Sony Warranty if you buy from e-bay? Other options?

I'm buying a new sealed Z21 from e-bay (private seller, not dealer). Will Sony honor it's warranty without a receipt if it breaks down? Will they use date of manufacturing as start date without receipt? Or no warranty at all?

If no warranty at all, I can buy warranty from Square Trade. But they don't cover accidental damage. Any other warranties out there for me?

 

Actually, you can get ADH coverage from Square Trade. I've heard so many bad stories about Sony not honoring its warranty, and so many good things about Square Trade (I have 3 of them, but never needed to use them so far), and the ST will cost less. Biggest downside to ST: they are far more likely to give you back your purchase price than to fix the computer.

Others can chime in about Sony warranties, as it might be that the people who post horror stories are a small minority, and most are quite satisfied. Check older threads with self-explanatory titles to hear the "bad Sony" stories.

 

Squaretrade warranties for laptops have ADH up to a certain price point. I believe the cut off for ADH is $2000, so if you're trying cover a Vaio Z, i don't think you'll be eligible for ADH.

 

ADH with State Farm Insurance is $50 per year. This covers ADH, loss and theft.

 

Sony doesn't require you have to buy from their stores or dealers to honor the warranty.
They only requires you to show proof of purchase.
Any payment receipt is good enough to prove your purchase. It doesn't matter where you bought.

 

Thanks for the responses. Square Trade does not offer ADH unless it's a new computer from a dealer. A new computer from a private party doesn't count. I tried going through their website and they only offer regular warranty on e-bay items. Sony's own warranty (ADH) can only be purchased if your buy your computer new from a dealer. No warranty for 2nd party purchases, even if new.

This all does make sense. It protects them from me buying a damaged computer for cheap off e-bay and then claiming warranty. Interesting that State Farm insures it! Can you just buy a warranty from State Farm or is this part of their home owners insurance program?

But how about regular warranty? Does Sony honor those without a receipt and base it on manufacturing date? Or am I SOL on that too? In which case, I'd purchase the Square Trade.

 

You must have receipt to get warranty from Sony within warranty period.
However, you can use any payment receipt such as Paypal receipt.

 

you should call Square Trade, not just go by their web site. I have purchased several new computers from third parties and gotten ADH wttys from ST, though not for a year, so they may have changed policies. Still, you also always get a better price over the phone.

Insurance companies only cover computers in a personal articles addendum to a homeowners or renters policy. It covers ADH, theft and fire, but not product malfunctions like a wtty would. It is extremely cheap to get your ADH coverage via your homeowners - $20/yr (from State Farm, just got the receipt) for an $1,800 computer, then get the wtty coverage for product failure from Square Trade. One caveat: if you make a claim for a destroyed computer, it can raise your overall insurance rates, but certainly not for one claim every year or two.

 

I just called Square Trade. They will add accidental damage only if the computer is listed as new on E-bay. But it still wouldn't add the one I'm buying (which is new in a sealed box). The rep did more research and found that Square Trade will NOT do accidental damage for any laptop over $2,000. I can just buy the regular warranty (3 years for $250).

Guess I'll have to call my renters insurance program.

 

Sony service in action.

 

Ouch! I better delete that Excel file that has all my passwords!

I just contacted my renters insurance company (Progressive). For $12/year, they can add a computer policy that will cover my laptop for accidental coverage. The bad part is that my general $500 deductible applies to that as well. And they didn't have any plans with lower deductibles. Guess this is the best I'm gonna achieve when I buy from e-bay.

 

Try another insurance company. Many have zero deductible on scheduled items (which the computer would be) regardless of the overall policy deductible.

 

For all those looking to get a policy through their insurance company, State Farm offers an inland-marine policy ($45 per year) that has a $100 deductible totally separate from your owners/renter policy. This way if you have to make a claim, it will not boost your rates.