What are your thoughts on extended warranties

I wasn't sure if it was ok for me to post this here or if it was better in the marketplace section. If not feel free to move it.

On to the question - I recently bought a 5D Mark II from Best Buy and of course they are trying to sell me the extended warranty on it. Normally I just pass on these things as I feel that they just aren't worth it. In this case however they cover pretty much everything including accidental damage for a full 4 years. From what I understand the only thing they don't cover is theft.

I feel that this new body is truly an investment that I am going to have for many years (unless of course Canon comes out with something even better). I don't know if it will help in the resale value of it or not but assume it certainly can't hurt. Then again it doesn't say if it is transferable or not.

I've been debating this since I bought the body and just haven't been able to decide one way or the other. Do you think it's worth paying $349 for their Geek Squad "Black Tie" Protection Plan?

I work at bestbuy in the customer service department, heres what I think.

Service plans are great on some things and not so great on others...cameras is one of the ones I think they are great on. its going to be covered if pretty much anything happens to the camera, from becoming defective or even you dropping it or getting it wet (doesnt cover complete submersion so no dropping it in a lake). If you need to claim on the plan, your camera will be sent in to be fixed, if it is not fixable you get money for a comparable item or the same item, you never loose out as technology always changes, customers tend to end up with a better item than they originally bought. If your camera is replaced under the plan, your service plan is considered fufilled an you would need to byu a new plan for the new camera, if the camera is replaced under the manufacture (which is possible even with a plan) your plan would carry over to the new camaer.

I personally would get the four year plan, it is transferable if you sell the camera. between the premium and the standard plan the main difference is the data back up and the cleaning, you may want to check into your local camera shops and see how much they charge for a cleaning (it may work out more cost effective to pay a small camera store to do the cleaning). Best Buy does not do the cleanings on site, so you would be with ought your camera while it is being cleaned.

BTW lenses that you buy at bestbuy would not be covered under any kind of accidental plan, the service plan for those is general wear and tear and if the item stops working.

Dont forget you have 14days to go back and get the plan, although it may be possible for the plan to be added after the 14days solong as the camera is checked by Geeksquad and shows no damage or problems.

hope that helps a bit

Thanks for the info... I'm actually past the 14 days but got the info in the mail saying I have until the 30th day and I can just send it in with payment or bring the letter in to the store?

I would not touch any extended warranty product with a barge pole, ever.

The company selling it to you is planning to make a profit, need I say more?

i'm in photography for business as well as enjoyment. I'd be pretty dumb not to.

Repair costs on bodies can be pricey. The warranty isn't. There are statistics that show failures have good chances of occurring. So you're just gambling when you don't get a warranty and hope that it won't be yours. Three years down the road when something goes awry and your warranty is still valid, you'll be tickled pink when you can have it repaired without the burden of a surprise repair bill.

cool I forgot they were doing that letter. thats a new thing they started at the beginning of MAy

You know I used to agree about the never buy service plans, that was until I started working at bestbuy and saw how many people actually ended up getting there stuff replaced under the plan.

I also see alot of disappointed people on a daily basis becasue there stuff got broken or stopped working, and there is nothing that can be done apart from to pay out of pocket to get the item fixed. I would rather have the plan in place and not have to claim on it than to not have a plan and be more $$$ out of pocket for fixing the item.

I personally dont buy the plans on smaller items like my ipod-I didn't bother with that as it doesn't protect against damage, and I am more likely o damage it before it even gets a chance to become defective lOL and when you do buy a plan make sure you speak to either geek squad or customer service to confirm the answers to your questions.

Lowner of course the company expects to make a profit, thats how all business work, but they make they dont make there money by stiching people over if they need there item replaced, they make there money from the people who end up not needing to claim.

Did you have a bad experience with a service plan in the past?

BY THE WAY, I love Sailsbury, I took my husband there to see the cathedral, which we went and had the tour where you go up to the base of the spire (I am from ENgland) and my mum is from Sailsbury, Its how I imagine England when I explain it to people who have never been.

An extended warranty is simply a form of insurance, though most extended warranties as offered from stores have relatively high premiums vs. the insured value.

So here is the best way to consider insurance:

You should only insure items that you really cannot afford to lose. Houses tend to be an obvious choice for most people as few could sustain such a loss. New cars - insure. Older cars....generally no.

Another take is that the less money / savings you have the more insurance is a good idea for you.

it really depends on the person's habits.

i agree, buying warranties on items such as an ipod is kind of pointless since electronics rapidly depreciate in our society. plus losing an ipod sucks, but it isn't the end of the world. Buying a warranty might be a good idea but ultimately comes down to examining your own habits. good habits prevent accidents.

it's nice to know there's someone on here that can answer that question. kudos to this forum

rachelsne wrote in post #7986248
I work at bestbuy in the customer service department, heres what I think.

