Trouble With A Guitar Center Extended Warranty? You May Not Be Alone

We’ve all heard the pros and cons of extended warranties for everything from appliances to autos, and they’re certainly worthwhile for some and worthless for others. When it comes to musical instruments and audio gear, the manufacturer almost always offers some warranty, while the retailer might offer a third party policy for an additional extended period of time. Guitar Center has been offering these policies from Asurion for a while, but according to the New York Times article, there have been some problems with customers actually getting them serviced.

One of the biggest problems was that the company has been selling warranties to customers in Puerto Rico for the last 30 months, which on the surface doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal until you find that the warranties are not valid there. Having just come back from San Juan, I can tell you that the people on the island have it tough enough already and the last thing they need is to be taken advantage of yet again. Guitar Center doesn’t have a physical store in Puerto Rico and claims they were unaware of the problem.

Yet other customers claim that they have trouble collecting on a warranty claim above $200. One claim outlined in the story was for an external power supply for an audio mixer that was qualified as an “accessory” and therefore not under warranty. We all know that without a power supply no piece of electronic gear is going to operate, but for a company that’s more used to insuring cell phones who doesn’t understand the business, it’s probably in line with their policies.

Understand that the problems with collecting on warranty claims lies with Asurion, a company that’s more widely known for insuring consumer electronics, than Guitar Center. That said, all companies try hard to sell these warranties because it’s all profit, and in many cases may even be more than on the item you purchased.

Have you purchased an extended warranty on an item from Guitar Center? How was your experience when making a claim? Tell us your story.