Envy owners, HP total care worth it?

Hi all,

did a quick search and couldn't find a specific thread for this for the Envy specifically. I will be buying an hp envy 15 in the upcoming few months, and would like this computer to last ideally 5 years. Unfortunately, HP doesn't seem to have a very good track record, so i was thinking about buying the HP total care for 3 years. Unfortunately, it's not cheap

How many of you purchased HP total care extended warranty for your HP envy? Who here has dealt with them during the extended warranty time, if something bad happens would they replace my laptop with a new or fixed one?

thanks.

 

I recommend that you consider Squaretrade for the warranty. If you can settle for 2 years of coverage, then Costco has a 2 year Accidental Damage+Lojack warranty for just $100.

 

How does this Costco warranty work? You buy online from HP, then go to Costco to buy a warranty? Does this work on any HP laptop?

 

I got the three year total care + warranty on my envy. It was a refurb, so I really wanted to make sure I had good coverage. FWIW, I was able to talk the price down $50 from the website price.

This thread has someone who has had multiple machines with total care+ accident coverage and made claims and had good service, etc.

 

I purchased the Costco warranty. You have to buy it within 30 days of your laptop's purchase date. It also has to be for a new HP laptop. And you can only order the warranty online; they send you a package in the mail and you activate it on your laptop. Definitely worth it though considering HP asks $270 for that package.

Also, if you use Amex you get an additional year of warranty for free. I think some other credit cards also do this.

 

Do you just wait until your laptop arrives or do you activate it before hand?

 

what is included in the costco warranty?
The HP total care warranty seems pretty good, as it protects it from drops/spills/surges.

Hypothetically speaking, if i "accidentally" spilled a cup of coffee over it and fried the internals, i should be covered to get a new replacement as long as I am in the extended warranty period. It could mean that you are indirectly buying another 'future' hp laptop for about $350.

 

I take it you have to be a CostCo member though? It'd cost an additional $50 membership on top of their warranty then to join right? Anyone have a link to where you can sign up? I don't see it on their website. Does it cover accidental damage? That's what I'm most concerned about.

SquareTrade will cost you $399 if you want accidental damage protection. Steep price IMHO.

edit: Here it is I think: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...2 year accidental&Ntt=2 year accidental&Nty=1

I might have to do this. $100 for 2 years of accidental coverage is more than worth it.

No membership required. Only $5 surcharge for non-members. Do you have to get the package installed within 30 days of receiving your laptop or only buy it within 30 days? Because if I buy it now, I am at day 24, and they say it takes 7-10 days to get the package.

edit edit: Just bought it. Can't pass up $111.29 for two years with accidental damage. I repaired my Sager myself from a small spill. Just the keyboard and trackpad alone cost me over $100.

 

The Costco deal definitely seems worth it. If you buy the notebook with AMEX, does that extend the warranty to 3 years? Or is the warranty extension only on the manufacturer's warranty?

 

Is it within 30 days of purchasing it or receiving it?

edit: Ordered it. Used my parents costco account. 106.99 shipped

 

I have heard that the "housecall" service is a waste of money because they only fix very simple issues and if it is any sort of serious problem you would still have to ship your laptop to HP.

I was fortunate to get the accidental damage protection with bing cashback at 30% off.

 

Better be date of receiving it, I'm sure it is. They aren't clear which it is, so I'll be sure to give them a piece of my mind if it says I'm not eligible. I just checked and I think I ordered it like 31 days after I placed my order, but it's only 18 days after receiving it.

It just says:

" The service plan must be purchased within 30 days of your NEW HP."

I see no fine print anywhere other than that.

edit: Oh crap, this pdf file says "purchase up to 30 days from laptop purchase date".

Of course could this be date I placed order, date it shipped, or date I received it? It's one thing to buy it at a store, another if you order it.

 

Just had a chat with HP.

HP : "the ADP or Accidental Damage Protection plan, for this matter, all of the extended warranties here at HP can be purchased within the first year from the date of laptop purchase."

She said the 30 days most likely refers to the lojack. Also, the said the purchase date is the date you placed the order, not when you received it.

HP: "This is why it is advisable to purchase it within the first month, because you would not want to miss on the coverage of the extended warranty.

It is only advisable, not mandatory.

However, the time frame for a customer to purchase an extended warranty is only one year from date of purchase.

If the extended warranty is purchased after one year of purchase, this will be invalid.

Me: Okay, just to make sure. I could purchase the extended warranty past the first 30 days correct?

HP: Yes."

 

That's from HP, not from Costco though.

The more I thought about it, it also doesn't make sense that you'd pay for a warranty on something you don't even own yet. Kind of like paying car insurance on a car you ordered from the factory but didn't get it until a month later. I don't think that's legal. Seems you would be covered from day you received your product. I understand if you waited 30 days to buy the insurance or warranty, because you physically owned the product and decided against it. But before then you did not.

 

Also wondering about this. I bought the laptop with an AmEx card to get the free warranty extension, how does that interact with the Costco warranty? Does anyone know?

 

I'm also curious about this. Does anyone have any additional information? I'm going to buy it either way but getting that additional year would be perfect as it gets me completely through undergrad.

 

Doesn't matter if its from costco. It's still a warranty from HP. They told me I could extend the warranty anytime through the first year. Doing it in the first 30 days is recommended because the warranty will only count from the date of purchase of the laptop. For example, If you bought it in month 11, you dont get an extra 2 years, you get 2 years from the purchase of your laptop.

Also, it says # Service must be purchased within 30 days of laptop purchase for the same package we bought from Costco, but on HP's website. When I asked her about that, she said the same thing, that it is only recommended, not required.

