Should you be worried about the warranty of your purchased products?

Warranties in layman terms are a form of assurance or guarantee that ensures that one’s items if spoilt are reimbursed in some way or another. Yet the question remains as to whether this benefit is negligible or is/are actually useful?

To debunk this mystery, we’re looking at several factors entailing:

- The type of products

- The duration of your warranty

- The process and feasibility

Type of products that should have warranty

1. The Type of Products

Traditionally, it is known that automobile parts are one of the many products that fall into the ‘must-have’ warranty category. In essence, the products that usually warrant for a warranty are high-cost items. But is that really the case?

We beg to differ. Appliances like kettles, ovens and pots are most definitely not impervious to damages. Sure, it’s the year 2020 and it is not a folly to believe that the durability of these appliances has improved, but we’re disregarding something here. We’re forgoing external factors.

External factors, like excessive heat or even maybe your kid accidentally pushing over a pot while trying to get a glass of water is within the realm of possibility. So throw out the thought of ‘being too safe’ as life works in mysterious ways. A perfect glass pot today can be shattered tomorrow.

Therefore, our two cents is that all things are susceptible to hazards, external or internal and it is always to have some sort of protection or guarantee at hand.

How long should a warranty period be?

2. The Duration of Warranty

Obviously, the longer the better right? The duration of the given warranty is essential; thrift shops often provide a mere couple of days to months of warranty, which is absurd. What you ideally want is a period that aligns with your purchased product.

For instance, top manufacturers of modern smartphones tend to come with a warranty period of 1-year. Also, note that manufacturers tend to only give the most optimal timeframe for warranties which can be pretty bad if the products are designed poorly with major flaws.

Smart shoppers would look into additional warranties; in a sense that they would like to have an extra backup. As such, retailers and resellers are offering extra warranties on top of the manufacturer’s, which then provide an ample duration of protection for the said product.

Easy process for warranty programs

3.  The Process and its Feasibility

How convenient is the process? How feasible is it to apply for these extra warranties?

Often these ‘extra’ benefits are jagged with all sorts of difficulties where one is required to go through countless of paperwork just for that drop of benefit. To be honest, that doesn’t sound very beneficial to say the least.

Luckily, there are a lot of retailers offer hassle-free programmes that not only include warranties, but also other customer incentives like better instalment plans and services. Consequently, this fuels competition amongst retailers, which is good as it encourages improvements that are catered towards the maximization of customer satisfaction.

The best warranty offer might not necessarily be the one with the longest time period, but instead the one that brings in the whole package where it tests which offer can best enhance the whole customer experience, from the extra rewards to the easiness of applying for a retailer’s warranty.

What should you consider for warranty programs

Final Verdict

Yes, we do see warranties being imperative for all products, more so for appliances that are electrical as the potential for external hazards is highly susceptible to an uncontrolled environment.

While we also weigh in other talking points like the duration and overall outlook of the warranty, we strongly suggest buyers to attentively browse through programmes available from any sellers or resellers that they are purchasing from. We do agree that most of them can be a little shady, but even with miniscule benefits; you might be able to save yourself a fortune from having to purchase an entire refrigerator or smartphone.

Lastly, Senheng and senQ Malaysia provides a membership plan called the ‘PlusOne membership’ which provides an extra year worth of free warranty on top of the manufacturer's original one. This is exceptionally useful for products that are high in value like smartphones and big kitchen appliances.

Other than an extra warranty, the PlusOne membership introduces shopping benefits like EZ Credit rebates for a better return value and Easy Payment Plan (EPP) where buyers can manage their instalment payment comfortably. Free delivery services are also included if the purchased product is above RM 100.