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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > iPhone, iPad & iPod > iPod shuffle: $10 warranty worth it for 1GB?

iPod shuffle: $10 warranty worth it for 1GB?
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iLikebeer
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Mar 1, 2005, 07:15 PM
 
The local Best Buy is getting in some 1GB shuffles tonight and I'm going to pick one up for my gf. They sell a 3 year warranty for $9.95. I know people criticize Best Buy for pushing warranties on people, but $10 seems like a pretty good deal for something that costs about $165 with tax. Any thoughts or advice?

Does anyone have any experience w/ actually getting replacements or fixes from them? Do they actually live up to the agreement?

OT: and what's up with Apple screwing over local apple resellers. The only mac store in my small town still hasn't gotten any shuffles in. After going in many times over the last few weeks, she has finally started telling people to go to Best Buy or Target, both of which have already gotten several shipments.
     
iREZ
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Mar 1, 2005, 07:50 PM
 
I don't know bout their warranty's. I have a friend who swears by em....so I would think that $10 is worth it. I have a $25 gift card...looks like I found what to use it on. I'd get the 1gb but because Best Buy doesn't offer education prices I'll have to get the 512MB for $83 and that's including tax.
NOW YOU SEE ME! 2.4 MBP and 2.0 MBP (running ubuntu)
     
TailsToo
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Mar 1, 2005, 10:24 PM
 
Most of the time, if you have a problem and have the warranty, the retailer won't hassle you about returning it for a working unit. (or repair) For $10, it seems to be a good deal. For that price, if it breaks they would probably just give you a new one.
     
Mithras
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Mar 1, 2005, 10:47 PM
 
This is my take:
Insurance (and for-pay warranties) exist because on average, companies make money selling them. They do so by calculating the risk that a customer will make a claim, and the average dollar amount of such a claim. They make sure that the amount they charge you is large than the product of those numbers.

From the customer's perspective, over the long run, insurance is a losing game. It is only worthwhile if you cannot afford the possible catastrophic costs that are covered.

In the case of your iPod shuffle, I rather doubt that you can't afford the replacement cost. In fact, you can also afford to be without an iPod shuffle if it came to that. So by the very nature of the setup, an extended warranty is a losing proposition for you.

BUT: There are two exceptions to this rule:

ONE - Insurance is worth it if you are a high-risk customer, i.e. someone who on average will get more from the system than you pay in. Usually, insurance companies try to identify high-risk customers and charge them more, so that they can make money even on high-risk customers.

In the warranty world, it's very rare to charge more for "risky" customers. So if you think you are extremely accident-prone, you may be someone who would come out ahead with a warranty.

TWO - If the peace of mind of the warranty has some monetary value to you, then that makes it a better proposition.

cheers!
mithras
     
jamil5454
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Mar 2, 2005, 08:26 AM
 
The Best Buy warranty (or "Service Plan") is actually really great. At my local Best Buy they tell me "if ANYTHING happens to it, as long as it's in one piece, we'll repair or replace it." This actually happened to me with a Sony Clie I had. It stopped charging after about a year, and when I took it in to Best Buy (I had purchased the Service Plan) they didn't carry my model anymore. So guess what? I got a newer model for the same price. The new one could play mp3s and whatnot. I was so happy. But then someone stole it. Sigh.

Anyway, I say get the $10 warranty. If you drop it in the bathtub or run over it accidentally then most likely you'll get a new one.
     
iLikebeer  (op)
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Mar 4, 2005, 12:38 AM
 
Well, I finally got into Best Buy tonight, and all of the 1 GB were sold out. I decided to go ahead and get the $10 warranty. She'll prolly do something to break it and it pays out 16 to 1.

She might have to wait for hers, but while looking for the shuffle, I now have a nice 30 GB iPod photo for myself charging on the desk.
I didn't go for the $50 service agreement though, seems like a ripoff.

Only downside is paying the extra $30 for the Dock Connector to USB 2.0 and Firewire to even be able to charge it. Weak apple, really weak.
     
Big Mac
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Mar 4, 2005, 01:52 AM
 
Apple apparently has the capacity to sell more iPods, so it is doing what it has to in order to lower the price per unit. One of the ways to accomplish that is to reduce the number of accessories included.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
   
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