Extended Waranty

[Davestator]

I am looking to purchase fz5 or fz15. With a purchase like this I would like the piece of mind of an extended warranty. In the stores like Ritz they say you can drop the camera and it's covered under extended warranty. Is that really true?- i do not know.

Online stores I see Mack Extended Warranty at several stores and Repairtech at Butterfly. Has anyone had experience with Extended warranties online. Which are worth the money? Should this impact where i buy the camera?

Thank you

[ssidlov]

I am looking to purchase fz5 or fz15. With a purchase like this I would like the piece of mind of an extended warranty. In the stores like Ritz they say you can drop the camera and it's covered under extended warranty. Is that really true?- i do not know.



Read the warranty carefully. I found one from a camera store online that did not cover the lens, ccd and lcd! Panasonic also offers warranties. Generally they will offer a 1 and 3 year warrenty. They sometimes have sales, so you may be able to get the 3 year for 1 year pricing. When I ordered my FZ20's warranty it was $149 for 3 years and $99 for 1 year. You must put in a request to Customer Service via the Panasonic web site, and they call you within 24 hours on the phone to discuss it. You can ask them to send you a copy of the paperwork and the warranty prior to purchase. On payment, they give you a ID and warranty letter.

[Victor.S]

Read the warranty carefully. I found one from a camera store online that did not cover the lens, ccd and lcd! Panasonic also offers warranties. Generally they will offer a 1 and 3 year warranty. They sometimes have sales, so you may be able to get the 3 year for 1 year pricing. When I ordered my FZ20's warranty it was $149 for 3 years and $99 for 1 year. You must put in a request to Customer Service via the Panasonic web site, and they call you within 24 hours on the phone to discuss it. You can ask them to send you a copy of the paperwork and the warranty prior to purchase. On payment, they give you a ID and warranty letter.Here is my take on it. I see that the FZ20 is about a $500 camera (perhaps as much as $600 when it was first released). Is it worth 20% of the cost of the camera for a one-year extended warranty? The camera comes with a one year factory warranty, so the "infant mortality" period for electronic devices, where some component passes initial testing but fails soon after, is already covered. What are the chances of the camera going belly-up in year two? A lot less than 20%, I'd wager. Three years for $149 is an even worse idea, because the camera will be obsolete before the extended warranty expires!

Extended warranties are just a bad idea, IMHO, on anything besides a used car or truck.

[ssidlov]

Here is my take on it. I see that the FZ20 is about a $500 camera (perhaps as much as $600 when it was first released). Is it worth 20% of the cost of the camera for a one-year extended warranty? ... A lot less than 20%, I'd wager. Three years for $149 is an even worse idea, because the camera will be obsolete before the extended warranty expires!

Extended warranties are just a bad idea, IMHO, on anything besides a used car or truck.

Since cameras like cars move, and can be dropped, I would disagree. I would hate to be hit with a 40-60% repair cost later, but I can understand your point since in theory, you could junk the camera cheaper than the repair costs and also in theory get a better camera for the same money.

On the other hand, so much additional money is being expended on the camera, batteries, chargers, adaptor rings, lens, cards, lcd protectors, unless you can always be sure to reuse them, you have to toss some of those too.

I forgot to mention that the Pansonic warranty doesn't come into play until the original warranty stops. I think the full warranty is only 3 months.

My last point and shoot which cost $385 at the time, lasted 14 years. It still works, but has a broken display so we can't see any of the settings anymore. I bought the FZ20 as a family camera, that means my 14 year old is also going to use it, along with my wife. You can never be certain what's going to happen.

[speedracer]

I was anticipating the purchase of a new digital camera and went looking into extended warranties. During my checking I found that the overwhelming majority (Macks, Circuit City, Best Buy, etc.) will NOT warranty the camera against, moisture, sand or other debris and of course dropping. Best Buy did say they would cover a battery but it was rather convoluted in HOW it was covered (not just an even exchange across the counter). Soooo, if you were going to visit a rain forest where moisture is thick as thieves if one speck got on the internals and it shorted out your claim would be denied. If the lens doesn't move in and out and they discover a speck of sand, dirt or other debris your claim is denied. Dropping - well that goes without saying. I spoke with another extended warranty provider and asked if I took the camera on a roller coaster (can't leave it on a bench) and was turned up, down, sideways and back should the camera not work would it be covered - NO. She said I should wrap the camera in bubblewrap or a padded case in order to cover myself. Ritz policy is not an extended warranty but an insurance policy - BIG difference. The price is HIGHER but they cover the camera for just about everything - including water, sand, vibration and the worst- dropping. If you have a claim the camera is sent to a service center where they decide whether it is fixable or not. If not the insurance provider is informed they send payment to ritz who then sends a camera back to your store (NOT just a walk in its broken swap me for another..) If it can be fixed they fix it and the insurance company pays the service center for their service. ALSO, I was told that you may not get a brand new camera but a refurbushed one. If you can afford it and want to provide the maximum protection against the unknown then the Ritz policy appeared to be the best. As long as you don't get water, sand or drop it then the rest are all about the same. Those have been the observations I have made hope this helps you out but remember your mileage may and probably will vary. In any case GET THE POLICY AND LOOK AT IT OR CALL AND GET THE REAL INFORMATION ON WHAT IS/WILL BE COVERED - IT'S YOUR MONEY...

