I have been acquiring electronics for as long as I can remember. I’ve always been a “gadget girl”. With many electronics, you get the instructions along with additional pieces of paper that look absolutely boring. It has small text, fields for you to write in, and the company’s logo. This is the registration form. Thrown away by most people, I have learned to start filling these things out. Admittedly, I did not bother with them when they were little postcards you had to drop in the mail (yes, even when the postage was already paid for), but anything that needs to be registered and gives me the ability to do so online, I do.

Recently, our power cord for our MacBook has been acting up. I’ve noticed that it’s been overheating, and won’t charge sometimes. As of late, it wouldn’t charge unless it was held a certain way. We got the MacBook last than a year ago, so I thought it was too early for it to give us problems, even with our puppy finding it entertaining to try to chew on from time to time. No worries, we’ll just look for a replacement. A quick online search showed that this issue was going to cost $70. That’s ridiculous! The least expensive I could find it was $25 on Amazon. That’s a huge discount, definitely, but it wasn’t good enough. I was down to 11% with a whole weekend ahead of me. I needed a power cord, I needed it cheap, and I needed it immediately.

I continued to do more online research, to my computer’s dismay. I found that if I went into the Apple Store, I could get a replacement power cord, possibly for free, as long as my computer was still under warranty. I began to whisper silent prayers. I was almost 100% sure I registered the computer when we first got it, and since it hadn’t been a year yet, I was confident that it was still under warranty. A quick call to Apple and a mad dash to the local store found me at the Genius Bar without an appointment (I don’t recommend this; definitely make an appointment if you plan on getting technical issues looked at).

Armed with my dysfunctional power cord and my dying MacBook, I was being helped by a cool Apple guy. He confirmed my power cord was a goner. I waited anxiously to find out if I did indeed have warranty and registration on my side. He brought out a brand new cord and a receipt. The first thing I saw was the cost: $60. I started sweating, then looked at the “Amount Due” column, which read $0.00. Success! I was indeed under warranty. I walked out the Apple Store a happy camper.

I’m usually gentle with my electronics and basically anything I buy because there’s nothing worse than having something break on you when you need it most. Things that break cost money to fix, and you could avoid some of the costs by registering your product and getting a warranty as soon as you get it. Most damage occurs in the first year, and who wants to pay for something when they don’t have to? I have made sure other items such as my Kindle and the house iPad are also under similar dealings. I will never avoid that funny looking postcard again.

Has your warranty or registration saved you money in the past?

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