'I should be the Nook's ideal customer. But I'm not...I am locked in.'

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by MsCG1

I wasn't aware that the original warranty covered all accidents and incidents that were directly caused by user error.

No, it doesn't, but the likelihood you're going to break it vs. the price you pay for that coverage is all in the insurer's favor, not yours.

It's gambling with really long odds. If you insure all your electronics, the price you pay far outweighs the likelihood of actual breakage.

Unless your hobby is dropping electronics off rooftops: then go ahead.

For everyday use, it's still a scam.

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by MsCG1

True. I got the warranty for my Nook because it was $250 at the time I bought it, and it was plagued with problems like cracked bezels and whatnot. It made sense to spend an extra $60 to buy two years of protection.

B&N willingly replaced the Nooks that developed cracked bezels and buttons - it was a manufacturing flaw - you didn't need an extended warranty for that.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by khalleron

It's gambling with really long odds. If you insure all your electronics, the price you pay far outweighs the likelihood of actual breakage.

Right, but I doubt everyone here with an extended warranty is buying EWs on ALL their stuff. There are more options than NEVER and ALWAYS.

I bought an extended warranty on my new Sony PRS-950 because it was a mere $25 and the unit had been a floor model and goodness knows what the poor thing had been through. I consider that a fairly solid investment for an eReader because (a) it costs $200, (b) I intend to carry it around quite a bit and it's long and thin and relatively fragile and I've already seen a clumsy store employee break one.

I *didn't* buy an EW for my $200 phone because I expect to replace it at near-full price in a few years for an upgrade anyway, plus it's small and fairly compact and it's a lot less likely to "snap" from someone sitting on it wrong.

EWs aren't scams any more than, say, life insurance is a scam. You're placing a bet that you hope to lose -- you're betting money that your device will break, and you're hoping that you're wrong. For some devices, under certain life conditions, for some consumers, it's a great deal -- for others, it's not.

To each their own.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

+1. I'm particularly annoyed that there doesn't seem to be an easy way to tell before purchase what format the file is. I've seen the "oh, if it has a file size listed, it's X", but that doesn't seem to be always reliable.

If you download the sample and look at the formatting, it's easy to see if a book is Topaz or not. I always download a sample prior to purchase, and I won't buy it if it is a Topaz file.

The DRM is easy enough to break, but the resulting soup of files is difficult to reformat.

[MsCG1]

Originally Posted by khalleron

B&N willingly replaced the Nooks that developed cracked bezels and buttons - it was a manufacturing flaw - you didn't need an extended warranty for that.

Yes, I'm aware of that. It was just one of the problems early adopters experienced. Thankfully, most of the issues that were present at the time of the initial release have been addressed by BN.

I still don't see the extended warranty as a scam. BN didn't scam me.

[Sil_liS]

@Ken Maltby, boswd, anamardoll, MsCG1, bhartman36

I'm not sure that we have been thinking of the same thing. When shops were trying to sell what they called extended warranty (although that might have something to do with the fact that I'm in the Netherlands and the employees were speaking to me in English because I don't speak dutch), they were selling what according to Wikipedia sounds more like extended service plans.

Basically they were telling me that for a monthly fee, I can feel secure in the knowledge that no matter what happens to the device it will be replaced, when I bought a new phone; and fixed, or if that doesn't work, replaced, when I got my tablet, no questions asked.

In both cases I was told that the warranty covers damage that came from liquids, dropping the device, and, the case of the tablet ,poking the it hard enough to break the screen. This sounds like it was specifically designed for people who are careless.

And bhartman36, RAM chips can go bad?

[anamardoll]

@Sil_liS,

Now it's a one time fee for an X period wherein the device will be replaced no questions asked if something goes wrong with it. The fee varies, as well as the period. The $25 I paid at Best Buy was for a 1-year (or was it 2-year? I can't recall at the moment.) coverage for my $200 Sony PRS-950. For my $250 Nook Color, I think I paid $60 for a 2-year warranty.

I will say that getting married has made me appreciate extended warranties more. I love my husband, but he's something of a butterfingers sometimes and he has broken his fair share of shiny devices. This is obviously way worse than when I break my own things and just am out however much money.

[Sil_liS]

@anamardoll

I got the tablet in march, so it wasn't so long ago. The guy mentioned 6 euro/month if I remember correctly, but I'm not sure if it was supposed to be something that I would have payed then or each month. I know that with the phone, bought a little over a year ago, it was supposed to be each month, because in that case the guy said that I can do this and stop whenever I think that I don't need it anymore.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

@Ken Maltby, boswd, anamardoll, MsCG1, bhartman36

I'm not sure that we have been thinking of the same thing. When shops were trying to sell what they called extended warranty (although that might have something to do with the fact that I'm in the Netherlands and the employees were speaking to me in English because I don't speak dutch), they were selling what according to Wikipedia sounds more like extended service plans.

Basically they were telling me that for a monthly fee, I can feel secure in the knowledge that no matter what happens to the device it will be replaced, when I bought a new phone; and fixed, or if that doesn't work, replaced, when I got my tablet, no questions asked.

