250213 Warranty

Warranty, to buy or not to buy, that is the question.

I don’t remember when warranties were first offered. The earliest must have been “Life Insurance.” A warranty is a bet the guarantor is betting that you will never use. Suppose you buy a microwave oven as I did yesterday. You take it home, open the big box and begin to use it. Do you save the big box it came in? No, not likely. Many companies require you return that microwave for repair in the box you bought it in. No one keeps the box, so no one sends it back to the manufacturer.

Here’s something I have learned, most equipment failures happen in the first few days. If something lasts through its infancy, 2 weeks, it will last for years.

I have bought many things at Walmart over the last few decades. As long as you have a receipt and it’s not more than 2 weeks, Walmart will take it back and give you a new item or your money back. You can keep the box for 2 weeks without any problem. You don’t have to ship it to the manufacturer. I buy all of my electronics at Walmart. I bought a laptop there recently. It was not as advertised, so I took it back and had no problem returning it in its box. Try buying one online and then having to ship it back.

Walmart will try to sell you a warranty. I never buy one. I’m trying to think if my attitude on warranties has ever failed. I don’t think so.

One last thought, I bought one of the first microwaves sold. It was a GE model that came with a 1 year warranty. At the end of the year GE sent a letter asking if I wanted to buy another year warranty. I did. I kept doing that for about 18 years. I finally quit, and the microwave finally failed. In the meantime I probably ended up buying the microwave twice.

This is my experience; I cannot guarantee yours will be the same. It’s a roll of the dice; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

Bill