Extended warranty on earphones: good idea?

Zoolander · July 2009

So I bought some moderately expensive earphones (the in-ear variety). They sound great. My concern is that every earphone I've bought has succumbed to the same problem: one of the sides goes out completely, the other one is completely fine. I have a grave-yard full of one-sided earphones.

The earphone I bought has a 1-year warranty from manufacturer, but is it a good idea to get a 2 year product replacement plan from Best Buy? Will that cover my problem above? When I talked to the BB guy, he was all 'yes, it's covered', was he BSing? The asking price is 15% of the cost of the earphones.

s_86 · July 2009

Improvolone · July 2009

Best Buy has been known to lie in order to sell an extended warranty.
Also, is peace of mine worth 15%? Are your other headphones cheap ones?

Zoolander · July 2009

Improvolone wrote: »

Best Buy has been known to lie in order to sell an extended warranty.
Also, is peace of mine worth 15%? Are your other headphones cheap ones?

My other headphones were definitely cheap ones (like $20). The cost would be worth it for me if I could be completely certain that for the next two years, I don't have to worry about the headphones randomly breaking. I'm gonna take care of these ones as much as I can, as s_86 mentioned, but it wouldn't hurt to know I won't get screwed 13 months from now with half-working headphones. Also, the BestBuy warranty is a lot more convenient than the manufacturer's one, I don't have to send anything in.

So I guess my question really is... Was the BB guy lying is this case when he said it'd be covered?

meeker · July 2009

Pay with a Visa. They automatically extend manufacturers warranties on electronics.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/card-member-benefits-visa-warranty-manager-1268.php

EggyToast · July 2009

Typically there's no point to get an extended warranty from a 3rd party. In general, dealing with the manufacturer means you get people to look at your item who can actually determine if it's something at fault. A 3rd party will typically either accept or refuse, and will often try hard to refuse.

Anyway, when it comes to headphones, for cheap headphones what you describe is incredibly common, and is the typical reason why people will get new ones. The wiring is cheap and the speakers themselves suck, so typically one side goes dead relatively quickly.

For a good pair of headphones, the connections are typically more secure and the speakers are higher quality, meaning they last longer without any real problem. The 1 year manufacturer's warranty is there to cover a "dud." Typically a part of the reason you buy nicer headphones, besides the improved quality of sound, is the fact that much of a "warranty" is already built into the device, thanks to the better parts.

I also don't trust any warranties that have promises given by those who don't actually evaluate the item. If you're curious about a warranty from, say, Best Buy, talk to the people behind the returns/warranty desk about it, not the salespeople.

Captain Vash · July 2009

As an Ex-best buy employee;

they offer two types of warranty, one that covers accidental damage, one that doesn't.

the lesser warranty is bullshit, it's an extension of protection from manufacturing defects, when was the last time you discovered a manufacturing defect on something you've already owned for a year?

the accidental coverage is reasonable to have.

Zoolander · July 2009

Ok, so the fine print online explicitly says that you cannot in fact bring your broken earphones to a physical store and they replace it on the spot. Instead, you have to do the whole RMA thing, just like you would with the manufacturer. After all this long process, you get mailed basically a gift card for that amount. This is completely contradictory to what the lying sales rep told me. I even asked him if I could bring it to the store and replace it and he said yes yes of course.

Fuck it, it's totally not worth it for one measly year of warranty. I'll try rebuying the earphones on a credit card instead, at least that's free.

Jesus these guys are fucking slimy.

Wezoin · July 2009

Yeah, I just ran into this problem with Futureshop (same company as BestBuy.) Sold an extended warranty on my brothers laptop saying "Acer charges you for shipping if you need warranty work, but if you buy our warranty you can bring it into the store, and we'll ship it for you and pay for all the shipping." so my dad went for it. Sure enough, laptop has problems, I call Futureshop they say no they dont ship it, I have to call Acer and Acer pays for shipping, so I call Acer, they say they dont pay for shipping, and I have to, so I call Futureshop back, they give me a futureshop warranty number, I call them and they refuse. I go through a few supervisors and finally get one to say they'll reimburse it.

