Nearly every gadget we purchase has a warranty and while it may look like a cause for peace of mind, many will argue against it. This is because there are countless stories of people who actually never benefited from the warranties despite having paid hefty sums for the gadgets they purchased. The question that therefore begs for answer is, can you trust gadget warranties? Probably not!
Cost already covered
When you walk into a store and purchase your favourite phone or laptop, you do not usually have the time to question the justice or rationale of the pricing. This is because even if you did, the manufacturer will not be there to answer your questions and even if they are available, they will easily confuse you with the perceived high production cost that makes that gadget fetch that much. Unknown to many of us, the cost of the warranty may have already been covered in the initial price of the gadget. This is evident in the fact that gadgets that come with longer warranties always cost more.
Will you actually be that careless?
Manufacturers and dealers know all too well that the costly a gadget is, the more likely we are to protect and handle it with care. For this reason, a warranty will just be included in the package as an unnecessary attraction and a mere formality, as they know all too well that it will take really the unusual to have you scratch your state-of-the-art Smartphone.
Same principle as insurance
It is also important to note that the parameters defining how a warranty is settled are the very ones used for ordinary insurance covers. This means that in the event the gadget is damaged, stolen or lost, you may have to try for eternity to get the dealers and manufacturers believe that the loss or damage was through no fault of your own. If you are not tough enough, you may just have to settle for a lesser quality gadget than the one you originally had.
Do you actually need a warranty?
If there was a way the hidden cost occasioned by the warranty would be scraped off the price of every gadget, then many people would argue that it is of no use. This is because like any other insurable risk, the risk almost always never happens, which means the dealers and manufacturers have the last laugh in this.
What is the extent of the warranty?
It is amazing how many people have purchased gadgets that purportedly had warranties, only for them to lose or damage these gadgets to find out the warranty was not comprehensive in the first place. It is not unusual, for instance, to find that most phone warranties do not cover the batteries. This is because the dealers and manufacturers know all too well that the battery will develop problems almost as soon as you purchase the phone. This is a gimmick employed in order for the consumers to pay through the nose for the gadgets and still absorb some of the problems that should be a responsibility of the manufacturers and dealers.
Conclusion
Having looked at the many drawbacks of a warranty, we can safely conclude that warranties are some of the worst scams orchestrated by manufacturers and advanced by dealers. Therefore, can you trust gadget warranties? Probably not!
Sourced from: thewallstreetjournal
Photo: Thinkstock/Saklakova