For the Amex warranty, Im pretty sure you get the 1 year from HP, and then an extra year from Amex itself. In the year for Amex, I think you have to get it repaired and pay for it, and the Amex reimburses you. I am not sure about that though, never dealed with an Amex warranty. If you buy the 2 year warranty from HP, I don't think you get another year from Amex. It'll just be the 2 years you bought from HP because I think i read it only extends up to two years.

 

Ok, so the 30 days is recommended, and not required? Although saying "must" sounds definite.

From the purchase date still doesn't sound right. I can see from manufacture date even, but having a warranty on something that doesn't even exist yet I don't believe is legal. I'll have to contact them myself, before my 21 days are up on Monday, because stuff like this ticks me off so much it's not even funny. What if a part is backordered and it takes six to eight weeks before your machine is even built. Sounds kinda fishy to me.

 

I just contacted them, and they said it is from date the order was placed, just to confirm your exchange. I gave them a hard time about warrantying something that didn't even exist yet, and asked them to eliminate the word "must" from "MUST be purchased within 30 days of laptop purchase date". Yeah, I'm a butthead, but I don't care. I think I'll get in the warranty business and start selling warranties for things I promise to warrant for six months and get it to them six months and one day later.

 

So you DO have a year to buy the warranty from costco and not 30 days?

 

That's what they told me and previous poster. They specifically said it's not a "must" within 30 days. But the warranty starts from the purchase date.

 

Question answered thanks.

 

Read the first page. COSTCO

 

I received my care pack today and had a hell of a time trying to register it... It wouldn't register online so I had to call in (Call 18004076210 to avoid being transfered 12 times).

When I got on the phone, they registered it fine. Warranty starts the day you received your laptop so Im set until 7/30/2012.

One weird thing is that the product number under my battery was different from the one listed on my order status? They fixed it in their system to the one that's under the battery but I found that a little weird.

 

That's strange. I wonder if all envy owners have problems like this when registering an adp

 

So which is it then? HP says date you order your laptop, your ADP plan says date you received it. Nice. Another inconsistency from HP.

 

I know, I'm so confused too. I love HP's organization...

 

Oh yeah, by the way asdad123 mentioned product number was different. Mine is too. That screwed up something earlier with HP and my Envy 14 too. They said my system didn't exist until I checked my invoice and it said something different.

By the way, if you press fn+ESC you can bring up system information for your machine, and it should show serial number, product number, BIOS, etc. (thanks to someone else for that little tidbit of help can't recall the user).

Or go to your Start Menu HP directory and HP Support Assistant and it should be listed there too.

 

Just got mine in the mail today. Activated both the HP ADP and LoJack online without an issue. Make sure you use your product code found by either:

- pressing fn+esc
- Start Menu / HP / HP Support Assistant

The one there seems to be the correct one and is most likely different from the one on the sticker on your laptop or invoice.

The warranty didn't show start date, but LoJack was good from the date of install for 2 years. They have a premium upgrade for $9.95 that I did. I guess that offers better recovery options and will wipe your drive in the event it is stolen and you report it.

 

Does anyone have any comment on whether or not a total care warranty is a good idea? I realize that having protection for your equipment in general is a good idea, but I'm not sure if I want to pay ~$180 for a year of coverage. I know that Costco at one point was selling HP envy warranties for really cheap but I stupidly missed that. Does anyone know of any place that I can get an HP totalcare package warranty for cheaper than $180?

 

The CostCo link no longer works and I can't find it by searching the CostCo website. Have they stopped selling computer warranties? I wouldn't think so, but I can't find anything on their website.

 

I can't find it either. I was just about to buy it, too. When I called in, they told me that they don't have any knowledge on when or if it is coming back in stock.

 

LOL, "in stock"? It's a warranty. You wouldn't think they would have stock problems.

 

Yeah I tried looking for the costco warranty for someone else and it said that it wasnt available anymore haha..my warranty actually arrived today luckily I ordered it like a day before it came off the site. Registed without any problems, Envy14 is protected for 2 years =)

 

Sorry to bump a slightly old thread, but how good is Squaretrade's warranty, and how late can you sign up for it? I'm considering getting it now that I realized that the limited warranty is fairly limited, but I think I've had my laptop for some time now. Is it just the thing where if you have problems they'll refund you for any repairs you need?

 

Squaretrade is very good. They will attempt to fix it, but if it's beyond repair, you will likely get a full refund. They are pretty fast too from what I've heard. Of course since it is third party, it isn't as good as HP's total care, but if you need a 3 year warranty, Squaretrade should be pretty good.

 

I honestly didn't think it would be worth it, but I'm impressed with the In-Home house call service. My wife spilled some iced tea on her laptop and HP sent a tech out to our house within 24 hours.

 

if i did get warranty would the "HP 2-year Care Pack Accidental Damage Protection Service with LoJack for Laptops" be good enough?

 

IMO, ADP is worth the added cost if your total warranty is still less than 20-30% the cost of your laptop.

I'm not as familiar with the LoJack service. If I understand correctly, it doesn't work if the person who steals your laptop wipes the drive, which I imagine is likely the first thing a laptop thief would do.

 

LoJack is part of your system BIOS. It can't be deleted, and if its stolen and reported LoJack can wipe the drive for safety sake. If someone adds a new hard drive or whatever LoJack will still be in effect. I think it can disable the laptop altogether too.

 

I don't bother with any extended warranties, ever.

 

It all depends on cost. I think they are way overpriced usually. I got the CostCo one for $100 for two years that is ADP and LoJack. That is very reasonable. On another laptop I had a spill and only had to replace the keyboard and touchpad myself and that set me back ~ $130. ADP would have covered that. But most are like $300. For <$150 for two years I think is a decent deal.