Now the election is over so we can go from being bombarded with political ads to being bombarded with Christmas ads.
I have one very important tip for anyone buying electronics (or anything, but especially electronics) this year and it is not a typical “geek” tip. But it will save some of you hundreds of dollars.
This year, when buying anything electronic, purchase it on your American Express (and keep your receipt). All American Express cards offer the following 3 benefits that have saved me hundreds of dollars:
- 90 Day Return Protection. If you keep your receipt and original packaging, you can call American express return protection within 90 days of purchase and return any nearly any item up to $300. Even if you used the item. Even clothes as long as they appear “like new.” (Some exclusions apply, but I’ve returned 100 percent of electronics with no problem).
- 90 Day Damage Protection. No matter what you did to the item, as long as it wasn’t on purpose, tell Amex what happened, and you’ll get a full credit. I completely ruined a $300 item within 60 days last year and they gave me a credit with no hassle.
- One Year Extended Warranty. When the manufacturer’s warranty stops, Amex picks up for manufacturer covered items for up to 1 full year. So when the new USB drive you bought stops working on month 13 due to manufacturer defect, just call Amex and they’ll pay for the warranty work or replace the item.
There are some cards that have some, and perhaps even all, of these benefits. So if you have one of those cards, use that one instead. I use Amex because I never have a problem with them and because 100 percent of Amex cards offer this benefit. Just be sure to keep your receipts either way, you need them to get the credit.
Happy shopping! (P.S. I’m a large).
