [More]
Should A Warranty Replacement Mean A Whole New Warranty?
By 7.25.13
Warranties can be very complicated things. Jennie and her husband have an over-the-stove microwave that they bought from Lowe’s, and they happen to have bought an extended warranty for it. A pricey one: $100 on a $300 appliance. They needed to call in this warranty after only a few months. [More]
What Good Is An Extended Warranty Plan That Can’t Fix My Phone?
By 7.11.13
The idea behind paying extra for a warranty plan for your mobile phone that covers accidental damage is that when you accidentally damage your phone, you won’t have to pay out of pocket for a new one or spend weeks or months without a phone. Yet things didn’t work out that way for Nick, because his warranty provider couldn’t get parts to fix a cracked screen, and wasn’t able to successfully repair the phone even when they did. [More]
Maytag Has A Weird Concept Of ‘Soon’
By 1.10.13
How do you define “soon” in terms of a one-year warranty? Howard doesn’t have an exact timeframe in mind, but he imagines that it’s not “more than nine months from now.” Yet when Maytag sent him a letter urging him to extend his appliance warranties, that’s how much time he had left. [More]
Samsung Provides Out-Of-Warranty TV Repair After I Express My Disappointment
By 7.10.12
When your TV conks out, there is that moment when you play the “When Did I Buy It?” game to try to figure out whether it is still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. And when you realize it’s several months past the warranty date, that when you begin playing a different game: “Should I pay to fix it or just go to town on it with my old golf clubs?” Luckily for one Consumerist reader, he found a Samsung rep who understood his pain and decided to do something about it. [More]
Dear Target Employees: Lying Is Not A Valid Extended Warranty Sales Tactic
By 6.19.12
It’s one thing to repeatedly push extended warranties on customers. We’re not fans of this particular revenue-drivng tactic (or of most extended warranties in general) but there’s nothing fundamentally dishonest about it. What is dishonest is what David says that an employee at a midwestern Target store did. While selling him an iPod Touch, the employee told David that Target’s extended warranty covers accidental damage. It doesn’t. [More]
LG Suggests I Buy Extended Warranty For Problem Warranty Doesn't Cover
By 5.4.12
Buying a new kitchen range should be a rather straightforward process. And yet Consumerist reader Bruce says he hasn’t been able to get anyone at LG to give him an honest answer about the appliance on which he wants to spend his cash. [More]
Buying An Extended Warranty From Lowe's? Keep The Paperwork Very, Very Safe
By 1.26.12
When the dishwasher that Greg bought at Lowe’s broke down after a failed repair, he called up the store. A manager instructed him to bring the appliance, which was covered under an extended warranty, in to the store and they would exchange it for one that actually worked. Only when he brought it in, the employees on duty treated him “like a criminal” because he had lost the receipt in a recent move. Wait, don’t appliances have serial numbers that they can use to look up warranty information? Nope.
[More]
5 Bad Deals In Extended Warranties For Holiday Shoppers
By 11.1.11
Extended warranty plans are generally known as being bad deals for consumers. But how specifically are they bad? An insider who works, begrudgingly, for an extended service plan company lays out some of the worst extended warranty deals to watch out for when shopping this holiday season. [More]
Best Buy Customer Takes Laptop In For Hinge Fix, Has Hard Drive Replaced & Old Data Held Hostage For $59.99
By 10.7.11
A Best Buy customer in California needed to get the hinge on her laptop fixed. She’d paid $350 for an extended warranty from the electronics retailer so she thought there wouldn’t be any problem getting it fixed. We’re going to assume she’s never read Consumerist… [More]
Dell Warranty Provider Buys Customer New TV On Amazon
By 6.23.11
Two weeks ago, we shared the story of Tom, who bought a Vizio TV from Dell that he bought an extended warranty for, but couldn’t track down the warranty company when the television actually failed. He finally got in touch with the nice people at Service Net Solutions, and they did amazed him by doing exactly what they were supposed to: replace his busted TV with a nicer one. Curiously, they did this by ordering one up for him from Amazon.com. [More]
Dell MIght As Well Have Not Sold Me An Extended Warranty For This TV
By 6.10.11
Tom normally doesn’t bother to buy extended warranties. Now he knows why. He did happen to purchase one for the Vizio TV that he bought from Dell last year, but the third-party warranty provider seems determined to ignore him at all costs. [More]
Insider Debunks The 9 Extended Warranty Sales Pitches
By 2.24.11
Here are 9 of the most common lines salespeople try to feed you in order to get you to buy an extended warranty, debunked by an insider. His job is training and development in this 3rd-party service plan industry, a job he’s leaving soon because he’s sick of the “half-truths and deceptions” it foists on consumers… which he will now reveal to you. [More]
DirecTV Installer: Oh, Most People Don't Notice Our Stealth Warranty
By 1.19.11
Was it an error, or a sneaky upsell tactic? When Brandon’s grandfather moved, taking his DirecTV service along with him, he declined an extended warranty. The final paperwork for the installation included the unwanted warranty, however. When Brandon pointed this out, the installer noted that most people don’t notice this stealth warranty. Oh, yeah? Brandon declined again–so, of course, the warranty showed up on the next bill. [More]
23 Things An Extended Warranty Call Center Rep Wished You Knew
By 12.28.10
A shadowy figure steps out of the shadows, his fingers nicotine-stained and shaking. He glances around nervously before leaping forward and grabbing you by the lapels. “I’ve got 23 things to tell you about calling into an extended warranty call center,” he says, “and I don’t have much time.” [More]
Before You Buy A Store's Extended Warranty, Check With The Manufacturer
By 12.9.10
It’s no surprise that an electronics store salesperson might try to talk you into an extended warranty that you don’t need. However, reader Chris learned recently to be even more cautious in his dealings with salespeeps: they might be misinformed as to how long the manufacturer’s own warranty is. Or–gasp!–even trying to mislead customers. [More]
