What about extended warranties?

Hi,

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of the H9's like so many folks around here and I've been wondering lately about extended warranties. What are you opinions of them? Are they worth the cost? Are they necessary or are Sony cameras reliable anyway? (I've not owned a Sony camera yet.) Do you buy 'em? Have you ever had occasion to use one that you've purchased? Was it because the camera died or because of an "accident"? Lastly, where/who do you trust to purchase an extended warranty from?

Thanks in advance!

Rachel

Rachel,

The value of extended warranties is really a matter of probabilities. The failure rate of most devices in general follow a "bath tub" shaped curve. Most failures will occur in the initial early life of the product due to manufacturing errors, component failures, etc. These are known as "early life failures" and these will in most cases be covered by the manufacturer's warranty. Once beyond this early life period, the failure rate drops off to a much lower and steady rate of failure. And then towards the end of the useful life of the product, the failure rate increases more significantly. These are known as "end of life failures".

So, most extended warranties are designed to cover that very low failure rate period when they believe they will have to cover a rather small percentage of failures. Most will expire before you hit that period of "end of life" failures. So most of the time they are not a good deal. They are big money makers for those who sell them - hence they are pushed and advocated by many dealers.

Now having said all that, my son in law bought an extended warranty for a Nikon Coolpix camera, and his did in fact fail after the normal warranty had expired, and he did collect on it.

So it's really a matter of chance, but as a general rule, they are not a good deal. I can't speak for Sony cameras because this is my first Sony camera (H2), however I have had very good results with other Sony electronic equipment. I did not buy an extended warranty.
--
Any critical comments or help greatly appreciated. I'm trying to do better

Jim Richardson

James Richardson said:

Rachel,
... most extended warranties are designed to cover that very low
failure rate period when they believe they will have to cover a
rather small percentage of failures. Most will expire before you
hit that period of "end of life" failures. So most of the time they
are not a good deal. They are big money makers for those who sell
them - hence they are pushed and advocated by many dealers.
Now having said all that, my son in law bought an extended warranty
for a Nikon Coolpix camera, and his did in fact fail after the
normal warranty had expired, and he did collect on it.

Click to expand...

This is a perfect explanation of extended warranties.

I must add my own experience, though, with a Canon Powershot P&S that I had bought several years ago. I did buy the extended warranty, an extra four years for $40 or so, and a couple of years after the original warranty expired so did the camera (Circuit City replaced that 3 MP with a 6 MP Sony DSC-600 since the Canon was NLA -nice upgrade!).

For me, if the cost of the extra coverage isn't a great amount, I'll usually pick it up.

--
JJ

wow then if I buy an H9 from sonystyle and it goes bad after almost 3 years has elaspsed they will replace it with an H15/H18 because they don't make an H9 anymore after that long of time???

That would be a super deal!

on the words "extended warranties" on almost any forum here and you will get a wealth of opinions and experiencies. Here's my opinion:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1018&message=21472352&q=extended+warranties&qf=m

--mamallama

Last year I bought an extended warrenty for the H5 at the same time that I bought the camera from Sony. I splurged and got the accidental breakage replacement option. My warrenty is good for 4 years.

I am now wondering what happens if I "accidently" drop my camera, perhaps off the side of my canoe? Will I get a someone else's rebuilt H5, a new H5, or a new H9? If I drop it in year 4 of the warrenty (2009) will I get the new H21? Or will they find an H5 from the Smithsonian Museum to replace it?

I am not dishonest, but the temptation to stage an "accident" is certainly there, and it may be some dishonest folk are long range planners.

Betarover said:

Last year I bought an extended warrenty for the H5 at the same time
that I bought the camera from Sony. I splurged and got the
accidental breakage replacement option. My warrenty is good for 4
years.

I am now wondering what happens if I "accidently" drop my camera,
perhaps off the side of my canoe? Will I get a someone else's
rebuilt H5, a new H5, or a new H9? If I drop it in year 4 of the
warrenty (2009) will I get the new H21? Or will they find an H5
from the Smithsonian Museum to replace it?

I am not dishonest, but the temptation to stage an "accident" is
certainly there, and it may be some dishonest folk are long range
planners.

Click to expand...

No problem with the H9 on that. In addition to the advanced face-recognition feature, it has a chip that scans the user's brain waves and records any patterns of malicious intentions towards the camera.
--
Steve McDonald
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22121562@N00/

Betarover said:

I am not dishonest, but the temptation to stage an "accident" is
certainly there, and it may be some dishonest folk are long range
planners.

Click to expand...

First thought: That would be akin to arson, setting your house afire instead of fixing it up to get it rebuilt by insurance. It's illegal.

Second thought: I only buy accidental breakage or loss insurance on things that would be a financial hardship for me to replace, like my house or my car. My $500 camera is not one of them. I can cover my own hazard insurance on that and be ahead in the long run. That why the insurance companies make money on these deals.

--mamallama