Service plans are great on some things and not so great on others...cameras is one of the ones I think they are great on. its going to be covered if pretty much anything happens to the camera, from becoming defective or even you dropping it or getting it wet (doesnt cover complete submersion so no dropping it in a lake). If you need to claim on the plan, your camera will be sent in to be fixed, if it is not fixable you get money for a comparable item or the same item, you never loose out as technology always changes, customers tend to end up with a better item than they originally bought. If your camera is replaced under the plan, your service plan is considered fufilled an you would need to byu a new plan for the new camera, if the camera is replaced under the manufacture (which is possible even with a plan) your plan would carry over to the new camaer.

I personally would get the four year plan, it is transferable if you sell the camera. between the premium and the standard plan the main difference is the data back up and the cleaning, you may want to check into your local camera shops and see how much they charge for a cleaning (it may work out more cost effective to pay a small camera store to do the cleaning). Best Buy does not do the cleanings on site, so you would be with ought your camera while it is being cleaned.

BTW lenses that you buy at bestbuy would not be covered under any kind of accidental plan, the service plan for those is general wear and tear and if the item stops working.

Dont forget you have 14days to go back and get the plan, although it may be possible for the plan to be added after the 14days solong as the camera is checked by Geeksquad and shows no damage or problems.

hope that helps a bit

I agree that a protection plan can be good to have on a camera if it's a plan that covers accidental damage. After all, we carry our gear with us to locations where we it could easily be damaged. However, I've chosen to protect my gear with insurance rather than an extended warranty. The reason is simple: Insurance protects against theft while a warranty does not. I shoot in locations late at night where it's entirely conceivable that someone might try to heist my gear. Plus, the insurance covers all my gear including lenses, tripods, monopods, transmitters, etc.

I respectfully disagree with the people who say you should never buy protection plans. I wouldn't buy one on a $90 printer or on a cheap telephone. However, when the stakes are higher, I might. If I were buying a $900 color laser printer for a business, I might. For photography gear I would have if insurance had not been a better option.

My advice is to talk with your auto insurance company and see if they have renters or home owners insurance that can cover personal property. That's that I did. My gear is covered for anything other than deliberate destruction. It's not just covered in my home; it's covered anywhere I take it. I can go shooting anywhere without worrying about damage or theft.

Lowner wrote in post #7986336
I would not touch any extended warranty product with a barge pole, ever.

The company selling it to you is planning to make a profit, need I say more?

i suppose you also took a pass on car insurance?

Extended warranties make money for the provider, or they would not provide them. They do so because the companies know how much the cost of repair averages for the products, and they charge more than that for the protection. If you can afford the warranty, you can likely afford the most likely repair you may need, that the warranty would have covered.

The truth of extended warranties is that the odds are you will lose and they will gain because they are "the house", and you can't win by constantly betting against the house. There will be anecdotes about people being saved by the extended warranty they bought, just like there are stories about people going to casinos and winning big. They count on those urban legends to provide the suckers necessary to keep their warranty costs down to the point where they are attractive.

Buy them if you like to gamble, but you are most likely throwing away good money, and increasing the profit margins for the providers. If you come out ahead, good for you, just like I say to the occasional casino winner.

I don't waste my money in casinos either.

Auto or house insurance, by the way, is not a valid analogy at all. Ignore such comparisons. You should, of course, buy insurance on your camera gear.

Yes, they make money. Actually it's pure gravy for the stores. And when the insurer doesn't make money, they shut down, leaving you high and dry. It's happened.

I never buy extended warranties. I've saved, over the years, thousands of dollars. My camera equipment is insured for loss/theft/accidental damage. Costs me about $130/year for $5000 coverage. no deductible.

Never buy extended warranties from companies like best buy, but third party ones can be good, and many of them have a three strike lemon policy, so if your lens or camera dies three times they pay for the cost of a new one. That and they are true extended warranties, best buy type ones start the day you buy it, but you still need to send it to canon if it's within the included warranty. End result: a one year extended warranty is absolutely worthless, and a "three year" one really only covers 2 years

Perhaps the only way I would buy an extended warranty is if it was offered by Canon themselves. The problem with extended warranties from places like BestBuy is that the camera has to be repaired by their service people. If me camera is going to be repaired under warranty, I'd rather it be done by the manufacturer.

My Visa credit card automatically doubles the manufacturer's warranty up to one extra year and covers accidental damages. The theft part is covered by my home insurance policy so no, I never bother with extended warranties. I also tend to buy gear that is less likely to ever need it. Sure, it's great when you actually need to make a claim on these plans but the odds are in the retailer's favor by a fairly large margin which translates into paying a premium on gear that is already very expensive thanks to the current economic climate which is sending good camera gear prices into the stratosphere. Recent lens price increases, one of the best examples of this.

Cheers!