Should I get an extended warrenty?

[Soda Jones]

I'm hopefully getting an xbox 360 tomorrow morning, and I was wondering if you guys recommend getting a warrenty or not. I know that a small percentage of 360's have had heating problems, and some have had disc problems as well, and I was wondering if it was worth the money? Also, how much money am I looking at to pay for a warrenty, and who carries the best warrenty plan?

[neurro]

I work at Gamestop, so...

A warranty from Gamestop costs $49.99 for the XB360 premium bundle. A month ago I would of yelled at you to get a warranty upon your purchase, but now I'm not so sure with our company. They just passed this new policy on warranties that goes something like this:

If you purchase a warranty for a new system and it breaks, we now can only give you a USED system. Its very retarded, I know. If you purchase a replacement plan for a NEW system you should get it replaced with a NEW system.

My advice would be to check your local Gamestop/EB and inquire about their warranty plan. This is a brand new policy and if they tell you the old policy (new for new unconditional) then snatch that sucker fast and if something happens to your system, tell them you were told that and give them hell if they try and use the new policy.

[Soda Jones]

Thanks for the info!

[Reclaimer]

I would get an extended warranty. I got one simply because I have no idea what's going to happen to the thing. People where complaining that the 360 is loud, that it runs hot, that some have failed, that the power brick is hot, and so forth. I figured, what the hell. Cover your ass.

[ShadedNine]

Extended warranties are a joke.

Lets breakdown what you're getting for that $50..

$25 Retailer profit.
$10 Insurance company profit.
$5 Insurance company administration costs.

$10 Your insurance premium, given the statistical probability of your machine needing service under the extended warranty period.

Granted, these numbers are approximate, but I've spent my time working retail, and I can tell you they're not far off. There's a reason retailers push these so hard, and it's not because they're trying to protect you. What's really scary though, is when an employee's been so brainwashed that he thinks that's exactly what he's doing.

On top of that, every time i've ever had a problem with my Xbox, a few choice words with the right people always gets it done for free.

[neurro]

Extended warranties are a joke.

Lets breakdown what you're getting for that $50..

$25 Retailer profit.
$10 Insurance company profit.
$5 Insurance company administration costs.

$10 Your insurance premium, given the statistical probability of your machine needing service under the extended warranty period.

Granted, these numbers are approximate, but I've spent my time working retail, and I can tell you they're not far off. There's a reason retailers push these so hard, and it's not because they're trying to protect you. What's really scary though, is when an employee's been so brainwashed that he thinks that's exactly what he's doing.

On top of that, every time i've ever had a problem with my Xbox, a few choice words with the right people always gets it done for free.

No comment there. I'll just say I don't agree.

I'll spend $50 after dumping $400 to get my system fully replaced on the off chance something happens any day.

[Reclaimer]

Some extended warranties are not a good deal, however I think some could be if you look at how much the warranty is against how much the product is you're buying.
Fifty bucks to get a new 360, no questions asked even if I screwed the thing up myself, I can call it a safe investment.

If you can outright just buy a new 360 if you drop yours in the parking lot or it falls off the shelf, then more power to you.
I'm sure the guy was lying to me because the more I think of it, it sounds too good to be true.. if I break the thing myself, they'll replace it. Even if it takes a fall. But anyway.. bare minimum it gets fixed if it kicks the can after a year.

But it's like insurance. You pay for it and you never use it, until that one day.

[Soda Jones]

Well I can't afford another xbox, can't even afford a premium, so I'm getting the insurance. Thanks for the advice.

[thatdude222]

soda, i think the manufacturing qualities have improved since launch quite a bit. my launch 360 is still alive and kicking with no problems whatsoever. you can still purchase an extended warranty while you still have your regular warranty, so wait and see how your 360 performs first. just my suggestion

[HaZarD SFD]

I bought my 360 Premium at Bestbuy. The warranty cost me 200$ and well its worth it. Basically if it breaks from a failure and they cant fix it in 60 days I get a new system.

[Soda Jones]

soda, i think the manufacturing qualities have improved since launch quite a bit. my launch 360 is still alive and kicking with no problems whatsoever. you can still purchase an extended warranty while you still have your regular warranty, so wait and see how your 360 performs first. just my suggestion

So I dont have a limited amount of time after my purchase to get a warrenty? Cool!

[neurro]

You have a week upon purchase to get the extended warranty if you get it from Gamestop.

[MXracer721]

I bought my 360 Premium at Bestbuy. The warranty cost me 200$ and well its worth it. Basically if it breaks from a failure and they cant fix it in 60 days I get a new system.

