When buying an expensive electronics item, such as plasma screen or a DVD player, it’s important not only to shop around for the store that has a good return policy and customer service, but also to pay attention to the credit card you’ll use to pay for it.
Pretty much all American Express cards, Visa signature cards, and MasterCard Gold and Platinum cards are subject to automatically doubling up your warranty on electronic items purchased with them. The trick? You have to pay for item entirely with the same card, and find out the right number to call from your cardmember’s agreement.
The warranties usually exclude items such as cars, but are more than suitable for electronics. Here’s how American Express explains it:
Double Your Warranty – For example if you have a six-month manufacturer’s warranty, we will add another six months. If you have a one-year manufacturer’s warranty we will add one additional year.
Here’s how Visa explains its benefits:
Purchase Guard will double the manufacturer’s original United States (U.S.) warranty period for covered purchases with a warranty duration of 1 year or less
Some of the biggest US card issuers, Providian, Washington Mutual and Citibank, use MasterCard for their regular debit and credit cards. Here’s how MasterCard explains the policy (the quote is from CitiBank):
Extended Warranty is a special benefit offered to Citi Platinum and Gold MasterCard Cardmembers. This service enables you to make a claim for repairs if the original manufacturer’s warranty has expired on an item you purchased on your MasterCard card. Your claim must be made within the Citibank Extended Warranty period (double the time of the manufacturer’s warranty, up to one additional year). No registration is necessary.
All of this makes a good point about purchasing an extended warranty. Many times that’s the only source of pure profit for the retail outlet, and hence the heavy sell by the store reps. Don’t forget that if you buy an electronic item that comes with a 1 year warranty, and you pay for it with the right card, you get pretty much an extended 1 year warranty for free.
I’ve used the AMX guarantee and it was a breeze. I reported that my expensive home theater remote had died, they opened a case, and my card was credited within a couple of weeks. The same remote had dropped about 40% in price, so I bought another one at a much lower price.