I’ve had great success calling and making use of warranties with items I buy. And not talking about buying additional protection plans – just the warranty that comes with the items. Here’s 2 short stories on how I’ve gotten use out of my warranties lately!
We have had a handheld Shark vacuum for a few years. It only worked for a year or 2 after we got it, and then the battery stopped holding a charge. I didn’t know what to do with it so it just sat there. I recently posted the picture below on Facebook with a question about what to do. I was ready just to throw the vacuum away! I got some great advice from friends that I should call Shark and see what their customer service could do for me! I was told they are very helpful, so I made sure to call as soon as I could.
When I called, the CS rep that answered wasn’t very friendly. He wasn’t *un*friendly, but he was talking in a weird lilt that seemed to say “I don’t want to be on the phone and I don’t care.” Because of this, I asked to speak to a manager after he said he couldn’t help me much. His only option was for me to buy a new battery for a lot more than I wanted to spend on an old vacuum!
When the manager called me back the next day she was able to do a little better for me. I ended up getting a new battery for the price of shipping. I felt like this was a good compromise and agreed to pay for the shipping. She did remind me I was past my warranty so they technically didn’t have to do anything. I’m thankful they were willing to work with me and help me out!
The battery should be here in a few days. I honestly can’t wait! It will be so nice to have a handheld vacuum in the basement!
The other recent experience I’ve had with using a warranty is on my My Pillow. Did you know they have a 10 year warranty? My My Pillow wasn’t staying as puffy as I’d like it to after only a year. I didn’t have my receipt but they were able to use the tag on the pillow to look up my info and sent me a new one free of charge! In this case I just sent them an email and they replied quickly and were super helpful. It was definitely worth it to shoot them an email.
All this to say, don’t forget that sometimes all it takes is a few phone calls and you might be able to save quite a bit of money! Warranties come with lots of products, and you can always google to find out what kind of warranty your item might have. Even if it doesn’t end up working out, no harm done. It’s definitely worth a call or email!
