Hi all, I want to but a new Beko CDA563FW White 10.5 cu ft Frost Free Fridge Freezer. At Curries it is £279.99 they say was £329.99 This is the biggest volume Freezer (5.6 cuft) with the outside measurements that will fit in my very small kitchen. I have older separate Fridge and Freezer at the moment but want to make room for a full size electric oven, the fridge is where the oven should be at the moment. The Oven I have chosen is a: Hotpoint EW50 Polar White 50cm Electric Single Fan Oven with separate grill. Curries price £ 329.99 was £349.99
While most people do not like buying at Curries, they are near me and have them in stock.
My main question is, it worth taking out the extra cover they will try and sell me? Many thanks, Mick.
Rarely. Although if you read the section on 'Electricals Haggling' at moneysavingexpert.com, they come up with some useful ideas. Apparently there isn't much profit in the item itself at the big chains because of the tight competition - but the warranties are the real moneyspinners. The staff often have quotas of warranties to sell, hence the high pressure sales push.
You have the legal right to cancel the warranty within 45 days (says the site) so you could agree to take it out and use that as a bargaining chip to get them to be more willing to reduce the price of the item. Or if you do want a warranty get them to discount the warranty instead of the appliance - £10 instead of £100 for the warranty has been mentioned.
I believe other insurers do separate warranties as well, which could well work out cheaper.
Never. If you understand how insurance works, that will be clear. The only things worth insuring are situations you couldnt deal with financially if they went wrong, eg your house or life, and public liability. The other risks you're better off taking.
Quite apart from insurance never being worthwhile, except for situations you couldn't afford (like house burning down), the extra warantee from retailers is usually duplicating the manufacturers warantee, and duplicating your rights against the retailer. With most of these schemes, you could put the money in a savings account, and buy a replacement machine with it in 5 or 6 years. If you decide you need extended warantee cover, it's usually much cheaper to take up the manufacturer's extra cover than the retailer's. The retail staff are paid commission on their insurance sales, which is why they're so pushy about them, and it's also a reflection on the poor value they are.
You might be well advised to buy with a credit card too, as it gives you some extra protection.
I figure that there is no point. Insurance basically takes money from lots of people on the basis that only some will claim. I consider that we have a number of electrical items in the home and only some of them will fail in the near future, I may well be able to carry out repairs, but even if we have to replace, we'll likely pay less than we would have done for insurance policies on everything.
The one exception has been hi-fi equipment (from Richer Sounds) - for instance I paid £18 to insure a £120 tape deck, this gave 10 years warranty, free cleaning and head realignment throughout and a guaranteed part-exchange price of £60 for the first five years.
Worth having a look at the John Lewis website - if they have something to spec then delivery is free (so not being local is a bit less of an issue) and you get a free 2 year guarantee... possible compromise?
Personally, I wouldn't. But then I know someone who certainly go their money worth out of an extended warranty on a hotpoint washing machine :)
Is this something else you understand but nobody else does? The individual decides what's a worthwhile risk and what isn't. "Never" doesn't come into it.
Its very very simple. Lets look at what an insurance company does.
It uses its large database to assess the odds of a claim for each item, and the mean value of a claim
These 2 are multiplied and charged to the customer
It works out its business expenses and divides it by the number of customers - and charges all its customers.
It tots up its marketing budget, divides it among its customers and charges them for it
It works out what the shareholders need to stay happy, divides it among its customers and charges them for it
It works out its amortised buildings costs and divides it by the number of customers - and charges all its customers.
It works out its required profit margin, and charges its customers accordingly.
In reality there is no risk. We all know the appliance wil fail, its just a question of when. And for domestic appliances, we can reasonably conclude the owner expects to afford to replace it when it does. Since the money is available, there is no real risk involved.
And really finally, its basic maths to work out the long term view, take for example 20 years with a house full of appliances, plug in the expected costs with and without extended warranties, and see which one leaves you better off. The answer is evident, and its foregoing those extended warranties.
Only someone that doesnt understand insurance would think such schemes a good bet.
Since we have an appliances category in the wiki, and since buying policies for appliances is already a well established part of the wiki, maybe an article explaining this could go in.
Of course, not everyone *does* have the money available at short notice.
But people who really need a washing machine etc should bear in mind that additional warranty does not guarantee a prompt repair or replacement. It may be far quicker and less hassle to phone up and get a new one delivered next day, than go through the delay and inconvenience of claiming.
Thats due to 1 of 2 things a) insufficient retained income b) or poor management
b) is a decision to be foolish, which anyone can make if they choose. Insurance won't save them from that. a) is made worse by buying insurance, not better. c) if money's that tgiht, it makes a lot more sense to get a 1yr old washing machine with no guarantee.
not only that, on an essential-ish item like a washing machine, but also you often find you end up having to pay _more_ to get it fixed under warranty... parts free, but labour at premium prices.
Either way is a simple financial bet, and its an entirely one sided bet.
True! I have been searching for a new washing machine for a few weeks now before it becomes a necessary distress purchase as my existing one may fail at any time. I've settled on a Siemens 8kg machine. If you go to their homepage you'll find that this model has a 5 year parts/ labour warranty. Yet if you go into Comet etc, they won't tell you this and will still flog you their own. John Lewis, to their credit do have signs with the 5 year deal and will pricematch comet.
Of course, the Meile fanbase will say I should get one of their machines....I have to say I'm very impressed how quiet they are on spin!
No. They make a good profit on it. We've just changed our freezer, bought from Comet over quarter of a century ago. Our fridge is at least 15 years old. It has had a new thermostat (a couple of quid) about 7 years ago.
Put the extra cover premium in your own insurance pot, or have a few beers with it.
An insurance company does what any business does, tries to make a profit. The silly part is allowing Comet or whoever to put their markup on top of the basic premium. I've been an AA member for 35 years, and haven't called them out for at least 25, but I still regard it as money well spent.
They offer home delivery these days - get your alcoholic delivered straight to your door wrapped in plain brown paper.
I think I was an AA member for about 7 years - in that time I had maybe 5 call-outs, every single one of them involving friends' vehicles (handy to have when stranded in the middle of nowhere a basket-case Landy at midnight on a cold winter's night, though :-)
These days I just haul enough tools and random spares around to fix *most* stuff at the roadside.
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