Is MSI Accidental Damage Protection Worth It?

You’ve spent an arm and a leg on a new laptop, so you want to protect that investment as best as you can. MSI’s Accidental Damage Protection is a great way to prevent accidental damage. But is it worth the cost?

MSI accidental damage protection saves you from worries and exorbitant expenses. This is because accidents are inevitable both at home, in the office or traveling. Liquid spills, a drop or fall, electrical surge, or collisions can damage your device. So, the cover facilitates a speedy repair.

Does MSI Extended Warranty Cover Accidental Damage?

MSI extended warranty provides an extended one-year warranty that covers a variety of products against accidental damage.

In other words, the warranty gives an additional year of service and will allow for repair of the product when you damage it accidentally.

If you have children or you are a frequent traveller, the warranty can come in handy. So, if you use a device to perform your day-to-day tasks, the warranty can reduce downtime and allow you to go about your business without worrying.

But before you buy the extended warranty, it may be vital that you review how long the warranty lasts. Also, it may be necessary that you look at the manufacturer’s policy to ensure that you don’t buy an extended warranty that duplicates an already existing plan.

However, most people feel that investing money in an extended warranty is a waste for various reasons.

Firstly, it may not cost the much you spent on the cover to repair your product in case of accidental damage. In fact, you may save more than half the money you would spend on the cover if you chose to ignore it and have it fixed by someone else locally.

Also, if accidental damage does not occur during the product lifespan, the money spent on the cover will go down the drain.

Thirdly, most consumers are likely to encounter hurdles in their endeavor to repair the product under an extended warranty. There are too many back-and-forth moves that waste time. Sometimes, it makes the customer request for the return of the product even without repairs.

Fourthly, sometimes the manufacturer may repair the product under the extended warranty only to have the same problem a few days after it arrives.

In such a case, you will need to ship the product once again to the manufacturer. Of course, you will meet the shipping fee, and it may waste your time.

Lastly, extended repairs will take longer and make you unproductive as you make an effort to fix the product. In some cases, the repair may take too long. Worse, it may become impractical for you to trace the product if the manufacturer becomes unresponsive.

What Does MSI Accidental Damage Protection Cover?

MSI accidental damage protection covers unintentional damage to the product. Indeed, it is sometimes difficult for you to prevent spills and drops at your workplace or even at home.

So, the cover guarantees that the manufacturer will repair the unit. It saves you from worrying about the cost of such repairs.

Therefore, it does not matter whether you will be using the device on the plane or workplace, or at home. If an accident occurs, accidental damage protection ensures that the manufacturer repairs the product or will replace it.

Some accidents covered include electrical surge, drops, collisions, and fall. Others are a broken LCD and liquid spill. However, the cover does not include repairing external dents and scratches, which do not hinder the normal performance of the unit.

Also, the warranty will only apply to branded products and built-in accessories that enable the product to perform the functions.

In most cases, parts that the manufacturer may repair include Motherboards, Memory, Touchpad, HDD, CPU Optical Drives Audio Devices, LCD Optical Drives, Audio Devices, and Bluetooth Module. Others may include a wireless module, a built-in webcam and buttons, and power cords.

Note that MSI extends the accident damage cover only to those products purchased in the US. The policy provides that MSI may repair the damaged parts by replacing them with a reconditioned or new part.

If the manufacturer cannot repair a product because of one reason or another, MSI accidental damage cover may require replacing it with a functional equivalent.

Further, the customer may need to pay a one-way shipping fee, while MSI will pay the fee for shipping the product back to the buyer. Also, the cover applies only to the original owner of the device, and you may not transfer it to another third party.

But MSI accidental damage warranty has exclusions. The product cannot be sent to the manufacturer for repair if the cause of the damage includes catastrophes, faulty electric power, thunder, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.

Also, you may not seek repair under the warranty if the product serial number is missing or invalid or the manufacturer cannot discern it.

Further, if there are unauthorized changes or use of non-MSI parts, alterations, or modifications on the product, the product may not qualify for the extended warranty repair. Similarly, if you remove any part from the product or operate the product without reference to the manual and it gets damaged, the warranty will not honor he repair.

Also, improper storage, which gets the product wet, leads to corrosion, or, exposes it to a hostile temperature and humid environment nullifies the warranty. Therefore, you may not claim repair under the warranty.

Lastly, external or internal consumables like the battery, earphones, and accessories are also not covered.

Is MSI Accidental Damage Protection Worth It?

If you can buy and register your MSI accidental damage cover, it may save you from costs resulting from accidental damage to the product. But the trick is that you must register the cover within 30 days of buying it.

Also, you must carefully read the fine print of the MSI accidental damage protection policy. It will save you from shipping the product to the manufacturer, only to receive a message that the company cannot repair the damage.

When you register your cover, you will receive regular updates on product promotions and events. Further, you will have access to quick product and customer care service.

That said, the warranty might be worthy depending on the part of the product that is damaged. A broken screen could be expensive to repair for some products. But with this warranty, you will go about your business without worrying about breakage. It allows you to travel or do your work even in a dangerous environment.

Accidental damage protection cover can push down the price of the product. It reduces the demand for new products allowing you or any other person to benefit from low prices whenever you buy another product.

With this cover, you will only pay a one-way shipping fee. The manufacturer will ship back the product after repairing it. This may not be the case when you choose to ship the product to the manufacturer for repair without an accidental damage protection cover.

Conclusion

Before you buy a product protection warranty, you may need to shop around and find out if it is expensive or impossible to repair the product locally in case of accidental damage. Also, consider if the manufacturer is willing to repair the product through a reasonable period.

If it is expensive to do it locally, the manufacturer can repair it in time, the MSI accidental damage protection cover may be good for you. But if it takes ages for the manufacturer to fix a non-functional product, you may incur some losses.

If the losses you may incur when the product is undergoing repair are huge, the cover may not be helpful. In such a scenario, you may consider repairing the product locally. Also, do some research and find out if you can repair the product locally. In some cases, it is only the manufacturer that can fix and repair certain products. So, find out the options available before buying the MSI accidental damage protection.