New iPod. (Warranty Question for Consumers)

[Klutz]

I am going to buy a new iPod this week, and I have a quick question.

Is the 2year warranty worth it to buy? Because I am under the impression that if my one kicks the bucket as long as I have a receipt I can just bring that shit back and get a brand new one. I have seen it done at Best Buy, where you bring your old one back and they give you a new one with receipt.

Or is this because of stupid cashiers that breaks company rules and do it out of laziness, or can I really just get a brand new iPod if my new one breaks for whatever reason.

TLDR: Is the iPod warranty worth it?

[Korietsu]

Yeah, or if you get apple care you just take it to an apple store, return it, they give you a new one or fix it.

[Odesseiron]

Hey there. Question, where are you buying the ipod? At an Apple store? Or a Best Buy? I'm not entirely sure of Best Buy's policies, but Apple it's NOT NOT NOT worth the money. It does not cover falls or water damage. For those two things alone it is not worth it. Those are two of the top causes for the Ipods being returned, or attempted to anyway. If you are anything like your name (a klutz!) then just take caution. I've never dropped my Iphone, but I dropped an ipod in the past and the screen cracked like you wouldn't believe. Apple wanted 200 to repair it. GTFO with that shit.

Best buy, I'm unsure of their extended warranty service. A lot of these large retailers won't cover acts of god and the like, so just research it. If they or another retailer will cover drops and water damage, then I'd say go for it. People no matter how careful they are will usually drop it.

tldr; apple extended warranty = BIG FAT NO. other retailers check on above and possibly yes

[Darus Grey]

It's never worth the money.

[wyrmtung]

The key phrase is "like new" condition. Some companies will replace your unit and some will try to repair it before replacing it. The end result to you is that you get a "like new" iPod.

To me the decision to get Applecare is the same as with any extended warranty. If you're the kind of person that likes that piece of mind then do it. As for me, I don't get extended warranty for anything.

As a rule of thumb, most failures for most products happen in the first three months of operation. Most manufacturer's warranties cover at least three months. The iPod's standard warranty is one year. Let's say the AFR for iPods is 5%. That is 1 in 20 units will require some type of warranty repair. Let's also say that of those 1/20 failures, that 80% of them occur in the first three months, and another 10% occur in the 4-12 month range.

Do the math that means 0.5% of all failures happen beyond the warranty period. I dunno about you but I don't take an umbrella if the weatherman says there's a 0.5% chance of rain. I would rather take my chances that I'm not the 0.5%.

Extended warranties is almost 100% profit for companies. This is because even if a product fails during the extended warranty period, only a small percentage of people will actually make a warranty claim. Many people either don't bother, decide to buy the latest version of the product, forget they have an extended warranty, etc.

Stores like Best Buy will sell extended warranties on almost all the products they sell. They don't do this because they really believe in the reliability of the products they sell. They do it because it's a huge money maker. In fact, it's probably their biggest source of profit.

TLDR: Don't buy extended warranties.

(Although this advice does hurt my Apple stock.)

[wyrmtung]

Hey there. Question, where are you buying the ipod? At an Apple store? Or a Best Buy? I'm not entirely sure of Best Buy's policies, but Apple it's NOT NOT NOT worth the money. It does not cover falls or water damage. For those two things alone it is not worth it. Those are two of the top causes for the Ipods being returned, or attempted to anyway. If you are anything like your name (a klutz!) then just take caution. I've never dropped my Iphone, but I dropped an ipod in the past and the screen cracked like you wouldn't believe. Apple wanted 200 to repair it. GTFO with that shit.

Best buy, I'm unsure of their extended warranty service. A lot of these large retailers won't cover acts of god and the like, so just research it. If they or another retailer will cover drops and water damage, then I'd say go for it. People no matter how careful they are will usually drop it.

tldr; apple extended warranty = BIG FAT NO. other retailers check on above and possibly yes

Do you really think Apple's policy is different from any other company? I don't know of any company that will cover abuse, accident or act of God. They only cover manufacturer defect.

Try to get a warranty repair for a scratch on your car or a TV you kicked in. If you know of a company that covers everything then let me know. I will be their customer for life.

[Rellikard]

For Best Buy, there's 2 different plans. Accidental and normal. Currently a lot of iPod Classics are qualified for what's called Rapid Exchange. Meaning if it has an issue, once a ticket's made at Geek Squad and sent out, another ticket is made at the service center's end for one to be sent back to the store. The one you'll be getting back will be same exact model/color but refurbished and should work same/better than your original. Your warranty continues. If it's an iPod touch, for the past 6+ months it's been prompting for non-repair and don't send it out meaning an exchange will take place. If it's within the 1st year, you keep your plan unless the reason it doesn't work is you dropped it in water/cracked screen AKA stuff not covered by the Manufacturer. So the unit's exchanged under the Manufactuer's warranty.

Worth of the warranty's really going to be up to you. They're for people who have the money to buy it, people who think they're clumsy and people who've had bad experiences with items dying within the 1st couple of years and being SOL cuz out of MFG Warranty. So the value in it is all up to you. With the Best Buy plans at least, at any point if you don't want the plan you can have them prorate a refund for the plan. So if you use 12 out of 24 months of the plan, you'll get 50% of the cash back on a store credit card. Can return for full credit if returned within 30 days of purchase.