200 bucks? that seems waaay high for a warranty. i mean if u figure, the core system is only 299, doesnt 200 for a warranty seem a bit much? i saw the other day circuit city's was 70 or 80 bucks for a 2 year warranty. i was wondering the same question as soda......Who has the best warranty? I coulda swore best buy had a 3 year warranty but cant remember. Doesnt Microsoft have their own extended warranty?

[neurro]

$200 does seem like a lot.

[Soda Jones]

best buy has their own, as does gamestop, and micrsoft does as well...im thinking best buy sounds good to me, its like 60 buck i think.

[ShadedNine]

But it's like insurance. You pay for it and you never use it, until that one day.

Precisely. Which is why I don't pay for windshield insurance, or any other insurance that covers anything I can afford to cover myself. The purpose of insurance is to spread out the damage of expensive low-probability occurences amongst the members of the insurance group. Makes sense, since I can't afford to pay out a million for a car accident, or replace my home, though I keep my deductibles as high as they let me to minimize my premiums. If I were really worried, I could easily accumulate my savings from NOT buying silly insurance, and form my own little insurance fund, using it to pay for windshields, failed electronics, etc. Since the risks and premiums are small, unless I was careless and had a lot of "accidents", my items would easily be covered.

My Xbox does not need insurance, particularily not insurance with enormous markups being taken off (on house/car insurance only a small % is stripped off). If my 360 happens to land in the (lets be generous and say: ) 5% that fail in the first 2 years, then so be it, I took my chances, i'll buy a new one. If 5% were the average, I'd pay no more than $20 to cover it (less than that actually, since the cost would be distributed across the 360s current value at a given time and its rate of failure at that time).

So why don't I cancel *all* my insurance policies under this logic? Simple, my preference for money diminishes logarithmically based on how risk-averse/risk-seeking I am. If I was offered a gamble between $1 million guaranteed or a 50/50 chance at $2.5 million, i'd take the $1 million. While the average gain in the gamble is $1.25M, the average utility I get from it (0+x)/2 is less than the utility I get from the $1M. Yet if you changed the bet to thousands of dollars ($1000 or 50/50 for $2500), I'd go for the gamble. Simple math, and small gambles with a likelyhood of losing are simply not worth taking, and the 360 is a small gamble.

[neurro]

Precisely. Which is why I don't pay for windshield insurance, or any other insurance that covers anything I can afford to cover myself. The purpose of insurance is to spread out the damage of expensive low-probability occurences amongst the members of the insurance group. Makes sense, since I can't afford to pay out a million for a car accident, or replace my home, though I keep my deductibles as high as they let me to minimize my premiums. If I were really worried, I could easily accumulate my savings from NOT buying silly insurance, and form my own little insurance fund, using it to pay for windshields, failed electronics, etc. Since the risks and premiums are small, unless I was careless and had a lot of "accidents", my items would easily be covered.

My Xbox does not need insurance, particularily not insurance with enormous markups being taken off (on house/car insurance only a small % is stripped off). If my 360 happens to land in the (lets be generous and say: ) 5% that fail in the first 2 years, then so be it, I took my chances, i'll buy a new one. If 5% were the average, I'd pay no more than $20 to cover it (less than that actually, since the cost would be distributed across the 360s current value at a given time and its rate of failure at that time).

So why don't I cancel *all* my insurance policies under this logic? Simple, my preference for money diminishes logarithmically based on how risk-averse/risk-seeking I am. If I was offered a gamble between $1 million guaranteed or a 50/50 chance at $2.5 million, i'd take the $1 million. While the average gain in the gamble is $1.25M, the average utility I get from it (0+x)/2 is less than the utility I get from the $1M. Yet if you changed the bet to thousands of dollars ($1000 or 50/50 for $2500), I'd go for the gamble. Simple math, and small gambles with a likelyhood of losing are simply not worth taking, and the 360 is a small gamble.

My head exploded.

No really, I see your logic and understand it. Chances are I'll never use the insurance I bought on my 360, at least I hope not. But $50 after spending the rest wasn't that big a deal for me, and I wanted a windshield.

[MXracer721]

well i dont wanna pay 50 bucks for only a 1 year warranty. i would pay 60 or so for AT LEAST a 2 year warranty. I think best buy has the best warranty but i just dont remember what the hell it was.

[HaZarD SFD]

Srry my warranty was 80$ for a 2year and not 200$ read the wrong price on the reciept