Review with SquareTrade Claim Experience!
340996
I have purchases several SquareTrade warranties for varying products from TV's to Laptops to iPhones to iPad Minis (10 in all).  They have been great prices compared to competing warranties from your mobile phone company or other sources.

I recently had the need to actually use one of my warranties for an HP Laptop we purchased a couple of years before.  We received a message that the fan had stopped working and the Laptop was overheating.  I immediately thought of the SquareTrade warranty that I purchased a few years before and went to the web site.  I filled out the claim form on the web site.  It gave me the option to send in the Laptop or use a local repair shop.  We chose local repair shop.  I got a confirmation email.  We got the Laptop repaired and got an itemized receipt.  Scanned the receipt and emailed it back to SquareTrade.  Less than a week later, I had a check in my mailbox for the full amount of the repair.  Super easy.

Luckily my warrantied equipment has held up well and I have not had to use my warranties very often, but the one time I did, everything was easy and great.  So far, I can say that I am very happy with SquareTrade so I would be happy to recommend them.
3319607
I've purchased Square Trade warranties several times before. When I had to make a claim the process was easy and fast!!!
1434626
I bought this plan immediately upon purchasing a new laptop. I knew that I wanted a strong warranty policy, and this came up as a recommended choice on Amazon and had really strong reviews.

After looking through the other reviews though, I found that there was some serious distortion of the results because many of the positive reviews came from people who had never had to file a claim. Because of that, I decided to do a sort of "review of the reviews" to get a better idea of the true quality of this warranty.

Here's the executive summary. More detailed results and the methods that led me to them follow:

1) Overall, the service seems hit-or-miss, though generally it seems to be more hit than miss
2) I would like to re-emphasize what the current most-helpful positive comment says: Make Sure You Know What You Are Buying.
3) The "true" starred rating of this policy is closer to three stars. Right now it is overrated, likely because SquareTrade encourages people to review their product upon purchase, before the consumer has had any real need to use it.

Details:
I sorted the comments by "most recent," because I wanted to get an up-to-date snapshot of how well they are doing. Then I went through each review, going back three months. For each review, I first classified it as "definitely filed a claim," "definitely did not file a claim," or "unclear." Then I further sorted these into "positive" (4-5 stars) "neutral" (3 stars) or "negative" (1-2 stars). When sorting into "positive" etc., I did not consider the comments, only the starred rating. More on the comments below.

First, here are the overall results:

**Definitely Filed a Claim**
Positive: 23
Neutral: 1
Negative: 11

**Definitely Did Not File a Claim**
Positive: 35
Neutral: 7
Negative: 11

**Unclear**
Positive: 33
Neutral: 2
Negative: 4

Quantitative analysis:
_Of the people who actually used the service, about 2/3 were happy. Good, but not great.
_Only 25% of positive reviews came from people who definitely filed a claim, compared to 42% of negative reviews coming from people who definitely filed a claim, suggesting that the current starred rating is significantly too high.

Qualitative analysis:
_In all fairness, a few of the negative reviews from people who filed a claim came from people who were dissatisfied for reasons that related at least partly to their own misunderstanding of the product. Nevertheless, one or two raised some really serious issues (e.g., using inferior replacement parts)
_I would like to suggest to Amazon that they discourage SquareTrade from directing consumers to the review page immediately upon purchase. Doing so creates very muddled results.

That's all folks.
1672860
First let's get this out of the way: you need to understand SquareTrade's warranties to appreciate them, and make appropriate decisions on them.  If you understand that the value of the warranty diminishes with your repair claims, then you're OK. The point of the ST warranty is to make sure your computer runs for the duration of the warranty period OR fix or replace it up to, or until, the face value of the warranty is met. Meaning: if you have warranted the computer for $1000, and it is repaired at a repair cost of $200, your remaining warranty is only good for $800 worth of additinoal repairs or refund during the warranty period. I understand this and think it is a fair policy which helps keep pricing affordable.

