Asurion warranties don’t cover much
Asurion protection plans cover items for normal wear and tear, defects in workmanship and materials, and mechanical and electrical breakdowns. If you break it yourself, you’re out of luck. This is pretty standard. The biggest issue with these inexpensive warranties is that they don’t cover much. Dig through the details and you’ll find that they’re simply extended durations of manufacturer defect warranties. That doesn’t mean Asurion is bad or that the warranties are worthless. If you have a device that you plan to use for five years or more, it’s nice to know any defects that pop up will be covered.
The reality
Here’s what you need to know: Most manufacturer defects become apparent shortly after using a device. If it’s something detrimental that could break your purchase, it’ll happen early on. The standard one-year warranty on most products should cover this. Asurion warranties come in handy if the manufacturer issues a warning due to wiring or power issues for electronics since that comes down to a safety issue. These cases are few and far between, though. RELATED: The one word you should never say to a telemarketer or scam caller Instead of only protecting you against manufacturer errors, these plans cover spills, drops, accidents and more. The biggest telltale of a bad warranty is a dirt-cheap price. Asurion warranties typically run a few dollars and are rarely more than $10. SquareTrade warranties are sometimes triple the cost, which in contrast can look like a bad purchase — but they cover much more than standard warranties. The tried-and-true rule applies here: You get what you pay for. Take a peek at the other reviews for that same warranty. You may find a mixture of high ratings and some horror stories about not receiving coverage. Some of these warranties are confusing and rely on users mishandling the product to nullify the warranty. You must remember that companies don’t want to replace the product, which costs them money. They’ll try everything to avoid fulfilling the warranty before they cover problems.
So what should you do?
As we said above, most problems will pop up relatively soon. The standard one-year warranty will cover those issues. Don’t pay for a warranty that doesn’t add any additional coverage. If it doesn’t lower your associated risk with the product, it’s not worth your money. The bottom line is to consider the product’s value vs. the warranty cost. Would you pay $20 to insure something worth $50? When an item costs you hundreds or even thousands of dollars, that’s when you should consider extending the warranty.
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