I filed my first credit card extended warranty claim in June 2020.
I’ve been using credit cards regularly for years. It’s my preferred way to spend money. I’ve tried a few different spending methods and nothing works for me the way credit cards do.
Worth noting: I treat the credit card like debit, meaning I only use it to spend money we already have. In most cases, we make a purchase on the credit card then immediately transfer the money from our debit. There are exceptions to this (like December Christmas spending) but they are just that: the exception, not the rule.
Despite my years of credit card use, I’ve barely scratched the surface on using features associated with my cards. This includes the extended warranty. In a way, this is a good thing — it means the items I have purchased have held up well, right?
That said, it did result in a bit of a learning curve when it was time to actually use the benefit. Here’s what I learned through the process of using my credit card extended warranty.
My experience using credit card extended warranty
It started with a trip to visit the in-laws in May 2020.
During the visit, I noticed my mother-in-law wasn’t wearing her FitBit. This was surprising considering how excited she was to get it for Christmas so I asked about it.
Turned out the device stopped working a few months earlier.
I’ve shared before about my mixed feelings concerning FitBits. I like what the devices do but I don’t find they last long. This is particularly unfortunate as they have become very strict with the enforcement of their warranty term.
In this case, the device stopped working about two months outside the warranty period. That meant there was not much the company would do about it. Given how much we paid for it — and how much my mother-in-law loved it — I was irritated.
So I took to Twitter to vent. And boy, am I glad I did! The idea of pursuing an extended warranty claim through my credit card never crossed my mind.
I knew my Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card offered this feature. When I wrote my initial review of the card, I mentioned it specifically as a perk! But it wasn’t until a friend mentioned it that I realized this would be the perfect example of a situation where this feature would be useful.
What is credit card extended warranty?
For the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card, the extended warranty feature can double your manufacturer warranty to a maximum of one year.
This is a feature many credit cards offer, but it’s easy to forget about it. I know I certainly did!
In the case of the FitBit, it came with a one year manufacturer warranty. This means because I used my Mastercard, I was eligible for another year of warranty.
The first step to determine if you qualify for this coverage is to make sure the purchase was paid in full with the card. This was easy to do; it was as simple as finding the transaction on my credit card statement.
This first step was the easiest part of the entire process.
Making contact
After making sure I used the card to make the purchase, I started looking for information about how to use the extended warranty feature.
This proved more challenging that I expected.
I started the way I begin most searches for information: I Googled it.
Through this, I found a lot of information about what, exactly, the extended warranty benefit was but very little about how to use it.
After exhausting my online search, I called the number on the back of my credit card.
Through this call, I learned Tangerine extended warranty claims are handled by a different company, Assurant. The agent provided me with the phone number and after a quick call, I had the information I needed to start my claim.
Gathering documents
To make a claim through your credit card extended warranty, you’ll need to gather a few pieces of information. If, like me, you’re using the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card, you’ll need the following documents:
- A receipt for the item
- The credit card statement that shows the purchase
- A copy of the manufacturers warranty
Depending on the item, you may also be required to provide additional information, like evidence related to troubleshooting efforts and/or a repair estimate.
Gathering this information for the FitBit wasn’t too difficult. I already had the credit card statement and the manufacturer warranty is readily available online.
To get the proof of purchase, I hopped onto the FitBit live chat to request a copy be emailed to me. I also asked for confirmation and records from the call my in-laws made to troubleshoot the issue.
The entire process of gathering information took less than an hour.
Submitting material
With the material in hand, I opened the email from the agent to launch the portal and begin the submission process.
This is where the challenges began for me.
The portal refused to recognize my credit card so I could not register for an account. I tried everything to make it work — different ways to inputting the information, clearing my cache, testing other browsers, even giving it a couple days in case it was a short term tech issue.
But no matter what I did, it would not register.
It took several calls, emails and direct messages via social media to finally get it sorted. When I did finally talk to an agent on the phone, the process was quick. She was able to create my account, run through the basics of my claim, confirm I had the right information, and provide me with the form and options for submission.
The claim process
As with most elements of this process, I expected glitches at the claim stage.
A few weeks after submitting my documents via email, I received a physical letter from Assurant asking for a repair estimate. This was one of the items listed on the claim form — but FitBit doesn’t do repairs on warranty items, like alone out of warranty ones.
I explained this to the agent on the phone, who told me I would not need to submit a repair estimate. Instead, the agent told me the records for the troubleshooting efforts my in-laws undertook would be sufficient.
When I called again, I was asked to send the information in email.
After explaining the situation in the email, I was asked to resubmit send documentation confirming FitBit doesn’t do repairs. Thankfully, this was easy to obtain: I hopped onto the live chat again and asked the agent to write me a confirmation in the chat, which I submitted to Assurant.
A couple weeks later, in July 2020, I received a letter in the mail informing me that my claim had been approved.
After the claim
Once the claim is approved, the insurer provides instructions on what to do next.
For the FitBit, the instruction I received was to purchase the replacement product then file the receipt to be reimbursed up to the amount of the initial device.
After checking in with the in-laws to determine what device they wanted, I made the purchase and sent in the receipt.
A few weeks later, my reimbursement cheque arrived.
Claim closed.
What went well
The process of making this credit card extended warranty claim was not seamless. That said, I felt good about the service I received from the agents I dealt with on the phone. Considering they were very busy with travel-related claims due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I found the agents to be pleasant and genuine in their efforts to help.
Another positive: once I submitted my receipt, the reimbursement cheque arrived quickly.
What could be improved
On the tech side, the fact that the portal would not work was frustrating. It’s possible this has been fixed by now, but even the agents on the phone were confused. Being able to actually do this process online from the start would have made it easier.
The confusion over what documents were necessary for this claim was also frustrating. I would have thought the information about the nature of the claim would have been noted on the file, so getting a letter asking for information I was told was not needed was a surprise. And while I didn’t mind reaching out to FitBit for the confirmation about repairs, it made me feel like the company thought I was trying to pull one over on them.
I expected the process would take a bit of time and was prepared for that, but I feel it would have been faster had it not been for the extra hoops I had to jump through.
Final Thoughts
Making a claim through credit card extended warranty involved jumping through some hoops, but it wasn’t too bad.
It does require some organization and a bit of work, but depending on the claim, it could be worth the effort. In our case, this benefit allowed us to purchase a new FitBit for my mother-in-law — and all it cost me was a bit of my time.
Have you ever used credit card extended warranty?
Photo by Matthew Henry from Burst
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