Re: Visa extended warranty
- From: "Burt" <sfbjgNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 15:48:50 GMT
I remember your posts on the previous c.c. thread. Prior to that topic I
had completely forgotten about that benefit on my visa card. I guess I owe
you half! I had the broken printer sitting on a shelf for a few months and
had already replaced it. I called about the claim on a lark to see what
would happen and was actually pessimistic about the response. I was
pleasantly surprised to find the service friendly and helpful. Turns out
that I had inadvertantly made the purchase in a way (as described in my
original post) that made the claim invalid. After my complaint they
cheerfully honored the claim as an exception to the policy - not something
they were required to do. I don't know if they reviewed my visa history and
decided that it was an inexpensive way to keep a valuable customer, but they
did say in the letter accompanying the check that this was an accomodation
to maintain good customer relations.
My sense is that if the purchase had been made entirely on the credit card
there would have been coverage without question.
I actually had an experience similar to yours regarding getting a written
estimate. At my request, theVisa rep gave me several repair facilities in
the SF area that they had on a list for electronics repairs. I carried the
printer into one shop after calling ahead and was told on arrival that they
didn't repair inkjet printers. The "boss" wasn't in, and if I would come
back he would probably write an estimate. Not convenient! Not wanting to
carry the printer all over town looking for an estimate, I got on the phone.
My first call was answered by a tech that was most cooperative. Since I
knew the economic reality of getting a printer repaired that was a year and
a half old and could be replaced for $150 or less, I told him the whole
story and he complied by faxing me the estimate without the need to carry
the printer to his shop. I would rather have been able to make one trip to
a Canon authorized repair facility that worked on inkjet printers, but I
don't think many places bother unless the printer is more high end like the
ip9900 or the epson 2200 and repairs would make economic sense.
"Arthur Entlich" <e-printerhelp@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Y2r1g.38297$7a.22452@xxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Burt,
Interesting scenario of which you post.
I was one of the people who was describing my experience with MasterCard's
insurer. I have "had" to use them twice now. Once was a hard drive, the
other a router. In each case they made life very difficult regarding
estimates. Finding someone in my area willing to write a note the cost of
repair on these items was difficult because they are not items that
normally are considered repairable. The insurer
did everything in their power to deny the claims. They ended up telling
me my claims were invalid because the items were "not repairable" and
therefore violated the intent of the policy, which stated they would only
pay for cost of repair, or at their discretion, if economically more
logical, replacement. I finally found a service local (on the router)
that would provide a statement that the cost of repair would be
considerably greeter than the cost of replacement, which was obviously the
case. Even the company that made the product told me they do a direct
exchange on failures and scrap the failed unit.
It was all a dance to try to make me give up, but on principle I resisted
throwing in the towel. In both cases I was eventually paid, but not
without a lot of calls, threats and antagonistic bullying.
Now, on the other hand, I had some goods stolen from our car, and since
they were just purchased by my Visa card, they were covered under their 30
day theft protection plan. The only thing I found a bit invasive was they
required I send them a copy of the coverage section of my home insurance
policy. They only cover things not otherwise covered by other means.
However, once the paperwork was done, the cheque was quick and complete.
Compared to MasterCard's underwriter, Visa was much better, and now I have
started placing my extended warranty items on Visa.
Art
Burt wrote:
Someone had posted a message, several months ago, about difficulty
receiving compensation for a credit card extended warranty. I just
received a check from United Milage Plus Visa for a Canon printer that
malfunctioned some months after the original warranty was over. A few
tips - 1) Either save your receipts and the literature that shows the
manufacturer's warranty or, in the case of my card company, use their
option to register the product soon after you buy it. 2) EXTREMELY
important that you pay for the entire purchase with the credit card. I
had purchased the printer from Amazon. They had automatically applied a
small credit from my account that I have left from a gift certificate. I
didn't realize that a condition of the extended warranty was that the
ENTIRE amount had to be paid on the credit card. My claim was initially
denied, but I wrote a letter indicating that the credit was about $5 on a
$150 purchase and had been applied automatically. I also noted that the
wording in several areas of the description of their insurance was not as
clear as it could be on this issue. Although the insuring company
denied the claim based on this issue, the credit card company honored it
anyway and paid the claim on a one time basis. I would have avoided the
hassle if I had acquainted myself with the terms of the extended warranty
Remember that this is an insurance policy, a contract with specific
conditions under which a claim is paid. It was my lack of knowledge that
caused the delay and not Visa or the insurance company.
Everyone dealing with my claim was friendly and helpful. On the initial
call I mentioned that just taking the printer to a repair facility would
incur a cost, and the rep told me that they would cover this cost IN
ADDITION to the cost of repair as long as the repair cost was no more
than the original cost of the printer, and the evaluation cost would be
reimbured to me in addition to the original purchase price if the cost of
repair was more than the purchase price. There was some difference in
handling purchases that were under or over $100, as I recall. I think
you had to present them with a receipt for the replacement product for
items under $100. At any rate, for anyone who has this benefit on a
credit card I would suggest that you read the details of the policy (not
just the description on the brochure that is used as an inducement to
take the credit card) so you will know what claims would be honored and
how you apply for the claim.
I found that there was a real benefit to being knowledgeable about the
product. I was able to describe the problem I was having with the
printer over the phone with a technician at a repair facility and he was
able to give me an idea of repair costs. They were potentially higher
than the cost of a replacment. He was very accomodating in faxing me his
estimate so that I didn't have to run all over town to find someone who
would either repair it or give an estimate to use for the claim.
This benefit is something about which I had forgotten. For a device with
a limited life, as we know inkjet printers can have, it is invaluable.
Hope this message helps others to replace a glitchy printer, especially
when the cost of repair approaches the cost of replacement.
.
- References:
- Visa extended warranty
- From: Burt
- Re: Visa extended warranty
- From: Arthur Entlich
- Visa extended warranty
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