topic Re: cashback or warranty in Credit Cards

cashback or warranty

quickstrike — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 19:01:51 GMT

I plan on buying a new cell phone outright and have a minor dilemma....would it be better to charge on my Visa Signature card which will give me 5% cashback (~$45) or should I go for Amex at 1% which supposedly has a better warranty experience? Any opinions are appreciated.

Re: cashback or warranty

red259 — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 19:21:04 GMT

@quickstrike wrote:
I plan on buying a new cell phone outright and have a minor dilemma....would it be better to charge on my Visa Signature card which will give me 5% cashback (~$45) or should I go for Amex at 1% which supposedly has a better warranty experience? Any opinions are appreciated.

Think it depends on the phone, your risk of needing warranty etc. If it was me and there was a warranty already on the phone for the first year or whatever then I wouldn't be too concerned and would rather have the $45. If you are someone who is prone to needing the warranty then that can change the calculation. I initially bought insurance on my phone and then quickly cancelled when I did the math and looked at the policy. I've never broken a phone in my life knock on wood. I never lost a phone. I did have a phone stolen which jammed me up, but that was the result of a third party committing a crime in a very unique circumstance and is not something I feel at a high risk for happening again. I believe this is going to come down to each person's comfort level, but I don't think the extra protection of Amex over visa is necessarily worth the lost $45.

I'd also really read up about amex warranty, because it may not cover everything you think it does. Don't rely on other people telling you about how great amex is. Do the research beyond posting here, because you will need to find people who used the process for their phone. I have heard complaints about amex warranty experiences as well as positive remarks.

Re: cashback or warranty

yfan — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 21:49:08 GMT

@quickstrike wrote:
I plan on buying a new cell phone outright and have a minor dilemma....would it be better to charge on my Visa Signature card which will give me 5% cashback (~$45) or should I go for Amex at 1% which supposedly has a better warranty experience? Any opinions are appreciated.

If 5% is $45, you are buying a $900 phone. Think of what is more important to you: an extra 35 bucks in cashback now (you'd get $9 from the 1% cashback anyway), or full extended warranty coverage for an additional year. For me, there's no contest. Warranty is it.

I do know though that Visa Signature has some sort of extended warranty, but I have on experience with them. I did use my Amex extended warranty one time and I was refunded the full cost of my phone within a week. The process was smooth and without hassle. One phone call is all it took.

Also, from the looks of it on their website, VS may require you to register your product in order to get that extended warranty. Amex doesn't - or at least I never registered my phone with them up until the point of filing the claim.

Re: cashback or warranty

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 21:51:52 GMT

read your amex disclosures. my ED card says they don't cover electronics for the warranty including cell phones.

Re: cashback or warranty

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 21:53:38 GMT

but a visa signature will cover what amex does overall

Re: cashback or warranty

Callandra — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 21:55:57 GMT

I agree with the above posts -- what is more important to you, the warranty and peace of mind or the cashback? Also, does your phone come with any kind of warranty (sometimes phones come with a 1 year warranty)? I personally have never lost or broken a phone (*knocks on wood*) so I'd take the cashback but I can understand if someone would rather have the warranty. Definitely check the card's T&Cs to see what (or if) phones are covered and to what extent. You can probably also buy a warranty from the retailer for the phone and that might be a better deal (and cover more). Another thing to consider is how long do you plan to use the phone? I usually plan to keep my phone for two years and if it's still fine after the one year warranty is up, it'll probably be okay for another year.

Re: cashback or warranty

quickstrike — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 22:00:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
read your amex disclosures. my ED card says they don't cover electronics for the warranty including cell phones.

I'm pretty sure your 'Everday' card covers electronics including cell phones. I don't see it listed as an 'exclusion' in the terms.

Re: cashback or warranty

yfan — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 21:59:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
read your amex disclosures. my ED card says they don't cover electronics for the warranty including cell phones.

Hmm, I'm reading the ED Extended Warranty Description of Coverage, and I don't see this exclusion. It does say that it exludes coverage for electronics/computers for which you have any coverage other than the manufacturer warranty, but if that's the only warranty you have, I don't see the ED excluding this.

Re: cashback or warranty

quickstrike — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 22:04:54 GMT

Thanks for the opinions. I decided to just get cashback because Apple already has good service for their standard 1 year warranty. If I do encounter problems in the second year, there may be a bit more hoops through Visa compared with Amex, but at least I can easily go to an Apple store to get a repair estimate.

Re: cashback or warranty

yfan — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 22:08:56 GMT

Plunkin' down some cash for the iPhone 6s Plus, I see.

Re: cashback or warranty

red259 — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 22:14:14 GMT

@Callandra wrote:
I agree with the above posts -- what is more important to you, the warranty and peace of mind or the cashback? Also, does your phone come with any kind of warranty (sometimes phones come with a 1 year warranty)? I personally have never lost or broken a phone (*knocks on wood*) so I'd take the cashback but I can understand if someone would rather have the warranty. Definitely check the card's T&Cs to see what (or if) phones are covered and to what extent. You can probably also buy a warranty from the retailer for the phone and that might be a better deal (and cover more). Another thing to consider is how long do you plan to use the phone? I usually plan to keep my phone for two years and if it's still fine after the one year warranty is up, it'll probably be okay for another year.

