AmEx Buyer’s Assurance Warranty Extension Program
Tip It!You may or may not know this, but a number of credit card issuers automatically provide an extended warranty on most purchases. Take American Express, for example… Under their Buyer’s Assurance Plan, AmEx doubles the manufacturer warranty up to a full year, subject to certain limitations. So if the item in question has a six month manufacturer warranty, it’s covered for a year if you use your AmEx. If you’re on the fence about buying an extended warranty, this can be a great alternative. Read on for details…
Just keep in mind that not everything is covered. Here are some examples of things that are excluded:
• Items without a valid US warranty.
• Used, rebuilt, refurbished, or remanufcatured items.
• Motorized vehicles.
• Motorized devices that used for agriculture, landscaping, demolition, or construction.
• Animals or living plants. (Apparently dead plants are covered?)
• Consumable or perishable items. (So pot isn’t covered but other dead plants are?)
• One of a kind items that cannot be replaced.
• Products with warranties in excess of five years.
There are also a number of circumstances that are not covered, including:
• Natural disaster.
• War or hostilities of any kind (e.g., invasion, rebellion, or insurrection)
• Illegal activity or acts.
• Radioactive contamination.
So if you’re using your motor vehicle to steal nuclear reactor cores and it ends up getting hit by a tornado and contaminated with radiation, it’s quadruply not covered. But if you’re buying normal stuff for normal reasons, then this can be a great deal.
Published on August 4th, 2006 - 4 Comments
Filed under: Credit Cards
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
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August 4th, 2006 at 10:50 am
I used to have a friend who liked to buy things on his Amex and brag that he could go kick that new TV down the stairs now and they’d replace it. I didn’t want to test it though since it was my TV that he’d put on his card and I’d given him a check for…
August 4th, 2006 at 10:17 pm
I got my computer fix for free by my mastercard credit card. I had to fill out a form and send them about 6-7 different pieces of info but I got my check very fast and there CSR were good.
August 7th, 2006 at 5:35 am
Keep in mind that, for example, a lawnmower, chainsaw, or weedwhacker would be a “motorized device used for [...] landscaping”. The exclusions cover other things that normal people might buy with an AmEx card too. So it doesn’t quite cover everything, and before depending on it, you should check and make sure it actually covers the item in question. But it can be a good deal nevertheless.
And it’s CERTAINLY a better deal than those rip-off “extended warrantees”. When stores are making so much money off of them that they can stay open despite _losing_ money on every sale of an actual _product_, you know that buying one is unlikely to prove a good deal.