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Hey guys.. issue I'd like a few opinions on. The basics: my university requires a laptop purchase freshmen year and provides 4 year all-inclusive insurance. I purchased this insurance. This insurance includes theft, damage, and total destruction. Total destruction as in drop it in a bathtub or off a 15 story building and they will replace it with a brand new one for $100 (no questions asked).
I purchased my laptop 3.5 years ago and now I'm near the end of the life of my current one. The heat has essentially fried it over time and it is slow and unresponsive now. Boot up takes about 10 minutes because it churns forever loading the OS and a few programs. I get blue screened or have to restart because it locks up at random intervals. And now the final straw.. my battery will no longer charge at all. It's at 35% right now but once the charge dies then I'll have to reboot the laptop and wait 10 minutes any time I leave a power outlet.
So the dilemma is: what to do? I could buy another battery but this seems stupid since it's so old. Should I use the insurance policy to dishonestly destroy my current laptop and receive another new one for $100? My friend has done this and there are no catches - he ran his over with a car and received a new laptop within a month. He justified it saying the school ripped him off initially and he couldn't really afford a new one anyhow. Or should I fork over however much for a new one?
My moral inclination is to think that using the insurance policy is wrong. Its tempting to take up this 'free' offer though - if I can get ahead in life in the future with things like this then isn't it silly to pass them up? Talk me out of it...
Poll: What do I do with my laptop situation?Get a new one for $100 (28) 72% Buy a new one for ~$500 (8) 21% Squeeze as much as you can outta the current (2) 5% Buy a new battery (1) 3% other (0) 0% 39 total votes Your vote: What do I do with my laptop situation? (Vote): Buy a new one for ~$500
(Vote): Squeeze as much as you can outta the current
(Vote): Get a new one for $100
(Vote): Buy a new battery
(Vote): other
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be the change you want to see in the world!
lol at your friend running it over with his car.... that's one way to be sure i guess. I think you should use the old one as long as you can, then get a new one if the old isn't good enough.
edit: or as people are suggesting later claim the insurance based on the condition it's in. it sounds pretty shot to me.
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Smash it and get a new one for $100 bucks. Living as a student is crumy, especially when it comes to finances. Buying a brand new one for $500 seems excessive, especially if its just a laptop for school.
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Morally its wrong, but does the world ever meet anyone half way ?
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Your school requires you to have a laptop that's functioning properly, gives you $100 replacements if your laptop is not functioning properly, and your laptop is not functioning properly. Take the $100 replacement.
If you have to jump through some stupid hoop (finish breaking the laptop), whatever; that's no dumber than any other piece of bureacracy a college will impose.
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abuse the insurance. Insurance fucks everyone up the ass, so a student getting a cheap laptop out of them isnt bad
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On March 13 2012 10:09 Divinek wrote:
abuse the insurance. Insurance fucks everyone up the ass, so a student getting a cheap laptop out of them isnt bad
I don't doubt ths, but part of the reason it fucks people is abuse like this :|
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Initial reaction: why would anyone recommend you defraud insurance. It's risky and you hurt anyone else with insurance indirectly.
Total destruction as in drop it in a bathtub or off a 15 story building and they will replace it with a brand new one for $100 (no questions asked).
With that kind of policy, they actually WANT you to do this. I expect you've paid or will pay more than (wholesale laptop cost minus $100) in premiums? Especially if they choose the "brand new" model, they could be buying them in quantities of 100,000+ plus bringing huge discounts.
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And now the final straw.. my battery will no longer charge at all.
This counts as "damage". Do it for that.
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On March 13 2012 10:21 Soleron wrote:
Initial reaction: why would anyone recommend you defraud insurance. It's risky and you hurt anyone else with insurance indirectly. A valid question. I think it boils down to life being more complicated than principles. Yes its wrong to be dishonest and defraud insurance. Is it always as black and white as that - of course not. I'm not even trying to sugar coat it here. It's partially dishonest but then again the laptop is not functional anymore, to the point where it is a major inconvenience and waste of time in my day. I was actually considering doing before it but decided not to because it still worked at a passable level of functionality and I wanted to get the most use out of it as I could.
Total destruction as in drop it in a bathtub or off a 15 story building and they will replace it with a brand new one for $100 (no questions asked).
