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Report: #340549

Complaint Review: SquareTrade Warranty Services - San Francisco California

  • Submitted:
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  • Reported By: Honolulu Hawaii
  • Author Confirmed What's this?
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  • SquareTrade Warranty Services 575 Market St. 10th Flr San Francisco, California U.S.A.

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Just about 2 years ago, I purchased a Sony laptop on ebay. Soon after winning, I received an email offering me a 3 year warranty from Squaretrade for $129.00. I thought it was a good deal and purchased the warranty. At the beginning of this year (2008), the laptop's internal fan became very noisy when it started running when the laptop got to a certain temperature.

On April 11, 2008, I called for service. I was able to verify all information asked except for the ebay item number. Because I was unable to verify the ebay item number, I was refused service.

On June 11, 2008, I called for service again. This time I had the ebay item number handy and was forwarded to a technician. After I explained my problem, I was told that I needed to follow the manufacturer's suggested maintenance which was having the fans cleaned every year.

In effect, they were asking me to send my laptop to a service facility and spend more money on top of the cost of the 3 year warranty and that I needed to show proof of this service with a service invoice before they would help me. This does not make any sense to me. If this is true, why buy the 3 year warranty in the first place.

I asked to speak to a supervisor, and he stood firm on what the tech told me and I ended up not getting helped with my problem.

Lionel
Honolulu, Hawaii
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 06/16/2008 04:34 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/squaretrade-warranty-services/san-francisco-california-94105/squaretrade-warranty-services-service-provider-did-not-service-my-laptop-under-the-warrant-340549. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
8Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#8 Consumer Suggestion

Amazon

AUTHOR: HighYieldConsultant - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, March 28, 2012

I was considering a computer through Amazon because of the warranty option via Square Trade.

My usuage is high on my laptops, about 5 to 6 hours a day so after 2 years they seem to all have 'issues'.

I had previously bought my warranties directly from HP and have had an excellent consumer experience but the pricing per warranty is higher than Square Trade.

However, 'everything' is covered with HP's waranty and the service time is really amazing for door-to-door service so I think I will stick with them even though the pricing is higher. It is worth it to have a no exclusions type of service.

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#7 Consumer Comment

Please post this on Amazon

AUTHOR: Arrie - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, August 19, 2011

Please post this complaint on Amazon.com.  I started to purchase this service based on the reviews that are there then I came here and saw all the complaints.  On Amazon this company has five stars and no negative reviews.  Please help other know of your experience.  Thank you

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#6 Consumer Comment

extended warranties

AUTHOR: Kevin2110 - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, June 12, 2011

Extended warranties are a profit maker for the insurance companies and for all the retail commissions that are generated for each sale.  I don't purchase extended warranties for electronics because the item is old and obsolete in about six months.  Maybe you can have the OEM help you and waive the repair fees with the issue you describe.  From what you also describe, the extended warranty picks up after the OEM warranty expires.

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#5 Consumer Comment

All apologies Squaretrade.

AUTHOR: squaretradeowner - (United States of America)

POSTED: Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Oops. It was a late night at the end of a shift. I misread the opening article. I thought you denied fixing his computer (i.e. a processor problem) because he hadn't serviced his fan. I hope I'm not giving you any ideas. 

I completely understand and agree with squaretrades position on this. Clean your computer man. It is just a few (ok maybe twenty or so) screws.

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#4 Consumer Comment

say it aint so: owner of six squaretrade warranties is horrified by this

AUTHOR: squaretradeowner - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, August 19, 2010

I've bought six separate squaretrade warranties, but apparently and thankfully never had to use any of them. I will be returning my most recent warranty, and will stop recommending the service. This is reprehensible. 


I actually clean my motor fans personally, but I can't think of another person I know who does this, or who has had one of their expensive best buy or apple care warranties refused for a reason this petty, or really any reason excepting water damage on a product without damage protection.

I was a squaretrade believer because I also felt it could hold companies accountable for bad products (like Xbox ring of death). 

Please post and help this owner in deservingly tarnishing squaretrade's reputation, which I thought was good. It hurts to be him, hope none of my stuff breaks, because I really don't trust them after reading this and the employee's response affirming a denial based on a clear technicality. It isn't as if maintenance programs for laptops even existed.

My only hesitation in being even angrier with squaretrade, is that I also always purchase accidental damage protection. I wonder if not doing maintenance no one does would punish me here as well. It sounds like they might scam here as well. 

Shame on squaretrade.
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#3 Consumer Comment

and i thought squaretrade was actually honest. *sigh*

AUTHOR: kristixs - (USA)

POSTED: Saturday, July 03, 2010

Having purchased a warranty from squaretrade in the past for my washing machine after reading good reviews of their service, I now see thanks to this report that they are like any other insurance company in that they look for any possible way to avoid fulfilling their contracts. I am disappointed to see this. It seems very obvious to me (and im sure to most other laptop owners) that laptops are difficult (and expensive if paying a shop to do the service) to disassemble for cleaning. Furthermore, if the owner is capable of doing this service themselves, they still would not have receipts to document it was done, so there would be no  way to prove it to squaretrade. Asking someone to spend a minimum of $25 - 50 in service fees for laptop disassembly per year is rediculous, and the fan replacement service needed for this customer would cost about the same as what squaretrade wants customers to spend for cleaning each year so why not cover it and keep their customer? That is horrible service. I will not be purchasing warranties from this company in the future if this is how they treat their customers.

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#2 Consumer Comment

I fail to see how a laptop's CPU or case fan going out is "normal wear and tear".

AUTHOR: Moriah - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, June 11, 2009

As a computer technician and the owner of many laptops over the years, I have had several laptops repaired/replaced for heat issues under warranty.

I have never, and I do mean NEVER, been told by any warranty or service provider that case or CPU fans are user serviceable. The "cleaning" that most reputable companies recommend is blowing out the vents with canned air at least once a month, more often if you smoke around your computer or have pets.

Theoretically, the user could simply wait until the fan stopped working completely. This will, in most cases, cause the CPU to overheat to a degree that it must be replaced along with the fan. This would cost the warranty provider more money than replacing case and/or CPU fans when the bearings start going out -- which is what it sounds like is happening in this gentleman's case.

After reading this report I will certainly not be using SquareTrade's services for a warranty on a laptop, if they refuse to replace a CPU or case fan that is failing. That is an internal part, very different from a keyboard that needs cleaned or a battery that is a consumable part by nature.

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#1 UPDATE Employee

SquareTrade is committed to great customer service.

AUTHOR: Jill - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, July 24, 2008

No matter how much we want to make our customers happy, we unfortunately can't approve every claim. We'd love to, since we pride ourselves on our great ratings from our customers, but we also have to make sure we're being fair and abiding by the rules of our warranty policies.

Since our product is a warranty and not a prepaid maintenance program, we can't approve claims for normal device maintenance or normal wear and tear. Much like we wouldn't be able to pay for new batteries, keyboard cleaning, etc, we aren't able to cover this particular issue.

I can personally assure you that we really do everything we possibly can to make our customers happy because our satisfied customers contribute significantly to the success of our business.

Regards,

SquareTrade Jill
http://blog.squaretrade.com

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