That's the same thing that came with my old phone. The way that these things seem to work is, they become less valuable as time goes on. E.g., you'll spend $8/mo. on a plan, so if something happens to your $200 phone in the first month, it's a good deal, but the longer you go, the more you'll have paid.

I got one for my Palm Pre when I had that phone. If something had happened to the screen (which wasn't covered by the original warranty) it would've been a good deal. As it was, I never had to use it.

I see what you're saying, but I still don't think it's necessarily just about insuring yourself against carelessness. You can be as careful as you want, and sometimes sh*t just happens (e.g., you're carrying your phone in your front shirt pocket and you trip and fall or something).

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

And bhartman36, RAM chips can go bad?

I've had it happen. It doesn't necessarily happen right away (and that's kind of the point), but I've had RAM die after a little over a year.

[MsCG1]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

@Ken Maltby, boswd, anamardoll, MsCG1, bhartman36


In both cases I was told that the warranty covers damage that came from liquids, dropping the device, and, the case of the tablet ,poking the it hard enough to break the screen. This sounds like it was specifically designed for people who are careless.

It sounds like life, and it happens every second of every day.

Just because someone has an accident with a device doesn't make them careless.

And so what if they are careless and/or accident prone, and they want to pay extra money to protect their device/investment? I honestly don't understand why some people have such a problem with planning for the worst.

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by MsCG1

It sounds like life, and it happens every second of every day.

Just because someone has an accident with a device doesn't make them careless.

And so what if they are careless and/or accident prone, and they want to pay extra money to protect their device/investment? I honestly don't understand why some people have such a problem with planning for the worst.

Because it takes away resources that can better be used elsewhere. It would be more financially prudent to stick that money into an emergency savings account and cover those small disasters yourself than to just fork over that money to a stranger on the long shot that something bad might happen.

A device is not an investment - it's an expense. An investment is something that earns you money, like a bank account or stocks and bonds.

Once again, extended warranties are almost pure profit for the Best Buys of the world. Why pay money for something you will probably never use?

If it's 'peace of mind' you're after, then money in the bank would still be a better investment.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by khalleron

No, it doesn't, but the likelihood you're going to break it vs. the price you pay for that coverage is all in the insurer's favor, not yours.

But will it cover blending?

Spoiler:

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by khalleron

No, it doesn't, but the likelihood you're going to break it vs. the price you pay for that coverage is all in the insurer's favor, not yours.

It's gambling with really long odds. If you insure all your electronics, the price you pay far outweighs the likelihood of actual breakage.

I understand where you are coming from but I disagree. I paid $299 for my Sony 950. At the time, I bought a 3-year warranty that covers everything (accidental damage) for $75. My view was this: I take my 950 everywhere with me -- to the swimming pool, to the mall, to the doctor's office, etc. -- and for $25 a year, I get protection against breakage or damage, which is a lot less than having to pay $299 out of pocket again.

If nothing else, it brings peace of mind and I do not hesitate to take the 950 with me. Without the added insurance, I certainly would hesitate to take it to the pool or the mall or anywhere outside the home.

It's like homeowner's insurance. I've been paying for it for years and have never had a claim. Under your reasoning, it makes no sense to have homeowner's insurance because the likelihood of having a claim for a covered risk that exceeds my deductible is slim (if it weren't insurers wouldn't sell the insurance or would demand much higher premiums).

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by MsCG1

And so what if they are careless and/or accident prone, and they want to pay extra money to protect their device/investment? I honestly don't understand why some people have such a problem with planning for the worst.

Because people who are careless with their own property tend to be careless with other people's property as well. I'm not looking forward to somebody breaking my device and then saying: So what, you can just go to the store and get a new one. Oh, you didn't get the extended warranty? Well, whose fault is that?

And I've seen this behavior in children, both in my generation and this one: if they aren't careful with their own toys, they aren't careful with the ones that belong to others.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by khalleron

Because it takes away resources that can better be used elsewhere. It would be more financially prudent to stick that money into an emergency savings account and cover those small disasters yourself than to just fork over that money to a stranger on the long shot that something bad might happen.

That depends on how much you're paying and when the disaster happens. Consider this scenario:

1) You paid $300 for your device (whatever it is).
2) You paid $10/mo. for the extended warranty.
3) You had something unspeakable, yet accidental, happen to your device.
4) You're two months into your ownership.

In this case, your device would be replaced free of charge. If you hadn't bought the extended warranty, you'd be on the hook for it, in all likelihood.

Originally Posted by khalleron

A device is not an investment - it's an expense. An investment is something that earns you money, like a bank account or stocks and bonds.

A device can be an investment, if it serves some business purpose.

Originally Posted by khalleron

Once again, extended warranties are almost pure profit for the Best Buys of the world. Why pay money for something you will probably never use?

If it's 'peace of mind' you're after, then money in the bank would still be a better investment.

Why buy fire insurance? Why not just have a savings account devoted to paying for fire damage? Why have medical insurance? Why not just have a savings account dedicated to medical expenses?

All insurance is a gamble. The insurance company is betting you'll spend more money on the insurance than you'll ever need to collect on it.

In fact, the only insurance you're guaranteed to have a use for is life insurance. Everyone's eventually going to die.