Can anyone speak to Cameta's or B&H's extended warranty?

[crimbfighter]

Can anyone speak about any good or bad experiences they've had with either B&H's or Cameta Camera's extended warranties on REFURBISHED products? Do they both tend to be pretty responsive to honoring the warranty and not give the run around?

 

[robbins.photo]

Can anyone speak about any good or bad experiences they've had with either B&H's or Cameta Camera's extended warranties on REFURBISHED products? Do they both tend to be pretty responsive to honoring the warranty and not give the run around?

I've done business with both but I can't speak to their warranty, as I've never had any problems with anything I've bought from either so I've never had to contact them for warranty work or replacement.

 

[The_Traveler]

Warranties are a money maker for the company that offers it.
That being said, if the peace of mind is worth the relative cost to you (repair is an expensive item), I think you can assume that those two companies are good to deal with.

 

[KmH]

The warranties Cameta and B&H add to refurbished gear are not extended warranties a buyer pays separately for.

In the case of Nikon factory refurbished gear, Nikon warranties the gear for 90 days. Cameta and B&H add an additional 275 days of warranty.
What that means is that during that 270 days you send the gear to Cameta or B&H and then Cameta or B&H send the gear to Nikon and pay Nikon to make a repair that would have been covered by Nikon's warranty.

 

[crimbfighter]

The warranties Cameta and B&H add to refurbished gear are not extended warranties a buyer pays separately for.

In the case of Nikon factory refurbished gear, Nikon warranties the gear for 90 days. Cameta and B&H add an additional 275 days of warranty.
What that means is that during that 270 days you send the gear to Cameta or B&H and then Cameta or B&H send the gear to Nikon and pay Nikon to make a repair that would have been covered by Nikon's warranty.

I understand that aspect of their warranties. What I'm referring to is optional extended warrenties. Cameta offers an additional 3 years through Mack Camera for $99, and B&H offers an additional 2 years for $89. I believe B&H is an in house warranty, where as Cameta's is through a third party. I also know Cameta's warranty runs consecutively to the one year they already offer, but I dont know if B&H's is consecutive or concurrent to the initial warranty.

 

[KmH]

The extra cost 3rd party warranties are a great deal for the warranty sellers, because they are almost 100% profit.

 

[crimbfighter]

The extra cost 3rd party warranties are a great deal for the warranty sellers, because they are almost 100% profit.

True, but at the same time, I've personally had electronics fail several years after purchase and the extended warranty paid for itself several times over by covering the repair. To me, $100 is cheap insurance. One shutter failure or AF motor crap out after the initial warranty, and the extended warranty will have paid for itself..

 

[Steve5D]

The extra cost 3rd party warranties are a great deal for the warranty sellers, because they are almost 100% profit.

When I bought my first digital camera; an Olympus P&S, I bought it at Ritz Camera. I think it was four or five hundred bucks. The salesman asked if I wanted the warranty and, initially, I said that I did not. He kept at it, though, saying it covered "everything", and I relented. I think it was an additional $99.00 for three years, or something similar.

After having the camera for about six months, my daughter dropped it and it broke. I went back to Ritz, and walked out with a shiny new Olympus P&S, that was actually an updated model.

I paid nothing further out of pocket.

If you baby your gear, I don't think they're worth it. If you actually use your gear, they can be.

They're no a whole lot different than insurance in some respects...

 

[crimbfighter]

There are definitely people on both sides of the argument, and anecdotal stories for both. Getting a warranty on expensive electronics is a no brainer to me, so that's not the issue. Iwas wondering if anyone has any experience with either of the two warranty companies I mentioned. That's the issue for me. Some companies are good, others are not.

 

[robbins.photo]

There are definitely people on both sides of the argument, and anecdotal stories for both. Getting a warranty on expensive electronics is a no brainer to me, so that's not the issue. Iwas wondering if anyone has any experience with either of the two warranty companies I mentioned. That's the issue for me. Some companies are good, others are not.

Well when people say extended warranties are a huge money maker for the companies that sell them they aren't kidding, but that doesn't necessarily mean that having an extended warranty is a bad thing. Generally if the extended warranty covers accidental damage and it's fairly inexpensive when looked at on an annual basis vrs the cost of the equipment then it can be a good investment. If the warranty doesn't cover accidental damage then in general odds are good it will never get used, and it probably isn't worth purchasing.

Just my 2 cents worth of course, YMMV

 

[Steve5D]

The warranties Cameta and B&H add to refurbished gear are not extended warranties a buyer pays separately for.

In the case of Nikon factory refurbished gear, Nikon warranties the gear for 90 days. Cameta and B&H add an additional 275 days of warranty.
What that means is that during that 270 days you send the gear to Cameta or B&H and then Cameta or B&H send the gear to Nikon and pay Nikon to make a repair that would have been covered by Nikon's warranty.

I understand that aspect of their warranties. What I'm referring to is optional extended warrenties. Cameta offers an additional 3 years through Mack Camera for $99, and B&H offers an additional 2 years for $89. I believe B&H is an in house warranty, where as Cameta's is through a third party. I also know Cameta's warranty runs consecutively to the one year they already offer, but I dont know if B&H's is consecutive or concurrent to the initial warranty.

I tend to believe that reputable companies do business with other reputable companies.

I wouldn't be too concerned...

 

[KmH]

The extra cost 3rd party warranties are a great deal for the warranty sellers, because they are almost 100% profit.

True, but at the same time, I've personally had electronics fail several years after purchase and the extended warranty paid for itself several times over by covering the repair. To me, $100 is cheap insurance. One shutter failure or AF motor crap out after the initial warranty, and the extended warranty will have paid for itself..

If you buy 10 extended warranties @ $100 each ($1000), but only use 1 of them for what would have been a $500 repair without the warranty, you are in the hole cost wise.

Extended warranties are not a good deal for consumers.

 

[beachrat]

Cameta,(and Berger Bros) are my local camera shops and I can vouch for one instance where the 3 yr store warranty was honored no questions asked.
It was my wifes Canon(she's had a couple and I don't remember which one it was) that I bought for her birthday a while back.
She swears she didn't drop it,yeah riiiiight,but it crapped out and when I brought it back to Cameta they gave me another one without any hassle at all.