I'm pretty sure the amex warranty does not even kick in until after the original warranty expires. So if you have a warranty from the manufacturer or whatever for a year then you wouldn't even be dealing with amex in the first year. Also while I do not see anything excluding cell phones in the terms I do see an exclusion for items still under installment billing. So then under that language it could be excluded if you were buying the phone via a cell phone contract instead of all at once. I have heard they do not enforce this provision when it comes to cell phones but you should be on notice just in case. Again don't rely on what is said here, because I think the warranty can vary depending on the card you are using.

Re: cashback or warranty

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 22:18:05 GMT

it waits the year after manufacturer warranty. and you're right. i figured phones fell into electronics, my bad

Re: cashback or warranty

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 22:42:41 GMT

I think it all depends what kind of phone user you are, if you're a type of person who switched phone whenever there's a new model out, then you don't need an extended warranty. If you're person who use phone for couple years until it dies, then probably best to go with a card that offers extended warranty.

Re: cashback or warranty

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 00:04:32 GMT

It also depends what kind of issues you (hope not to) have. The Amex language seems to exclude physical damage, and breaking the screen of a smartphone is one of the times people want coverage. So you may want to look for more comprehensive coverage elsewhere (through third parties for example, rather than the carrier) and then offset the cost of that by getting a bigger cashback rebate.

Re: cashback or warranty

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 00:07:32 GMT

the htc has uh-oh protection. they cover your broken screen for free

Re: cashback or warranty

red259 — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 05:54:09 GMT

I was just reading an article and it mentioned this card. I'm not recommending this card or anything and there is a $95 AF that is not waived the first year, but for those who use AT&T with a 2k initial spend (which can include the spend on the phone itself) they can get $650 back which can be applied to the purchase of the AT&T phone.

They also get 3x TY points on AT&T purchases as well as TY points for travel/tretail websites. The card also provides warranties for the phone that include damage and theft for 90 days to six months depending on where you live and an one year extended warrant. Spend 10k on the card in a year and they will give you an extra 10k TY points. Again not recommending this card, but just thought I would throw this out there. There is another credit card which I forget the name of that if pay your phone bill with it you get protection from damange and theft I believe even if you didn't buy the phone with the card. My memory is hazy on that though.

https://www.citi.com/credit-card-details/citi.action?ID=citi-att-access-more-credit-card

Re: cashback or warranty

OmarGB9 — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 06:04:37 GMT

^WF Platinum Visa?

Re: cashback or warranty

red259 — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 06:22:11 GMT

@OmarGB9 wrote:
^WF Platinum Visa?

Yes its the wells fargo card and it works with family plan phones as well and can be $575 back a year on stolen/damaged phones. However, lost phones are not covered and its supplemental to home owner's insurance etc.. Also, about the AT&T card I should have noted you just need to buy the phone there but since its not under contract you can choose another wireless provider. Again not recommending any of these cards, but for certain people these cards might fill a nice niche, especially with heavy online shoppers with the at&t card if they do their online shopping on non-cat spend and can use TY points or maybe the wells fargo for people with families who want multiple phones protected for theft/damage. Anyone who is interested should look into the specific details behind the cards to make sure they are getting what they want.

Re: cashback or warranty

UncleB — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 06:48:43 GMT

I had forgotten all about the "Cellular Telephone Protection" offered by Wells... 'shout out' to OmarGB9 for the reminder!

https://www.wellsfargo.com/credit-cards/features/cell-phone-protection/

I know it doesn't cover 'lost' phones, but if my phone ever comes up missing, there will be a police report - there's just too much mischief possible. Actually, unless I drop it in a lake (and can't jump in after it) I will always assume it's stolen anyway. I can't imagine what "proof" Wells would require other than a police report, so other than my hypothetical lake scenario I would be covered... if I only had a Wells Fargo card.

Maybe now I've got a reason to finally accept one, after years of turning them away every time I call in about my checking.

(That's only a "maybe"... I'm still not super-impressed with their offerings...)

Re: cashback or warranty

kdm31091 — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 11:36:26 GMT

I'd opt for the cash back myself. Warranties are almost always a PITA to actually use, and if your phone is smashed, you are not going to wait while a new one is mailed out or anything -- you're going to go to the store and have it replaced. I don't know about AT&T but Verizon offers insurance, for something like $7 a month, and you can just go switch out the phone at a store location. Much more practical than worrying about a Visa or Amex warranty (that likely won't cover you dropping your phone in many cases anyway). Warranties often but not always are more about defects in manufacturing vs an issue caused by the user. This isn't to put you down, just saying that worrying about the warranty might be a waste of time.

It sounds like you are paying cash for a new phone, which means you might be someone who upgrades often anyway, in which case an extended warranty is a moot point.