Your Thoughts on Accidental Damage Protection + Small Gripe about Dell Customer Service

I ordered my Dell Vostro 1500, which is scheduled to be delivered today or tomorrow. Over the weekend I decided I wanted to add the two year accidental damage protection. For $119 I guess it will be worth it as clumsy as I can be.

First of all, does everyone here find the accidental damage protection a good idea? And also how painful/painless is it if you need a repair or exchange?

Now on to my gripe about Dell:

I decided to call Dell this morning to inquire about adding the damage protection, and manipulated through the button pushing labyrinth to get ahold of someone. First rep said she couldn't help, so transferred me, a few minutes later get to the next rep who says I'd have to place a whole new order if I made an adjustment even though it isn't a hardware change (huh?).
After sounding confused enough she transferred me to their warranty department.

After being on hold for another 5-6 minutes, a dude answers with a meek "yep?" No name, no nothing. I requested adding the two year accidental damage protection. He said I'd have to place a new order (huh?). Then he asked for my service tag (even though I told him it was still in transit). Apparently you can't look up the service tag in their system (huh?). So now I have to wait to get the laptop to add the warranty. <...sigh...>

Well, hopefully my laptop will be trouble free. I guess that's what I get for trying to save a few hundred bucks. At least all the reps were native English speaking.

 

ya I've had a similiar experience where you can't change anything once the order is made till it is delivered or you start over.

You won't have a problem adding it though once you get it.
At least you can check it out first so that you are spinning your wheels and have to return it.

 

Paying 10% of the notebook’s total cost for 2 year complete care is a not a bad move at all. I did it, and even though I have not yet needed it , no regrets, because its worth the peace of mind.

 

1. Peace of mind costs much more than ~0.16 cents a day ($119/24/30) or $4.9 a month. I spend more on coffee every day than what you would spend on your insurance every month. Do you still have second thoughts?

2. I had to call Dell twice. Once the guy came the next business day; the second time I got a part in the mail the next business day. All calls were handled by Dell's customer service in India. After the part was sent, they called numerous times to make sure that it fixed the problem and that I was completely satisfied. Service couldn't be any better!

 

OP: GOOD LUCK with this one. I mean realllly good luck....

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=160417

Thats a thread that I started trying to add the additional year of warranty that they offered when configuring the laptop.

After multiple calls to Customer service, Warranty sales dept, Claims department, managers...I COULD NOT GET IT ADDED ON!

Only option was to return for refund and re-order. I could not believe my ears. How hard can it be? Add additional warranty to my contract, Charge $79 and done.

Good luck.

 

About a month after receiving my 1520, Dell will offer you the complete package for $300.00, 3 year extended warrany/accidental damage, i bought it.

 

I guess I was questioning the validity of the warranty, if it was honored without hassle, easily, and with a quick turn around. For most electronics I tend to buy the extended accidental warranties, depending on cost, because they do help. In the case of my wife's laptop that cost $499 and change out the door, the $129 accident protection on that one wasn't worth it IMHO.

Well that's good to hear, I think. I've used Best Buy's warranties and usually even if it is repairable they always replaced it or gave me store credit for purchase price. Not such a bad deal after all.

 

I started with the one year mail-in (6-2006), added another two years after about a month, and since I planned on extensive travel this year upgraded to complete care this past spring. No hassles and no problems (yet).

 

I took the 3 year, complete care warranty when I ordered my m1330. As others have mentioned, the peace of mind it offers can't be beat.

Having the comfort of knowing that my laptop is safe for the next three years is a huge weight off my shoulders. I don't have to think twice now about whether or not I want to take my laptop out due to potential damage.

 

Just curious, anyone actually claim the accidental care? How is that work?

 

man i hope not

 

Warranties and insurance would not be offered at whatever price they are offered at, if they weren't profitable for the seller. So on the average it is not profitable for the buyer. But these things are not about averages, they are about peace of mind.

Places like Best Buy sell extended warranties that have huge profit margins. That's why they push them so hard, they can't make much money on electronics because of the cutthroat competition so they try to make it up on extended warranties. Dell doesn't do hard sell so much, which means that their warranties are probably a reasonable deal.