With that kind of policy, they actually WANT you to do this. I expect you've paid or will pay more than (wholesale laptop cost minus $100) in premiums? Especially if they choose the "brand new" model, they could be buying them in quantities of 100,000+ plus bringing huge discounts. I'm not sure what you mean here, but the company does have a contract with the university to provide thousands of laptops a year. I was rather naive with computers at the time but I think I paid ~$1600 for a mid-level T61p. Looking online its $270 now, so I think its safe to say I was foolish to buy one through the university contract.
And now the final straw.. my battery will no longer charge at all.
This counts as "damage". Do it for that. I agree that the battery is damaged/defective. Does that justify jumping through the rest of the hoop, though?
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I don't even see why you need to intentionally damage your laptop or call this 'defrauding'. Your laptop doesn't have a working battery, it's useless. That's what you bought the insurance for.
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You can't currently get the problems fixed or a new one under the insurance policy? There's a bad battery (or maybe just the charging circuit on the motherboard), probably a bad hard drive, possibly bad memory, etc. These types of things aren't covered under such a broad insurance policy that includes replacements for $100?
Maybe if you haven't ever cleaned up the dust inside, that could be half of your problems though.
edit: btw, T series Thinkpads never sell under like $700 new, at least to individuals. That's for the new T series, which generally don't have discrete graphics, now that they split higher-end T series like __p models into the W series. An older mid-high end T series should be more expensive than that, and considering the warranty coverage, $1600 back then is a little high but kind of typical.
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Blazinghand
United States25550 Posts
It doesn't seem too much more expensive to get a new laptop-- I'd recommend doing that rather than cheating on the insurance, since that'll drive the price up for other students. Raising a few hundred dollars extra shouldn't be too hard if you can find some odd jobs.
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Well, lets go down the list of how defrauding by intentionally breaking it will serve things:
Pros:
You will get a new laptop for cheap that will run better.
Cons:
You have committed a crime, and committed an immoral act. if you believe in morality and rightness, the obvious choice is to not do it.
You have done the same thing others have done previously, which is what makes rates so high and causes you stress, so you would be actively participating in passing negative feelings onto future people just like the previous people. Ghandi says nonparticipation with evil is as much good as participation with good. the same holds true for participation in immoral acts and the negative consequences for future people. you don't participate, then at least you're not at fault for the higher costs and issues people in the future will have with insurance.
because you don't raise the issue as "bad battery and shitty components causing blue screen" but "run over by car" the company has no report or incentive to change the computer so it lasts longer. it would be better for them in the long run to cut costs, but your lack of reporting this will not help them re-evaluate these things. This will also gradually increase costs to people because more failing units in the future = more insurance costs later as well in order to cover these losses. Again, you would be participating in passing the buck to future people.
Doing the proper thing would be taking all the issues it has, and going to them with a full report of it, and explaining it. They will very likely replace it completely, and half of the reason would be that you can demonstrate that their choice in shoddy hardware is costing them more money.
Just tell them how incompetent it is to perform for you, and it should be replaced. no need to defraud, and two steps backwards for everyone if you do.
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Spieltor speaks words of wisdom here, that's exactly what I was going to say. Another idea is to go download some of the stuff you will need later on in college years (perhaps mathematica or microsoft excel etc) and show them how slow/broken the computer is when you try and run that sort of software. If your computer is in that bad of shape they really should replace it, it will allow them to salvage at least some of the money.
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If it feels wrong to you don't abuse it.
Fraud is fraud and you can't expect anyone to treat you any different than you treat them. And "everyone gets boned by insurance" isn't true, most people don't use it because that's the whole idea behind insurance. Spreading out risks to a greater pool of people so one person doesn't get boned. Obviously some insurance companies are a pain in the ass about covering some things, but not all.
Doing the proper thing would be taking all the issues it has, and going to them with a full report of it, and explaining it. They will very likely replace it completely, and half of the reason would be that you can demonstrate that their choice in shoddy hardware is costing them more money.
This would be the course of action I would take.
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I think you deserve a new laptop based on the current condition of your laptop. If they wont replace it now, then I think they're being dishonest and you should get it into an 'accident'
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Drop it into a tub of water....then...SUCCESS
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EPT
