No Warranty, guess your SOL

[ravevolution]

SC lady comes in today, she had purchased some tires from us bout 2 weeks ago. So she returns cause one of them is loosing air. Heres where it gets interesting, let me elaborate before I proceed.

*So like many places that sell tires we offer a optional Road Hazard warranty that you can purchase for your tires. What it is essentially is a extended warranty where if you get a flat and it's fixable we fix it for free. If it ends up being something where the tires is not fixable (sidewall puncture, blow out, etc) you either get a free tire (just pay some fees) or a pro-ration on a new tire (depends on the tread life of the damaged tire) Road Hazard's are not and do not land under the manufacturers warranty, it's why we offer it.

Some people get it and it serves them well, others don't well this is where this lady's story comes in.

So we tell her (she obviously is aware) that she will be charged to fix the tire which is like 20 bucks. Course she is not happy bout it, but it says on the receipt and computer that she declined the Road Hazard Warranty. Why people come back to us thinking why we should be responsible for the nails and foreign objects that damage tires is another one of those WTF's

We check out the tire and well SUPRISE!!! it's not fixable.

Now in some cases a customer will come in and want to buy the warranty after they have bought tires cause they realize "Hey I spent $$$ dollars for tires, probably good to protect my investment" If a reasonable amount of time hasn't past since their tire purchase, for us it's 14 days, then we will let them get it and let them go on their merry way.

Being this lady realizes she needs to buy a new tire, she wants to now buy the warranty. . . a bit late aren't we? We tell her how we cannot do that and of course this upsets her to bat shit crazyness. "Your guy suck!!! This is BS!!! It's your Tires!!! yadda yadda yadda!!!" All while we have a line of customers that are waiting to have the vehicles serviced.

We 'explain' how she made the choice to not buy the warranty and that basically she is SOL. She could buy a new tire and the warranty on the new one and on her existing 3 tires she bought 2 weeks ago. My CW helping her through his smooth talk calms her down and while I don't know what happened after wards. . . .cause of that lady's scene, every customer that was in line to buy tires purchased the warranty

[Zellie Crescent]

Of course, they didn't want to end up like the stupid lady.

[bhskittykatt]

Seriously? She didn't want to pony up when she first bought the tires? At my tire place, it's like $5 a tire for the road hazard warranty. That's nothing when you consider all the other expenses you just paid for.

(And since my paper route goes through a neighborhood with lots of loud, drunken parties which result in dozens of broken beer bottles across the road, I've definitely gotten more than my money's worth on those warranties!)

[sld72382]

No matter what the product, the people who scream the most about the product breaking are the ones who refuse to buy the service contract.

[BlaqueKatt]

No matter what the product, the people who scream the most about the product breaking are the ones who refuse to buy the service contract.

Personal rule: if it'll cost me over $100 to replace it, I get the warranty/service plan.

[Sapphire Silk]

I almost never buy extended warranties. They are usually not worth it.

But then again, there is that one in a million moment . . .

Sucks to be her. You throws the dice, you takes your chances.

[RxBoy]

I know the feeling. I bought a computer printer a few months ago and it broke just days after the 90 day warranty. I declined to purchase the extended warranty when I bought it, so the store said there was nothing they could do. I certainly didn't get angry with them. Maybe next time I'll buy the warranty if it isn't too expensive.

[DeltaSierra]

Exactly. Panacea - most times I don't bother getting extended warranties, but there are occasions where they have been worth it for me - tires definitely being one of them.

[EricKei]

most times I don't bother getting extended warranties, but there are occasions where they have been worth it for me - tires definitely being one of them.

Same here. I had to buy a full set of new tires back in January, and I got the Hazard thingy. Four months later, went bak to get a tire with a slow leak fixed. Next morning, went right back over at 8am on a Saturday because the SAME TIRE was halfway flat again. It seems that they had neglected to finish re-assembling the stem/cap structure that keeps air in the freaking TIRE >_< Thus, for five bucks a tire, I've already more then gotten my money's worth...

[bsaana]

My wife took our car in to get tires earlier this year (from the only place my family goes to get tires - an awesome bunch of people work there), and she didn't get the road hazard.....

About a week later one goes completely flat while we are driving home. I wasn't upset at the place for her not getting it, I bought a new tire and asked if we could then get the road hazard (although I did ask them to see in their system if it had been purchased).

People just don't want to take responsibility any more.

[Mytical]

Most extended warranties are not worth it, but if it is something 1) Easily breakable or 2) Has a good chance of coming into contact with hazardous conditions..then normally it is a good idea.

Tires fall more in category two. While most tires can be durable, you never KNOW what they might come in contact with that you didn't see or couldn't avoid. It's worth the extra just in case.

Edit : Then again for laptops I get the 'accident' warranty that covers dropping and such..cause I am very very clumsy.

[EricKei]

I did the same on my own laptop -- it even included *liquid* damage, I think o_O

I would add a third category to the list: Anything which is either (a) more expensive to fix than to replace (LCD screens, even on calculators, fall under this), or (b) cannot be fixed by 99.9999% of end-users without risking severe injury (stereo equipment and most other consumer electronics), or both.

[ravevolution]

I myself get the RD Haz. on tires. Even though I have had good luck in not running over stuff that would puncture or damage them *knocks on wood*

With tires I will get a SC who tries to throw the manufacturer defect card to try and wither their way out of self responsibility for not having purchased the extended warranty. But the thing is if a tire is going to be defective which is a 1% chance its going to happen typically within 24 hours of it being driven on.

As for extended warranties in general I always ask what it covers exactly, if it seems the warranty is gonna cause more of a headache than peace of mind I pass on it.

Typically on things like computers/laptops if there is any kind of hicup with the system it's going to happen within the first year, which is typically covered within the manufacturers default warranty. My prior desktop had issues with the front usb ports and after a bit of a runaround with the outsourced overseas tech support they got a guy to come out and fix it in 10 mins.

On things like TV's and expensive electronics it's a bit of a gamble cause sometimes sh*t happens. But nowadays it's good to 'register' your items via online with the manufacturer (you will typically get a postcard with the other crap besides the instruction manual in the box), at least then they know who owns it and usually have their own default warranty.

It's like Mytical said, if it's going to be something that is going to be exposed to potential hazards, it's usually a good idea.

[bsaana]

The place we go to for tires includes tire rotations in the road hazard, and I forget what else. They make it very worthwhile, not to mention they have a great bunch of people there.

[Raveni]

I tend to drive a lot of places filled with road hazards like construction sites and properties in bad repair... I always get the road hazard. I've only had one tire in the last 4 years last until the tread was bad.