I Finally Pulled The Trigger For An HD TV

[diogen]

There will always be proponents of the extended warranty idea just like there are always people willing to play 6/49.

Diogen.

 

[bicker]

I think buying extended insurance is stupid

You said something like that earlier. What I pointed out (and you apparently missed) was how that was myopic -- how you failed to consider that reasonable people can buy things not only because it is the best financial decision.

Do you know the difference between 5% profit margin (Dell's PCs) and 75% (extended insurance)?

What an idiotic question. Is there something wrong with you?

I think you don't know what statistics is.

I taught economics and business statistics in a highly-rated university.

However, I also know about people, something which you seem to be lacking.

 

[TNGTony]

Not a fair comparison. Over your lifetime will definitely come out a lot more than paying a repair for one or two instances. It would have been extremely hard to shell out $400 at one time, for the transmission. The extended warranty was included in the monthly payments for the tiller.

Also, over your lifetime, it's sorta a blanket of comfort, knowing you're covered if something happens. Kinda like hospitalization insurance. Most people will pay more than they'll ever get out of it. But, they still pay it, just in case.

we're talking about TVs here where the most it will cost you is the price of a new TV, not hundreds of thousands of dollars so the health insurance analogy doesn't apply.

I can see the hardship of the "unexpected expense" argument. This is how I sold extended warranties when I was forced to. But if you have reasonable credit, you can get new TVs at 12 and 24 months no interest regularly. If less than one in 5 TVs you buy go bad on you outside the factory warranty but within the extended warranty you purchased, you are STILL way ahead NOT buying the extended warranties. Now think back at how many TVs you've owned and think how many went bad after one year but before 3 years or 5 years. My personal experience with 10 TV purchases in the last 35 years is ZERO.

 

[diogen]

You said something like that earlier. What I pointed out (and you apparently missed) was how that was myopic -- how you failed to consider that reasonable people can buy things not only because it is the best financial decision.

What an idiotic question. Is there something wrong with you?

I taught economics and business statistics in a highly-rated university.

However, I also know about people, something which you seem to be lacking.

WTF? Can you read?

Reasonable people do unreasonable things... OK. This is what I said in a post above yours 3 days earlier... Whether they can be called "reasonable" is open to discussion...

My first post in this thread about extended insurance being statistics had nothing to do with psychology and other non-quantifiable crap.
I thought it was obvious. Even for non-teachers.

Taught economics? Let me guess: Chicago school? Econometrics?
Business statistics? That's an oxymoron. Am I glad not having to study at your university...

Diogen.

 

[jayn_j]

Don't insult Bicker. He enjoys controversy, hence his name.

 

[navychop]

I pay DHPP (Service plan now, I guess) each month. Sort of an extended warranty. It buys me peace of mind and no sudden large bill at any given time.

I bought the Sears extended warranty as a package on all our appliances that we bought from Sears. Covering 5 was hardly more than covering 2 or 3. Why did we buy it? We got tipped off by a service tech we trusted about the unreliability of a couple of the appliances we bought. And it turned out, Sears has lost a chunk of change on us. Serves them right, for building and selling items of questionable quality (due to cost cutting decisions they made). We bought an expensive gentle, water saving washer. Turned out it was so unreliable, Sears lost a class action on it. Made the lawyers wealthier, we got nothing.

I don't buy extended warranties on electronics.

 

[bicker]

WTF? Can you read?

Of course I can read.

Just another one of your ridiculous comments.

Whether they can be called "reasonable" is open to discussion...

Only by the maniacally inconsiderate or self-centered, but yes, such folks can cast such aspersions on others for such vacuous reasons. They're entitled to do so if they wish.

My first post in this thread about extended insurance being statistics had nothing to do with psychology and other non-quantifiable crap.

Yes, I know. That's the part of your message that I corrected in my first reply.

Taught economics? Let me guess: Chicago school? Econometrics?

Uh, no. Real economics in a real university, where they teach both science and humanities, so students' education can be well-rounded. I suppose there are schools these days that let you get a degree just learning science.

 

[diogen]

Only by the maniacally inconsiderate or self-centered...

That pretty much says everything about your science background...

Look, science has many deficiencies. The biggest one - it very rarely answers real-life questions since its axiomatic base isn't rich enough to cover real life.
But in that very rare case when it is able to model real-life events - Is it worth to buy extended insurance on home electronics? is one of them - it gives one definite answer.

Arguing with scientific conclusions has been proven futile over centuries - just look at the history of religion.

Does this mean extended insurance won't be sold anymore? No.
Does this mean it won't be bought? No.
6/49 gives you one in 14 million chances to win and people are playing like there is no tomorrow...
Does this prove science wrong? No
Does this mean people are stupid? Now you are talking...

Statistics gets a bad rap mostly because most of the textbooks start with the flipping coin example and that makes Joe Six-pack believe he understands...
Business statistics is somewhere half way: 2+2=4 most of the time...

I do numbers for a living. Always did. And I don't argue anything but numbers...
And thankfully there are still places where you can get a degree studying science only without digging into the definition of "reasonable"...

Take care.
Diogen.

 

[bicker]

That pretty much says everything about your science background...

No, it actually says nothing about my science background. What it says something about is that I have a broad foundation for what I'm saying, instead of a narrow foundation.

I do numbers for a living. Always did. And I don't argue anything but numbers...

And that's the problem. Life isn't just about numbers. Humanity goes beyond numbers.