Square Trade extended warranty - Worth it?

[HeliosJim]

Hi All...

After doing some reading here it seems that there are a bunch of people who have reported issues with their fitbits. Since I just got mine, I was able to add the "Square Trade Warrenty" which extends the manufacturer warrenty. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this? I have 30 days to cancel it, and if it won;t cover what breaks or if they make it hard to file a claim, I might just do that.

Thanks...

Moderator's edit: Edited title for clarity. 

[Odyssey13 · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the forums @HeliosJim

I've not used Square Trade with a Fitbit product, but I've used them for other products.

My brother had his computer repaired twice by Square Trade and says they are great. He suggested I get my products covered by their service.

They had phone support and if needed, they had support chat online. When the computer had to be sent out for repairs, they took care of everything and kept him informed.

All you need to do is register the warranty and keep your receipt. Square Trade will even help you do all that by a phone call.

You can call Square Trade and ask them about their service to help you make a final decision. Since Fitbits aren't able to be repaired, you'd more than likely get a replacement unit should something happen to the one you own.

I do know for the first year, Fitbit is the one you'd need for the warranty. For the second year, you'd need to call Square Trade.

Actually, I like Square Trade and have several items covered (tablet, laptop, desk chair and printer)

[Jim_from_Powell]

I've had several ST warranties, but fortunately never had to use them, so I can't speak to their service. I can, however, advise that if you are going to get one, call them. I got one for my Surge and by calling, they knocked off close to a third of the price for a 2-year, no deductable warranty. I figured the price was low enough that it was a worthwhile investment even if I never needed to use it. (After all, don't you hope you never have to use any kind of insurance? )

[chris2121]

That sounds like a really good deal - and as you say the devices aren't really repairable so you would just get a replacement.

If you manage to get three years total coverage at a decent price I'd go for it.  

[HeliosJim]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone! From reading it, I'm not clear on whether it adds 1 year or 2 years to the manufacturer warranty. I didn't receive the email, so I need to call them anyhow. 

[Hollydsg]

did you find out whether the 2 year warranty extends from the 1 year warranty provided with fitbit?

[SolangeE]

Hi, @Hollydsg! Welcome, welcome! Yes it does. This is an extended warranty called the Fitbit Protection Plan, which it is available with select Fitbit products purchased in the U.S. from fitbit.com. This plan increases the warranty period from one year to two years.

The full terms are available here.

Let me know if you have more questions, I'll be happy to help. 🙂

[Brenby3]

Hey! Jim_From_Powel, I would just like some clarification about your suggestion, as I am about to purchase my third fitbit watch and I'm considering the extended warranty.  Are you saying you would call ST before you purchase the warranty (& before you purchase the watch)? I'm ready to purchase here, soon, to take advantage of the free 2-day shipping in time for Christmas! Thanks!

[Jim_from_Powell]

You could call them ahead of time and see what the price is, but I don't know if you can purchase it before you buy the watch. However, they may be happy to sell it to you since you could enter the information for the watch after the fact.

[HeyThere11]

For anybody who is curious. I have worked for Squaretrade.

Squaretrade (ST) does not offer warranty extended than manufacture. So if you buy a 2 year plan with ST the first year you are covered by the manufacture and ST and in the next year only ST. The only exception to this is Costco Concierge TV which has 2 year Costco warranty and than ST warranty starts which is usually next 3 years.

In normal warranties ST acts as a backup for the first year, just in case if the manufacture denies the claim (which happens a lot) ST covers its customers.

In NEW Laptops, Tablets, Mobile ST offers ADH (Accidental Damage) warranty as well, which the manufacture does not cover, so if any accidental damage happens to your item ST will cover that item.

That is my biased opinion.

[LizzyGam]

Hi -

I saw that you posted a question about SquareTrade, and it is probably too late for you, but I wanted to post this in case other people saw it and can find it helpful.

Basically, you are better off purchasing the FitBit from Best Buy and using their warranty process. The SquareTrade plan and process is incredibly slow and cumbersome.  My fitbit broke, I spent about 40 minutes on the phone with SquareTrade explaining the issue, and after all that they sent me a new band for a $25 deductible.  The fitbit itself was broken so as a stop gap I used scotch tape to tape it back to the band, as I was in the middle of travelling.  The fitbit broke again, of course, so I called back SquareTrade and asked for a completely new watch.  They are now sending it to me with yet another $25 deductible.  Had I purchased this at Best Buy with their warranty, I would have simply walked in and out with a new watch immediately.

My experience with SquareTrade is they had nothing on file, I had to dig up the warranty and number, even though I had purchased the FitBit and the warranty off the Fitbit site.  

[SteveV-999]

I was suspicious that if I tried to use it there would be some loophole, but had a great experience. My Fitbit 2 screen cracked without any abuse. It was within 6 months of purchase and I considered this a manufacturer defect.  Fitbit considered it abuse.  I went to square trade and was worried that since I was in the one year manufacturer warranty period I would be told to go to Fitbit and be stuck.  They also considered it to be a non-manufacturer defect but my warranty covered breakage.  They gave me a refund for the purchase price but not the tax and had to send the watch back in a post-paid mailer.  In addition I assume I no longer have the remaining duration of the warranty.  Kinda sucks that the don’t include this tax or shipping but much better than nothing. 

BTW - I have been through about 4 Fitbits in maybe 6 years so I have a hate-love relationship with them.  I have had bands break or delaminate and lost the old Fitbit when the connector broke. Almost always they are not covered by warranty even when they break within the manufacturer warranty period since they call this abuse or wear and tear.  I treat them well but there is a long history of people with similar complaints. Sometimes I was given a 20% discount off retail as a concession, which is more than I paid on Amazon without the discount. The problem is that I haven’t found an accurate affordable alternative and I am now addicted to the device and the feedback. It does cause me to walk more to reach the goals so I get something out of it.  I think square trade has figured out that these things are not durable so the have raised the damage insurance from about 14.99 to $40+ for 2 years and a 39.99 deductible, so it makes the economics more questionable. 

If if you can get a policy for $14.00 that covers “damage”, get it because you device will probable fail in less than 2 years. I am now psychologically treating this as disposable  like running shoes that need to be replaced every 6 months or so if you run or cheaper than a personal coach..  Good luck with you band. 

[Jax65]

I have purchased the fitbit protection plan from squaretrade on all my fitbits. I did need to use the plan and filing a claim was very easy. I had a fitbit Alta HR and since they no longer offer that one I was sent a inspire. I also had a inspire 2 that I cracked and had to file a claim and a new one was sent out in about a week.

I highly recommend purchasing the protection plan. I will add that there was a $30 deductible for each device at the time.