Square Trade phone warranty - AVOID! RIPPED OFF!

I don't post many rants but damn it I am gonna post this one. Square Trade is the company that sells warranties for electronics. I bought into it when I purchased my phone at Costco. It was 99.00 for two years of coverage including accidental breakage.

Long story short they replace phones with re-manufactured phones. It seems these phones only carry a 30 day warranty. That is not clear at all in any print large enough to read. That aside the camera on my phone failed. I called in just about 28 days prior to the warranty going out and they could not find my account. They then asked for my Costco member number which I did not have on me as I was on the road.

When I returned a couple of days later they will now not help me at all as I am past the 30 day warranty. Been three hours with BS East Indian reps that do not give a #, been promised call backs that never happen and all in all driven nuts by these jerks.

DO NOT BUY SQUARE TRADE WARRANTIES! I have found quite a few complaints about them and am in the process of adding my own all over the web. If I save one person from being ripped of it will be worth it.

a reply to: Mamatus

Hey hold on slugger. I work for SQUARE TRADE WARRANTIES and I just contacted our legal department. We're suing your ass for slander.

a reply to: Mamatus

Most warranties are a waste of money.

a reply to: Mamatus

What phone do you have?

I see this offered on ebay listings all the time, waste of money IMO.

If buying new from a company by law in the UK all electronic items have a 1 year manufacturer warranty included so if someone really did want a warranty it makes sence to get it after the first 12 month period otherwise your paying a whole year for nothing.
But of course they don't tell you that at the checkout.

I have never bothered with warranties or insurance, on the rare occasion any electronics do break I repair them myself. It's usually a simple fix.

In the last 10 years I have only had 1 DVD player brake and 1 PS3 console both where easy 20 minute fix's.

a reply to: minusinfinity

Lol, The best thing about slander? Is that it is only slander if not true. Posting truth is completely non actionable. Besides I would love to see them try. POS companies like this do not have a walk in office for a reason.....


Update:! I just called Square Trade like a new customer. When explaining the warranty benefits the CSR told me that the re-manufactured phones carried the exact same warranty as a new one. This is in direct conflict with the Square Trade Warranty department telling me 30 days on re-manufactured phones!

SCUMBAGS!

a reply to: Mamatus

NEVER EVER buy the "extended warranty" on any electronics! EVER! It's free money for the store!

1st, you have the companies product warranty. 2nd, you have the stores warranty policy. Stuff doesnt last but a few years anyway. They know it and get your money for nothing!

originally posted by: Mamatus
a reply to: minusinfinity

Lol, The best thing about slander? Is that it is only slander if not true. Posting truth is completely non actionable. Besides I would love to see them try. POS companies like this do not have a walk in office for a reason.....


Update:! I just called Square Trade like a new customer. When explaining the warranty benefits the CSR told me that the re-manufactured phones carried the exact same warranty as a new one. This is in direct conflict with the Square Trade Warranty department telling me 30 days on re-manufactured phones!

SCUMBAGS!

Obviously I was only joking.

I'm sorry you're going through such an ordeal. I wish you luck.

Warranties are or should be a well known scam....

Read the fine print. Anything you do voids the warranty. salesmen get a little extra vig when they can bundle a warranty in the sale.

Not an ordeal, getting shot at with missiles is an ordeal this is just frustrating. Really it is indicative of what customers have become to the big corporates. No loyalty often no common sense. They just figure that they are big enough to absorb the loss of a customer as another idiot will just take his place.

With phone warranties Square Trade was the only game in town unless you bought the service providers version. Just like all insurance it is their "job" to get out of paying.

Bad on me for thinking they gave a crap. However as odd and petty as it is I have spent half the day wasting their time on the phone while still getting work done. The least I can do is take a couple of hundred of their dollars paying people to answer my stupid drawn out questions.

Been calling all day pretending to want a warranty and wasting their sales staffs time and their money. Not all rebellions need be violent.

a reply to: Mamatus


You made me have a flash back of some pc cleaner software I bought a couple of years ago---famous 60 day guarantee or your money back---yeah right
All hogwash!!

