Rant regarding the ridiculous prices for extended warranty

Hi there,

I live in Mexico and I am an owner of a new M14x, which arrived about 5 weeks ago. The computer has one year of basic warranty.

I'm really interested in purchasing an extended warranty for my system, for I think 1 year is not enough. Now, here's the thing: for a computer with a value of 2,500 USD, Dell.mx's represantatives expect me to pay the WHOOPING amount of 1,400 USD for 3 years of basic warranty (and 1,600 USD if I want to include complete care).

I certanly tried to haggle and I've called several times to Dell, but the representatives won't give me a single penny of discount. In fact, they laugh at me and throw phrases like: "You purchased an expensive equipment, what do you want?"

Well, to my understanding, it is completely ridiculous to pay 60% of my computer's value to enjoy 3 more years of warranty. Furthermore, I have taken a look at Dell.com site (remember, I am from Mexico) and for an Alienware 14, you can pay ~500 USD for 3 years of basic warranty

In fact, I purchased 3 years of basic warranty on my old M15x for 500 USD.

Do you guys have any suggestion about what can be done? I think that Dell.mx expecting me to pay 1,400 USD for 3 years of warranty is a blatant ripoff , but I don't know what to do.

Cheers,

 

The DELL representatives were merely seeing how much money they could con you out of, after all, it's not everyday you come across someone willing to spend $2500 on a discontinued and outdated laptop.

 

Wow. That's kinda... Messed up to say.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

Harsh, I know.

 

While you are free to think that $2,500 USD for a M14x is way too much, it must be taken into account that at least here in Mexico, the Alienware 14 has a starting price of $2,600 USD, if not more. M14x has a starting price of $1,900 USD and has not been discontinued here.

Nonetheless, $1,600 USD for a warranty extension is something that gets me on my nerves, and I was wondering if an Alienware or DELL.us representative could cross-check the prices or tell me what is going on.

 

Prices are definitely not that high in the U.S but we have different contracts and providers. It might be because of the region. Have you tried calling in again to the sales department?. I've seen warranties for over $1000 only on m18x and Aurora systems but the price difference is too much between here and in Mexico so I can't tell.

 

At least you're not from Australia.
I wanted to post something similar to Mr. Porras, but didn't feel confident in the answer. Sometimes the price delta is not a factor of the company, but rather the country's laws. How do prices compare on other systems? Also, especially support, it may cost more because of certain factors to do with importing/exporting if there are no technicians nearby, etc.
Keep in mind that a lot of companies in the technology sphere make a large portion of their income solely based on support, so say you have an issue and it costs them $2000 to simply ship the product back and forth, let alone the replacement costs, it's hard for them to offer a warranty for $150, considering most issues with systems (besides like the screen problem on the m11x) are due to part failures which are outside the control of the company that sold you the laptop.

Now, I'm not from Mexico so I could be completely wrong for your particular case, but there are certain factors that could be causing this that have nothing to do with Dell simply charging an incredible price. That being said, that is an incredible price.

However I am really interested what companies offering similar laptops are charging in Mexico. I really like the Alienware brand, but if they are the only ones charging way more comparatively, I would question why you didn't opt for another? Or at least I should hope you had done your research.


(Note: also forgot that also some companies charge you more for buying a warranty after the system)

 

I'm afraid DELL didn't offered me the option of purchasing extra warranty when my order was created. Must confess that I didn't know the price could increase as soon as my system arrived, though.

I will take a look at the prices for extended warranty of ASUS & MSI, to see where DELL stands. I didn't bother in checking other options because I was a previous owner of a M15x and as I pointed out, back then they offered me a 3-year warranty extension for 500 bucks.

 

If the price is really that high, just leave it, save your money, and get a new system once your m14x fails. :thumbsup: