I like to save money by buying stuff on sale. I usually buy presents for my family, in advance when I find them not when I need them. But as I found out recently, means that the warranties may have expired. Some companies like LG, refuse to consider anything else but the date the product was purchased as the start day for the warranty. This also applies to their appliances.
We bought a new house and purchased all of our appliances during a sale. We lost 3 months of warranty time. My wife bought me a LG GPS and put it away for Christmas. Of course the GPS failed just before Christmas this year and wasn't covered anymore. Our LG fridge failed within a year of use, but wasn't covered because the warranty started the day we bought it.
So if you are into saving money like us, always check the fine print, otherwise the bargain just doesn't exist.
By Peter from Ontario
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To prevent this, if you know you are not going to be using the item right away, purchase the "extended warranty", that way you're covered. I know this sounds "un-thrifty", but in the long run, it will save you money if the item doesn't work.
I worked the return desk at a major retailer for a number of years, and it was amazing how many people I had to turn away because their return period had just ended, and the computer system would not allow us to do anything for them. If they had purchased the extended warranty, they would have been able to get repairs or, often times, a brand new item.
One additional note: if you do purchase the extended warranty, be sure to keep up with your receipt. I always advised my customers to make a photo copy of their receipt because the thermal paper that most receipts are printed on would be unreadable after a year.
I ran into this issue last Christmas. I don't regularly shop at Kohl's but I was Christmas shopping with a friend and I liked what I saw. I opened a credit card and signed up for their rewards program. I was looking forward to using some Kohl's cash after Christmas.
I bought iPhone charging cables at Kohl's for stocking stuffers for the whole family. We always seem to be losing or breaking them. I got them maybe a week before Christmas. One of the four didn't work so I packaged it back up and planned to return it. The holidays are always packed so I probably didn't get to returning it until after New Year's.
Kohl's refused to accept the return. It was two days past the return window of 14 days for electronic devices. Most items had a window of 30 days so I had no idea. What if I had bought items in late November? So they lost me as a customer. I have not been back to that store since and I cut up the credit card. I really prefer yard sales and thrift stores for most things but I always buy new for Christmas.
The extended warranty is a good idea if it is a big purchase, especially if it covers accidents. Just be sure to keep track of the receipt and paperwork necessary.
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