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Extended Warranties on caving cameras?

PostPosted: Dec 22, 2009 12:46 am
by Steven Johnson
Normally, I avoid "extended warranties" when buying all electronics, as they tend to be a massively overpriced scam... however, I'm about to invest in a new camera that I'll be bringing in caves, and I'm wondering if this might be an exception. In particular, a few places (eg, B&H Camera, Best Buy) offer extended warranties that explicitly allow for "accidental damage", including drops, dust, and moisture damage.

Anyone have any experience with getting repairs/replacements on caving-related damage for cameras?

Re: Extended Warranties on caving cameras?

PostPosted: Dec 22, 2009 10:39 am
by DementedCaver
Somebody in my grotto told me about an experience he had with what I believe was a video camera and the extended warranty that he purchased. After just a couple of trips his fancy camera was trashed and he took the thing back to the store and told them about what he did. He told me that they essentially gave him his money back dropped the warranty and told him not to come back. Yet again...he comes up with alot of good stories around the campfire when he is totally off of his rocker....but he has said this one several times so it must be true. :roll:

Re: Extended Warranties on caving cameras?

PostPosted: Dec 22, 2009 11:35 am
by Phil Winkler
The Wall Street Journal just did an article on these and their advice was to read the extended warranty very carefully first. Then consider the cost vs. the risk vs. the new cost of the camera. In general, they said that extended warranties are not worth it.

Re: Extended Warranties on caving cameras?

PostPosted: Dec 22, 2009 5:24 pm
by NZcaver
This topic gave me a chuckle. :clap:

Like Phil said, read the fine print. If I was returning something or making a claim, I wouldn't mention caves or caving specifically. Better to act like a dummy and say "it's broken" or "it stopped working" and give a dumb grin :big grin: and a shrug :shrug:

I've claimed on camera damage using travel insurance, but it wasn't cave damage that time. My wife just got a new compact digital for herself from Radio Shack. (It's pink, because she doesn't want me 'borrowing' it to take caving like I keep doing with the last camera we got her.) She got the extended warranty, and the guy at the store gave us some spiel about damage. I didn't pay too much attention to the fine print because it's probably never going caving. I think if you drop it they'll fix it, but if it looks really trashed they might not pay out. We mainly got the warranty because they provide a new battery for free each year for 3 years. And the warranty cost about the same as one battery, so it was really a no-brainer.