Luckily for me, I didn't call, I e-mailed them within a week stating that it made my computer worse and would like to get a refund

Needless to say, they messed around and ignored my requests--several times-- for a refund
Long story short, about the end of the 60 days, they finally said okay and delayed it another day or 2 until finally I got a result, but not the outcome I had expected

The actual company that handles the refunds --Click Bank-- for various sellers told me that I had passed my 60 days and could no longer get a refund
I tried to explain to them that I didn't wait that long, that software company were the ones who delayed

Well, after several futile attempts with click bank via e-mail, I finally located a number for them

And thank God the guy I talked to was very nice [and easy to understand. LOL]
He asked how long ago was it when I requested a refund...I said about a week after purchase
Then he asked if I had any e-mails that had the dates on them prior to the 60 days with that particular request to show it was before the 60 days

And I was like, oh hell yeah
So I emailed everyone of them to him and within minutes, he said I would be getting $40 credit on my card in a few days and sure enough, I got my money back

But what a bunch of BS I had to go through
It wasn't so much about the money but more about the principle of the matter, the company blowing me off for 2 months, yanking me around, purposely trying to keep my money even though I was a dis-satisfied customer

So e-mails do come in handy for proof in certain circumstances over phone calls



Sorry your situation didn't work out for you
As another poster stated, we never get the extended warranty, it's just extra money for the company

Update:! I just called Square Trade like a new customer. When explaining the warranty benefits the CSR told me that the re-manufactured phones carried the exact same warranty as a new one. This is in direct conflict with the Square Trade Warranty department telling me 30 days on re-manufactured phones!

I'd keep calling back in case you hit on a person who knows their policies, regarding your last statement
And keep track on their names, what they say, when you callled
Maybe ask to talk to the Supervisor in charge, who ever is above the people on the phones

I'll remember the name in case any of my friends ask about it tho, tell them to forget Square Trade!!

No way Square Trade is the only way to go if you have kids. I have never been told they won't replace a piece of equipment. That being said for 99 dollars you have to understand you will not get a brand new tablet or phone. So if you did break your equipment and had no warranty then your sol so that being so you most likely got your 99 bucks out of it did you not?

It really just sounds like you had a bad rep and that happens everywhere once in a while.

But please don't slam a company who does great most of the time and more than likely your issue will be fixed.

And to those that buy them and don't use them or just haven't don't tell others not to because they can be god send when your kid drops his ipad down stairs.

originally posted by: NeoSpace
I see this offered on ebay listings all the time, waste of money IMO.

If buying new from a company by law in the UK all electronic items have a 1 year manufacturer warranty included so if someone really did want a warranty it makes sence to get it after the first 12 month period otherwise your paying a whole year for nothing.
But of course they don't tell you that at the checkout.

I have never bothered with warranties or insurance, on the rare occasion any electronics do break I repair them myself. It's usually a simple fix.

In the last 10 years I have only had 1 DVD player brake and 1 PS3 console both where easy 20 minute fix's.

Absolutely correct, and something else I've noticed is those warranties include the 1 year manufacturer warranty, so paying for a two year warranty is a rip because they're only covering the second year.
I often point that out when the store try to talk me into purchasing a two year warranty, you should see their faces when I loudly tell them they're trying to charge me for two years but are only covering me for one year.

You have to have a plan that's has accidental handing because that is where the value is. The warranties that are provided without buying are just for factory defects. But when a 500 Ipad gets destroyed just once and you get a referb vs a hunk of junk you find the value of a 120 dollar 3 year plan.

My plan was for any damage. My issue is not with the damage. It is with being sent a phone with a camera that did not work and being put off by the customer service team until it was too late to get fixed.

I already bought myself a new phone but the plan was to hand this one down to my girlfriend and she uses the heck out of the camera. I don't use it enough to care if it does not work.

a reply to: NeoSpace

OP is talking about ..

Cell phones....

Don't let this underhanded, ankle bitting, deceitful company intimidate you. They have more than 1200 negative complaints with BBB in California alone- 81% of BBB show negative review. Other website show many more complaints against this company. In my own experience they are disingenuous, deceitful, inept, cheats and cannot be trusted. There is a class action lawsuit working its way through the court and hopefully more dissatisfied customers will file complaints with their state Attorney General, the Federal Trade Commission and even the BBB. Don't forget to send a complaint to whomever sold you the warranty. Eventually government agencies will have enough complaints to take action against this company and their vendors may elect to drop selling their warranty. a reply to: Mamatus

You won't be suing anybody. Your as much hot air as the company you claim to work for. There are thousands of complaints against Square Trade. Start suing. You can't prevail against the truth and would likely end up paying everyones legal fees and a penalty to boot. Better get busy there are thousands of dissatisfied customers for your legal department to sue.

a reply to: minusinfinity

originally posted by: minusinfinity
a reply to: Mamatus

Hey hold on slugger. I work for SQUARE TRADE WARRANTIES and I just contacted our legal department. We're suing your ass for slander. I DONT THINK YOUR SUING ANYONE!

You won't be suing anyone for slander. Should your companies legal department entertain such stupidity, get ready to pay everyones legal fees, costs, and punitive damages as they parade hundreds if not thousands to testify against your deceitful company. Your company will be further damaged by a carload of negative press.