[mofophoto]

You guys might want to re-read the extended warranty. I just bought the Canon S2 from Circuit City. The City Advantage Exended Warranty states that it extends the warranty for 2 more years, but does not cover accidental damage. That is the same for the Canon 1 year warranty. They are only guaranteeing that the camera will not break under normal use. They do not warranty that you will hand it to your kids and they will not accidentally drop it off of the roof. That's probably up to home owners insurance to replace, in which you have to think about the deductible. If the place you are buying the camera offers Accidental Damage warranty then I would think it is worth it. If it's only normal use then I think it is not at all worth it.

[Rhys]

I have never insured anything other than my car (for which I have to have 3rd party cover by law). I don't feel that it's worth insuring many things. It's better to take precautions instead. Here in South Carolina, I feel the safest that I've ever felt. Risk of theft seems minimal. As for dropping a camera... you should always, always have the neckstrap firmly around your wrist, arm or neck unless the camera is in a bag or on a flat, solid surface.

[trade350]

Hi,
Mack camera offers a 5 year warranty that I can get for $59 or $39 depending on who I buy it through. Sounds kind of sketchy for such a cheap price. But I actually read a thread where people discussed good and bad experiences with this Mack company. Is this warranty for real? :)

Any other companies or ideas about a warranty?

Can I buy camera damage insurance from Ritz or anywhere if I buy from somewhere else online? It still hasn't arrived yet.

Thanks,

John

[camerafox]

This is one of the principal reasons I have bought my last three digital cameras from Costco-they have the closest thing to a "no questions asked" warranty that I have seen, and it does not have any specific end date. I have a friend that claimed that she took a broken 3 year old TV back to them and received a full refund. I was very skeptical, to say the least, until I had an experience of my own somewhat similar to hers. I took a camera that was non-functional (because I had dropped it) back to them after owning it for over a year, told them exactly what happened, and they STILL replaced it with no hassle. I was fully expecting them to tell me to go pound sand, but I was in and out of the store in 15 minutes, including the wait time in line. The downside is that Costco does not carry as broad a selection of cameras as a specialty store, and they don't have much in the way of accessories (lenses, flashes, tripods, etc). I paid approximately $75 more for my Rebel XT than I could have paid on the net, but the peace of mind I got for the extra bucks is a relative bargain. And, no, I DO NOT work for Costco or sell big box company shares! :)

[BBDI473]

3 years for $150?? Thats crazy. Well since this topic is all about the Extended Warranties, i'll clear up some issues with ours. Best Buy's Performance Service Plan (we prefer not to call it a warranty) is for 4 years and is usually any where between $40-$100 Depending on the cost of the unit at hand.

What does it cover?
-Normal Wear & Tear: Buttons break, parts stop working, dead pixels in the lcd screen. Anything that is not caused by misuse, abuse, having it lost and stolen. Yes misuse and abuse does include dropping it. Though some places will say if you drop it and there is no physical damage it will be covered. Personally if you drop you camera don't tell customer service you dropped it.

-Heat Dust & Humidity: So as the comment early said, we do indeed cover these things. Traveling from a cold enviroment to a warmers one, condesation problems? Don't worry it is covered. Sand particles i'm not 100% sure about, depends on the problem i suppose.

-Battery Replacement: Battery can't hold a charge? Bring it in and we'll get you another one. Huge benefit when it comes to lithium ion batteries. I believe you have all 4 years to replace as many times as needed. But only original batteries, so if you buy third party, most likely you won't be able to get that replaced for free.

-Surge protection: Pretty much self explanatory.

So what happens if you buy your camera for $399 and in 3 years it breaks, but buy then the camera sells for 200 and the value has depreciated greatly. Well if we can't fix it we replace it with a new model. Since most cameras last on our shelfs for 9 months if that, you get a voucher for $399 towards a new camera. Not to bad, personally i'm hoping my s230 breaks and i can get something new.

For the most part, this plan is great. Everyday we have people come in and out satisfied with the fact they got a free battery or a new camera. Sometimes, depending on the situation we need to send the camera out, but that will all be paid for by us, so no diagnostic or shipping charges will have to be paid for by yourself.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, i'll try to clear up any issues you have.