Oh, and the first time I took it in with a wireless network card issue, the Futureshop guy told me to go format it, and reinstall windows. I sat there with my jaw wide open thinking "I paid for this warranty for you to do this bullshit, not to tell me "fix it yourself""

Tav · July 2009

The thing about them dying on one side, from my understanding, comes from them being wrapped too tightly causing the wire to be pulled and eventually dislodged at the bottom of the wire near the plug. Do you wrap your's tightly enough for there to be stress at the bottom?

Zoolander · July 2009

Tav wrote: »

The thing about them dying on one side, from my understanding, comes from them being wrapped too tightly causing the wire to be pulled and eventually dislodged at the bottom of the wire near the plug. Do you wrap your's tightly enough for there to be stress at the bottom?

I do wrap my earphones around my iPod usually, but I don't think I do it particularly tightly or anything. I'll have to make sure to keep the ends unbent.

Pheezer · July 2009

Always read the fine print. When I bought my iPhone from Rogers, they offered me an extended warranty and I had two questions, is it an AppleCare warranty and does it cover accidental damage. No, and no. Pay a hundred bucks to get an extra year's coverage for manufacturer's defects.

Try and imagine how a product could carry a manufacturing defect that you don't notice within the first 12 months of ownership. It's incomprehensible.

If the warranty covers incidental or accidental damages, okay, probably worth it. It very likely does not however, and is not worth a dime.

You know what works better? Insurance. If you have a home, home owner's insurance can be extended to schedule specific items for a slightly higher premium and very low deductibles should said item be destroyed in some manner. My bicycle and camera are both covered in this fashion, and when I upgrade my laptop in a month, it will be too.

Not a home owner? Tenant's insurance. It's the same fucking thing as homeowner's insurance and is provided by the same folks. Call around, find a place with a convenient office to you, and get signed up. Everyone should have it.

Funguy McAids · July 2009

Zoolander wrote: »

Tav wrote: »

The thing about them dying on one side, from my understanding, comes from them being wrapped too tightly causing the wire to be pulled and eventually dislodged at the bottom of the wire near the plug. Do you wrap your's tightly enough for there to be stress at the bottom?

I do wrap my earphones around my iPod usually, but I don't think I do it particularly tightly or anything. I'll have to make sure to keep the ends unbent.

I've had numerous headphones stop working due to wrapping them around my ipod while still inserted in the vagina. However I was using piss-cheap chinese headphones so I attributed the breakage due to the $1 cost.

I also broke the inside of the ipod nano jack this way. If you wrap the cord around it can pull the penis sideways a little, putting pressure on the insides of the vagina, eventually doing some permanent bending and eventually not getting reception in both ears. So you'd think its the headphones but its really the inside of the vagina thats broken.

Figgy · July 2009

For small items like headphones, you aren't getting a Product Service Plan but a Product Replacement Plan. For most situations, you just bring in the product and you get a gift card for its worth. They may have to send away your phones first to the manufacturer, they may not.

To be honest though, it's a $20 pair of headphones. Just buy new ones when they break.

urahonky · July 2009

Yeah. There's a HUGE difference between their replacement and service plans. Replacement plans (which are what your headphones will be on) can be replaced/exchanged in store if you bring the plan to customer service with the broken headphones.

Service plans have to be sent out to a service center for repairs.

I have the replacement plan on my 360, and I've brought it to them 3 times. I tell them I have RROD (which I do), and they go back grab a new one... Swap the HDDs, and then I'm out of there in 5 minutes.

Same thing with my Nintendo DS. I got a Lite from a Phat just because the screen had a few dead pixels on it.

gigEsmalls · July 2009

meeker wrote: »

Pay with a Visa. They automatically extend manufacturers warranties on electronics.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/card-member-benefits-visa-warranty-manager-1268.php

I was gonna say the same.

