Recently bought a Monoprice rebrand FF Creator Dual. Squaretrade warranty worth it?

[robosmith]

I'm on the fence about spending $130 for a 3 year extended warranty from Squaretrade. Monoprice warranty is only 6 months.

Seems if the board or print head goes out, I'd be ahead.

What say you guys?

[curious aardvark]

wouldn't bother myself.
But then given the hassle i sending something back to china - warranty's aren't really worth much.

And coming up for 12 minths with the flashforge - I've had no problems that I haven't caused and sorted myself.

[robosmith]

wouldn't bother myself.
But then given the hassle i sending something back to china - warranty's aren't really worth much.

And coming up for 12 minths with the flashforge - I've had no problems that I haven't caused and sorted myself.

Thanks for your advice. I believe Monoprice (East of LA, CA) provides the warranty support on their rebrand.

And all they do is send replacement parts. When I see stories here of people whose boards or heads died, it makes me nervous about it costing $200-300 for a replacement.

[Mjolinor]

It's just a gamble. Go to a bookies and you will get better odds.

You will learn more about how it works sorting it out yourself and you can also use the opportunity of failure to update, things improve in the 3d printing arena with time rather quickly.

[jfkansas]

Ya I wouldn't bother with warranties, any parts are replaceable. The print head is maintainable. If the print head jams it really isn't a warranty issue.

[curious aardvark]

Like wise the boards are pretty cheap.

Look at it this way - if you can't kill it in the first 6 months - it'll probably last forever :-)

I have to admit that these shortarse warranties you get in the states are crap.
In the uk it's 12 months minimum on all new electrical goods - and in europe (NO the uk IS NOT PART OF EUROPE - that's why we dug the english channel) it's mandatory 3 year warranty on all electrical goods.

You yanks really do get shafted where warranties are concerned.

[jfkansas]

Ya, not sure how you guys get away with 3 years mandatory. That must screw a lot of companies. The short warranties here are just to make sure there aren't any blatant manufacturing errors or problems. Once something runs in for a few months it is usually good to go for the long haul as long as you don't short something by accident and parts don't overheat.

The power supplies are cheap and easily replaced also.

[Mjolinor]

It is more than 3 years in a lot of cases. The courts have ruled that if you can reasonably expect an item to have a certain life then the company making it have to warranty it. That is why TVs are actually covered for 6 years but the TV manufacturers don't shout about it much. It is very variable though and can take a lot of fighting for.

[curious aardvark]

Ya, not sure how you guys get away with 3 years mandatory. That must screw a lot of companies.

Only the ones who make shoddy goods.

Worst culprit I know of in the states are a company called Maverick that make bbq thermometers.
They give 90 days warranty.
And their stuff is crap.
A lot of it doesn't even make the 90 days. Just google 'maverick thermo problems' - and you'll see what i mean.
It's bad for the consumer and bad for the companies as they can constantly get away with producing crappy goods and nothing improves. So people go elsewhere - mainly to goods not made in the states.

Like I said a mandatory 12 or 36 month warranty makes for better goods - not poorer companies.

[jfkansas]

What I mean by screw the companies is that the longer the warranty period is the longer the time for it to just wear out from use. I agree that 90 days is crap stuff, but if something makes it a year with normal use, maybe after 2-3 years it is just plain worn out and the company is on the hook for a replacement. Not a big deal on small cheap stuff to make, but what if it is a $3000 TV that saw 24/7 constant use for a year or two and is now having problems in the third year? I think it also lends to people "making" something fail because it is or is becoming obsolete. In 1 year something is usually not going to be obsolete, but after 2+ years it might be.

I am all for the 3 year mandatory warranty though. Like you said I do believe that companies will be forced to produce better products and sample the line more frequently. This is one reason I always buy refurb electronics. Sure they may be about a year old tech, sometimes not, but I know every refurb item I buy has had a full repair and inspection for faults. It has never failed me yet, and I usually pay less than 50% of retail.