My claims experience with SquareTrade is twofold. About a year into the warranty my touchscreen laptop had a screen problem. SquareTrade repaired it quickly. Unfortunately the screen still occassionally lost its touch ability, but this seemed more software based than hardware as a reboot would correct. All in all I was happy with the repair. The cost of the repair was valued at roughly $250, which seemed reasonable.

About a year after that, in a rush, I unfortunately dropped the laptop and broke it severely. I felt terrible as this is my daughter's computer which she loves. Since we had Accidental Damage protection (thought we might need it for my daughter and not for me!) I frantically called SquareTrade. My call was taken care of quickly and professionally. I sent the laptop in and in 2 days was greeted with a warranty payment equal to the face amount minus the $250 previous repair charge. This allowed me to replace my daughter's computer quickly (and with less of a wallet impact) and not have an issue with her school work.

Worked exactly as advertised by SquareTrade and I am very happy with their service. This experience will provide additional peace of mind to me should I ever need to make another claim (which I hope I do not) on any of the other items I have warranted with them.
3132658
I've had 2 experiences with Squaretrade. I live in Florida with lightening strikes and power surges so it's just a good idea.  I had  super duper surge protector on my TV and while it took most of the surge, it didn't take all of it. Somehow it took out the HDMI Ports on the TV. Filed a claim with Squaretrade, they sent someone out and had the TV back in a week. I also had a xbox that was taken out by lightening. I filed a claim with Squaretrade and in this case they decided to replace it for my purchase price. If I took a check, it could take 10 business days. If I took it on Paypal it would take 3 days. If I took it on an Amazon Gift Card, I would receive it as soon as they received my old xbox and they would add 10%. Ummm yeah, I took it on the Amazon Gift Card. They provided a postage paid address label. All I had to do is drop it off at a UPS Store. My experiences with Squaretrade have been positive. From the paperless proof of purchase to filing a claim, it's a cinch. I get a Squaretrade on most electronics I buy. 9 times out of 10 pricewise they beat the actual stores. And.... if you play your cards right they release coupon codes a couple times a month so you can get a discount of 10 to 30% off. Squaretrade, 2 thumbs up. I will continue to buy my warranties from Squaretrade.
1156111
Long story but this could happen to you.

October 31st my desktop PC died so I filed a claim with Square Trade. I talked to Square Trade tech support on my mobile phone while I was on the land line with the manufacturer tech support explaining what was wrong with my desktop PC. The manufacturer agreed that I needed a new power supply as did Square Trade tech support. I informed Square Trade that as I use this for work and the 2 to 3 day lead time just to start the process of a tech dispatch was too long. I stated that I would buy a power supply locally and install it myself but for them to open a ticket for tech dispatch from Barrister (computer repair company Square Trade uses) just in case. The Square Trade tech said no problem and if the power supply fixed the issue for me to file a claim for reimbursement for the cost of the power supply. Well the power supply did not do the trick so I informed Square Trade and Barrister to go ahead with the tech dispatch. I was called by no less than 7 different people from Barrister all wanting to know what as wrong with my PC and suggesting motherboard replacement, disk drive replacement, another power supply etc.. You get the the idea. Finally on Wednesday November 4th I was contacted by a very good person from Barrister that said from now on he would take care of this issue once and for all. Three hours later he called me to inform me that Square Trade had cancelled my warranty and that there was nothing more that he could do for me. Barrister informed me that Square Trade stated that I had violated my warranty because I "opened the PC and broke something."

Needless to say I was caught off guard by this as the initial call to the Square Trade tech support case worker knew what I was about to do. Furthermore he even stated that I could get reimbursed for the cost of the power supply if it fixed the problem after I put it in. He did not warn me that I would violate the warranty if I performed such an action. Ignorance of the Warranty policy on my part is no excuse however Square Trade should have warned me when I stated my intentions. I suspect that Barrister informed Square Trade that my desktop was a total loss and that I need a replacement PC which would cost $3500. I suspect that Square Trade looked for any excuse to get out of paying out the $3500. I then had an idea to contact Amazon support and plead my case but I didn't hold out much hope. I was pleasantly surprised when the Amazon support person (Richmond) had us on a three way conversation with Square Trade representative. The Square Trade representative (Ameen) stated to both of us that my warranty had been restored given the circumstances explained to him by Richmond. He also stated that he was filing a new ticket to Barrister as we spoke and that everything will be taken care of. I was overjoyed to say the least.. until tonight. I have no email confirmation from Square Trade that a new ticket was sent as they normally do when you file a claim. Barrister has no record of my new warranty repair ticket.

