“almost none of these inexpensive printers will be serviced”
—
Just as well - I’m picturing some 18 year old kid who’s main job is selling phone plans working on anything that requires any knowledge of how things work.
And I can’t imagine waiting weeks/months for someone to hopefully figure out what’s wrong and how to repair it. As I sez, for me it’s less hassle and headache to toss the old beast and get a new beast.
Good thing all this China-crap is cheap.
If some mfgr could produced something that just worked simply and dependably that would be my ideal.
When I sent the DSLR in to get it fixed, it came back in less than a week. But this was a primo plan sold to me by the Sony Store. But I go the camera originally as a refurb that looked like it had never been used, so I got the camera and drop and spill warranty for quite a bit less than the price of a new camera. If I had purchased a new camera without the protection plan, I would have been screwed when someone knocked over my tripod at an event and broke the internal autofocus device.
I consider the drop and spill plan more of an insurance plan. As far as the typical extended warranty plan sold at Walmart, etc. most items are just a waste. But if you buy it for a cheap printer and something goes wrong, you will just be getting your money back which you can use toward the purchase of another cheap printer. It actually kind of fits your profile on this. If you look around your home at all the items that you own, few are as complicated delicate moving parts inside as a printer and they are made for a highly competitive market. They are not designed to hold up very well for the most part.