It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?

My Ipod Nano broke after nearly 2 years. No powering up, nada. Just a silent blank screen. Where is my music???! More importantly, I had no way to play the awesome podcasts produced by NPR’s This American Life. Impossible! So I went out and bought a new shuffle. I wonder how long this one will last? No screen = one less thing to break, right?

But this post isn’t about my sound playing devices and their modest durability. It’s actually about the extended warranty program with my credit card company, American Express. I have had my Amex Costco card for the past 6 years, and one of the benefits of using this card to make purchases is the extended warranty coverage you automatically receive. For purchases with warranties between 1 to 5 years, you get an additional year under warranty by Amex. For purchases with less than a year warranty, you get a warranty extension equivalent to the purchase warranty length. I only became aware of it a few days ago.

I was nearly a year out of my warranty with Apple, so I called up Amex on friday and asked if their program would cover my broken ipod. They had me tell them what was wrong with it, the serial number of my product, date and location of purchase, purchase price and state tax rate. Good thing Apple emails me my receipts. A quick email search and I found it. I asked them if they needed me to send any receipt documentation or the failed product itself, and they said they didn’t need any for now, but would call me up if they required additional documentation.

This monday (aka 1 business day after I initially called), I get an emailed document from amex saying that my claim was approved, and the money would be credited to my account. Woohoo… pretty awesome!

One more reason to use my amex card to purchase items instead of my debit card.