It is now November 5th and my PC is still dead as a door nail. My desktop is only 1 year, 1 month and 14 days old (just over the 1 year manufacturers warranty).  I will never buy another PC or anything from Amazon again that offers an extended warranty that is supplied by Square Trade!!!
3858054
The warranty could not fix the computer problem, so they return us the money of the investment on the laptop, paid in full. We can confide in square trade, but not to the store we bought the computer, worst service ever. Square Trade was reasonable, and very attentive with the situation. Att. Luis & Shari
3539891
I have owned a number of square trade warranties over the past few years.  I had occasion to make 2 claims in the last few months.  The service has been excellent, and the process is nice and easy.  They email you a prepaid slip to use for shipping the item to them.  Within a week, the refund gets deposited to your Paypal account.  I get warranties on items that are gifts, then transfer the warranty to the owner -- all nice and easy.  I will buy more warranties, without a doubt.  Check the square trade website daily for deal of the day, for a cheaper price.  You have 30 days from the purchase date to buy your warranty.  Once you have one, they will also send offers for deals on new purchases.  Extra year is also available.
3221532
Squaretrade has always been a great warranty service for our organization. We have approximately 30 iPads & iPhones that unfortunately get dropped, swam with, ran over, shared wine with, etc and Squaretrade has had our back on every single claim. The speed in which they repair the units is great. I would highly recommend.
1326553
I had occasion to utilize a Square Trade Warranty for a camera I purchased on-line.  The Claim process was fairly easy and quick, resulting in a full refund of the purchase price plus shipping within 2 days.  Good value for the money from Squuare Trade.
2020842
Update:Square Trade has done everything to clear any misunderstanding that existed with my order. If they are as thorough and prompt with their protection plan then they deserve 6 stars! Thank You!
3528540
I had purchased a SquareTrade warranty for a 30GB Video iPod.  When the iPod failed after almost a year of use, I contacted SquareTrade.  They instructed me to send in the iPod. I did, and they refunded my entire purchase price immediately, within the five days, as they promised.  Their warranty prices, for items purchased either on-line or in a retail store, are very low, and their service is exceptional.  I have since purhased several other warranties from SquareTrade, and they keep track of all your warranty purchases in your on-line account, so those warranties are easy to access and review, and print out if you so desire.
4232063
Always a great purchase.  SquareTrade is great with their protection plans.  I have had all my iPhones, my record player, my iPad, and my instax insured and they always are prompt, friendly, and well-worth the money!
2739478
I purchased a lamp for my HDTV on Amazon (which was covered by my HDTV extended warranty until I forgot to renew it) and was given an option to purchase a Squaretrade warranty for the lamp, so I did.  Once it failed, I called Squaretrade and was told that the item I purchased was ineligible for coverage and that they could not approve the claim, then they refunded back my $14.99.  A Squaretrade Warranty might be cheaper than the one the manufacturer offers, but you have no guarantee of actual coverage with Squaretrade above what you actually paid for the warranty until you try and file a claim and see what happens.
4089587
square trade advertises 30 days to cancel - I tried canceling and Square Trade I only had for 5 days
will not refund my purchase price - find them extremely misrepresenting their policy would never
recommend the computer protection plan to any one
904985
I bought my nieces some generic tablets and purchased a square trade protection plan for each.  They both managed to drop and break their tablets at different times and both times i made a claim, it was handled extremely quick and with no problems.  The last one was broken earlier this week.  I made the claim around 9 pm and they processed the claim within an hour and provided me with a return label to ship the tablet to them.  I sent it the next day and they issued my refund that day
4585388
Everything went well - my husband got his iPod fixed, we sent the invoice to SquareTrade, and got reimbursed through PayPal. Very nice - smooth transaction - good communication with the SquareTrade people. Thank you!