I just got an out of warranty TV repair paid for by MasterCard. I believe VISA has a similar plan.
Master Card Gold Cards and above include no extra cost extended warranties on items you purchase with their card.
Our 20 month old big screen TV with a 12 month manufacturers warranty just required a $370 repair. MasterCard reimbursed us the entire $370.
The good:
The plan is included with Gold and better cards at no extra cost.
The actually pay claims!
The not so good:
It can take a month or more to get your money.
It requires about 20 minutes on the phone to initiate the process.
It requires record keeping.
It requires paperwork.
The plan doubles the manufacturers warranty of up to one year up to an extra year. It covers most things, but not motor vehicles. Contact your credit card company for details.
The process:
You will need to have the following paperwork....
1. Receipt for the purchase of the item you are making a claim against.
2. The credit card charge slip for the purchase (yes, you need this AND the receipt, your monthly statement is not enough).
3. The manufacturers warranty.
4. A repair estimate. You don't the estimate until after you start the claim process but will save time if you get it earlier.
The process:
1. Call the credit card company and get the number for warranty claims and call that number.
2. Expect to spend about 20 minutes on the phone answering questions as they sloooowly enter your claim data. They give you a tracking number so you can track your claim process online.
3. About 5 days later you should get some claim forms in the mail.
4. Fill out the claim forms and return them with the 4 items listed above. You can snail mail, email or fax the forms and documentation in.
My claim initially bounced because the estimate was hand written on a computer generated repair form. They don't give any guidance on what format the estimate has to be, but hand written isn't acceptable.
It takes about 2 weeks for them to process the claim. I just got my check for $370 yesterday, so I know the process works.
Something useful that I saw online and the MasterCard customer service person confirmed is that you can go ahead and pay for the repair yourself and file a claim after the fact so you don't need to take a month to get your gadget repaired. There is some risk that they might not accept the place you got the repair work done and reject your claim. You would be safest getting the work done at a factory approved repair center.
After using the service and reading a couple of other people experiences online, my impression is that they are fair in handling the claims process but not overly helpful. I suspect a lot of people give up because of the paperwork requirements and the need to have a formal estimate. But, if you get your ducks in a row, it looks like the process works.
Master Card Gold Cards and above include no extra cost extended warranties on items you purchase with their card.
Our 20 month old big screen TV with a 12 month manufacturers warranty just required a $370 repair. MasterCard reimbursed us the entire $370.
The good:
The plan is included with Gold and better cards at no extra cost.
The actually pay claims!
The not so good:
It can take a month or more to get your money.
It requires about 20 minutes on the phone to initiate the process.
It requires record keeping.
It requires paperwork.
The plan doubles the manufacturers warranty of up to one year up to an extra year. It covers most things, but not motor vehicles. Contact your credit card company for details.
The process:
You will need to have the following paperwork....
1. Receipt for the purchase of the item you are making a claim against.
2. The credit card charge slip for the purchase (yes, you need this AND the receipt, your monthly statement is not enough).
3. The manufacturers warranty.
4. A repair estimate. You don't the estimate until after you start the claim process but will save time if you get it earlier.
The process:
1. Call the credit card company and get the number for warranty claims and call that number.
2. Expect to spend about 20 minutes on the phone answering questions as they sloooowly enter your claim data. They give you a tracking number so you can track your claim process online.
3. About 5 days later you should get some claim forms in the mail.
4. Fill out the claim forms and return them with the 4 items listed above. You can snail mail, email or fax the forms and documentation in.
My claim initially bounced because the estimate was hand written on a computer generated repair form. They don't give any guidance on what format the estimate has to be, but hand written isn't acceptable.
It takes about 2 weeks for them to process the claim. I just got my check for $370 yesterday, so I know the process works.
Something useful that I saw online and the MasterCard customer service person confirmed is that you can go ahead and pay for the repair yourself and file a claim after the fact so you don't need to take a month to get your gadget repaired. There is some risk that they might not accept the place you got the repair work done and reject your claim. You would be safest getting the work done at a factory approved repair center.
After using the service and reading a couple of other people experiences online, my impression is that they are fair in handling the claims process but not overly helpful. I suspect a lot of people give up because of the paperwork requirements and the need to have a formal estimate. But, if you get your ducks in a row, it looks like the process works.