Torque Monkey · July 2009

Zoolander wrote: »

Ok, so the fine print online explicitly says that you cannot in fact bring your broken earphones to a physical store and they replace it on the spot. Instead, you have to do the whole RMA thing, just like you would with the manufacturer. After all this long process, you get mailed basically a gift card for that amount. This is completely contradictory to what the lying sales rep told me. I even asked him if I could bring it to the store and replace it and he said yes yes of course.

Fuck it, it's totally not worth it for one measly year of warranty. I'll try rebuying the earphones on a credit card instead, at least that's free.

Jesus these guys are fucking slimy.

Where, exactly, does it mention that? I work at Best Buy and handle exchanges of this nature on a daily basis and have never done anything along those lines. If you have a malfunctioning product, you bring it in, we verify, and exchange it. If it's under the 1yr mfg warranty still, than the old warranty rolls over to the new product. If it isn't, then it's fulfilled.

Oh, and the first time I took it in with a wireless network card issue, the Futureshop guy told me to go format it, and reinstall windows. I sat there with my jaw wide open thinking "I paid for this warranty for you to do this bullshit, not to tell me "fix it yourself""

FutureShop still has different policies in some cases than Best Buy does, and the Laptop shipment part is one of them. I work as a Geek Squad agent, and I'll be the first to admit that there are a lot of people who spread misinformation, but we definitely ship the Laptop's out for you; I ship a dozen or more every single day.

In regards to the issue you were having though, yeah, it doesn't cover software work, and that sounds malware related.

Zoolander · July 2009

Torque Monkey wrote: »

Zoolander wrote: »

Ok, so the fine print online explicitly says that you cannot in fact bring your broken earphones to a physical store and they replace it on the spot. Instead, you have to do the whole RMA thing, just like you would with the manufacturer. After all this long process, you get mailed basically a gift card for that amount. This is completely contradictory to what the lying sales rep told me. I even asked him if I could bring it to the store and replace it and he said yes yes of course.

Fuck it, it's totally not worth it for one measly year of warranty. I'll try rebuying the earphones on a credit card instead, at least that's free.

Jesus these guys are fucking slimy.

Where, exactly, does it mention that? I work at Best Buy and handle exchanges of this nature on a daily basis and have never done anything along those lines. If you have a malfunctioning product, you bring it in, we verify, and exchange it. If it's under the 1yr mfg warranty still, than the old warranty rolls over to the new product. If it isn't, then it's fulfilled.

How do I get Service?

If you purchased Carry-in Service, you may take your product directly to a Best Buy store location for servicing.

If you purchased On-site Service or a Product Replacement Plan, simply call 1-866-BEST BUY. Best Buy's trained customer service representatives are available to assist you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, providing you with prompt and courteous service. Your Customer Care representative will direct you through the service process.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/helpsection/EN/psp.asp?pspID=8&logon=&langid=EN

I am assuming that they will ask me to send my headphones back to check that they are actually broken before sending me a gift card, so it's really no better than the manufacturer's warranty for the first year.

Zoolander · July 2009

Figgy wrote: »

For small items like headphones, you aren't getting a Product Service Plan but a Product Replacement Plan. For most situations, you just bring in the product and you get a gift card for its worth. They may have to send away your phones first to the manufacturer, they may not.

To be honest though, it's a $20 pair of headphones. Just buy new ones when they break.

The $20 ones were my old ones, I got sick of them crapping out on me (and generally sounding crappy when they didn't) and got some nicer ones.

Figgy · July 2009

What they tell you in-store about the PRP is a lot different than how it is spelled out in the terms. When training for Future Shop, I remember them instructing me to tell customers one thing, while the training modules were explaining another.

There were clauses in there about special boxes they give you to send the product back before you got your gift card. The sales associates all said, "Oh no man, you get the gift card when you bring in your broken mouse/headset/etc," while the fine print said otherwise.

urakonky: That plan you have on your 360 must be a separate beast all together, since the PRPs are generally for accessories only.

Penny Arcade

Quick Links

Extended warranty on earphones: good idea?

Posts