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When purchasing toys for children, there are 2 types of shoppers. First there’s the shopper who never buys insurance for their items because they’re trying to save money and believe that getting insurance is just wasteful. Then there’s the shopper who makes sure they cover everything they buy due to fear of having to buy it again. Both the types of shoppers can justify the choice they make. There are pros and cons for insuring your child’s toys and electronics and the finally decision is ultimately yours.
When a shopper chooses not to insure a toy, they’re saving money at the current moment, but they are taking a risk. Their child could easily break the toy during play. Also, the toy could have possibly been damaged before purchasing. If your child is absolutely in love with this toy and wants a new copy of it, insurance could have saved you some money. However, it’s also possible that your child never breaks the toy or doesn’t want another copy of it. If that is the case, then it appears the shopper has made a wise decision.
When a shopper chooses to insure a toy, they’re spending more money to avoid the risks of re-purchasing. However, insurance prices are all over the place. Coverage on toys usually depends on the initial price of the uninsured toy. If you are buying an item such as a game console, insurance will be very expensive. However, that coverage could save you the risk of having to purchase that item again. It’s possible that the toy will never be damaged, but shoppers who take this route usually find satisfaction in the fact that it’s covered.
So what’s a better option? It depends on a number of factors. How expensive is the toy? Getting insurance for a scooter that you got on sale for $20 is simply not justified. Adding coverage for a new 3-D DS game is worth every penny because replacing it will be rather costly. You should also go by your child’s behavior – is he or she careful with the toys or tend to break them on the first day? Do they play with the toy a lot or lose interest within the first week? Will it break their heart if the toy breaks or they will move to the next thing on the shelf and forget about the damage? Then you also want to evaluate how breakable the new purchase is: for example a school backpack is not that easy to tear apart (no matter how hard the child tries), so why bother with insurance for it then?
So even though both the options have their pros and cons, make sure to factor in the mentioned above aspects to make the right decision.
Internet made it easy for consumers to make the right decision when they are shopping around for a new product, service, insurance carrier, school for their children – you name it. If you are about to part with a substantial sum of money, you might as well go online and read some consumer reviews to make sure you’ll get your money worth with this particular product or service you plan on paying for. But as you type a certain brand in Google search, Google kindly provides you with suggestions of things relevant to your query: that’s when a scary word “scam” might come up and raise alert. Who will ignore this kind of a red flag? Becoming a victim of fraud or scam is the last thing you need – life is stressful enough as it is…
The truth is, not everything deemed as direct scam is really scam. Well-established and legitimate brands that have been in business for years can be labeled scammy by a few angry customers because they were dissatisfied with the service, price, or quality. Internet made it easy to provide or get information, but it also made it very convenient to complain. Ripoffreport.com and ConsumerAffairs.com are just two out of hundreds of sites that offer you a chance to vent, express your frustration, and warn your fellow-consumers to stay away from the fraudulent company. And some claims made are really outrageous: you should certainly get wary if the same issue was encountered by a high number of customers who purchased the same product or service; or when money was paid but no service received; or when a bait-and-switch approach was used. But it’s important to differentiate true scam from perceived – there will always be customers who are simply hard to please, ready to write their negative feedback for a 15 minute delay in service or similar minor issues.
Think of a well-known brand and search for it in Google – but for experiment’s sake add “scam” right after the brand. And immediately you will see a bunch of results full of negative reviews claiming that this brand is the biggest scam on earth. Geico has it, New York Life Insurance has it, State Farm Insurance has it, Dell has it, Direct Buy Scam…. It seems like there isn’t a single brand left for which Google would fail to produce some angry consumer reviews in search results. Because that’s in the human nature: if we get an exceptional product or service, we take it for granted (how many of us take the time to go to the review-type of sites to write about our positive experience?), but if our expectations weren’t met, we make sure to do everything to hurt the company that we believe has hurt us.
Don’t ignore bad reviews all together, but always take them with a grain of salt. Think of thousands of happy satisfied customers who are certainly are out there, else the company would be out of business. Ask questions – is Geico right for me? Will I save money with Direct Buy? Is this the insurance policy I am looking for offered at such a good rate by State Farm? Do not hesitate to bug your sales agent or customer service representative – always inquire about hidden rates, or ask for the terms and conditions to be given to you in a written form before shopping for life insurance or any other financial services. No company is 100% perfect – there will always be slip ups, but they shouldn’t be labeled immediately as “scam” or “rip off”. As long as the ratio of positive vs. negative experience remains reasonable, the company deserves to be in business and service your needs.
