Don't waste your money on extended warranties
About seven out of 10 shoppers are being offered an extended warranty at Apple Stores, Harvey Norman and Noel Leeming.
While extended warranties promise to pay for repairs for a specified period after the manufacturer’s warranty has expired, you’re likely paying hundreds of dollars for protection you already have under consumer law.
Our latest retailer survey found that three big retailers – Harvey Norman, Noel Leeming and Apple Stores – were the most likely to offer an extended warranty.
Only 2 to 3% of shoppers at the three big retailers were told by store staff what protection they already have under consumer law.
The more expensive the item, the more people were offered a warranty. This is especially so for large appliances (54%) and home tech (50%) purchases across all retailers surveyed.
Extended warranties may also be marketed as product care or damage protection plans.
We were happy to see only 3% of people who were offered an extended warranty went ahead with buying one. Although, we suspect this is because we surveyed our members and supporters, and they’re likely to be more clued up on their rights.
You’re already covered
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Under the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA), manufacturers and retailers are obliged to guarantee the products they sell are of an acceptable quality and fit for their purpose. Most appliances, certainly the big-ticket ones, can be expected to perform well for many years, not just the period covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.
This means that if your product develops a fault when it’s still reasonably new, you can have it repaired or, if that isn’t possible, replaced – even if the manufacturer’s warranty has expired.
If the fault is substantial, you can choose between a refund, repair or replacement.
Therefore, there’s no value in having an extended warranty if the only thing it gives you is cover beyond the period of the manufacturer’s warranty.
The extended warranty may cover accidental damage, but so does your home and contents policy – for example, your contents insurance should cover damage to computers and electronic appliances from power surges.
When is an extended warranty a good idea?
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An extended warranty is worth considering if it goes beyond the protections provided by the CGA. An example would be if a warranty guarantees replacement with a new item if something goes wrong, rather than having to wait for repairs.
When selling you an extended warranty, the retailer should tell you the extra rights it gives you on top of the CGA.
And remember, the CGA doesn’t apply to goods normally used for business purposes. So, if you’re buying items for business use, extended warranties may give you protection you don’t automatically have by law.
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Even Australians get it - so why not Kiwis???
“Ten years ago, if a heatwave as intense as last week’s record-breaker had hit the east coast, Australia’s power supply may well have buckled. But this time, the system largely operated as we needed, despite some outages.
On Australia’s main grid last quarter, renewables and energy storage contributed more than 50% of supplied electricity for the first time, while wholesale power prices were more than 40% lower than a year earlier.
[…] shifting demand from gas and coal for power and petrol for cars is likely to deliver significantly lower energy bills for households.
Last quarter, wind generation was up almost 30%, grid solar 15% and grid-scale batteries almost tripled their output. Gas generation fell 27% to its lowest level for a quarter century, while coal fell 4.6% to its lowest quarterly level ever.
Gas has long been the most expensive way to produce power. Gas peaking plants tend to fire up only when supply struggles to meet demand and power prices soar. Less demand for gas has flowed through to lower wholesale prices.”
Full article: www.theguardian.com...
If even Australians see the benefit of solar - then why is NZ actively boycotting solar uptake? The increased line rental for electricity was done to make solar less competitive and prevent cost per kWh to rise even more than it did - and electricity costs are expected to rise even more. Especially as National favours gas - which is the most expensive form of generating electricity. Which in turn will accelerate Climate Change, as if New Zealand didn’t have enough problems with droughts, floods, slips, etc. already.
Time to Tickle Your Thinker 🧠
If a zookeeper had 100 pairs of animals in her zoo, and two pairs of babies are born for each one of the original animals, then (sadly) 23 animals don’t survive, how many animals do you have left in total?
Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm on the day!
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Poll: As a customer, what do you think about automation?
The Press investigates the growing reliance on your unpaid labour.
Automation (or the “unpaid shift”) is often described as efficient ... but it tends to benefit employers more than consumers.
We want to know: What do you think about automation?
Are you for, or against?
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9.5% For. Self-service is less frustrating and convenient.
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43.3% I want to be able to choose.
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47.2% Against. I want to deal with people.
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