Happy Friday: Creating a Warranty Binder
Sent from reader, Shannon:
Hi Collin! After reading about the luck some of your readers have had with product warranties, and then having an unfortunate experience where I had to pay for vacuum cleaner repairs out-of-pocket because I had lost the receipt, I decided to make a warranty binder. I thought this idea might be helpful to your readers as well – especially those who just received big-ticket items for the holidays.
Each page of my warranty binder has the following information: Product Name & Model Number, Customer Service Phone Number, Website or Address, Warranty information, UPC Code/Proof of Purchase, Receipt, Packing Slip or Invoice with Purchase Price (as applicable), Original Retailer, Date of Purchase AND Warranty Expiration Date.
I made blank worksheets that I can fill in and attach the applicable information as necessary. I do not have a copier at home, so I copy and print the product and warranty info from the owner’s manual using my smartphone. I used an empty binder with page protectors and I organized it by area in my house (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, garage, etc), but you can organize it however you’d like.
Once I started doing this I realized that there are so many products that come with warranties! It may become tedious to catalog the warranty but taking a minute or two to catalog the warranty on your bigger purchases (like the vacuum cleaner) just may pay off in the end.
HAPPY FRIDAY!
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Such a great idea!!!!!
We do this with all our product/appliance manuals too. All in one place for easy reference.
This is a great idea! I’ve gotten a lot of things replaced using the warranties on things. But I don’t have a great way to organize them. I might modify this a bit but I love the general idea of a binder and page protectors. Thank you!
that is such a good idea!!! i am making my printout now! Thanks 🙂
Loooove this!!
Love this! Thank you for sharing.
Brilliant !!!
Exactly!
oh my! this weekend is a 3 days , perfect timing for a project.
What a great idea! I was just trying to wrap my head around where I should keep warranty and recall information from the car seat I just installed for my son (just graduated from infant carrier to a car seat 🙁 )…..and all the other product books I have just sitting in my safe because I had no idea where to put them…. THANK YOU FOR SHARING!
Wow! What a great idea! I thought i was doing ok by throwing warranties into a file. But this idea is so much better.
Same here omg!
That’s what I have done as well, and the major boxes went in the attic in case I needed to return (along with the date the warranty expired so I knew when to toss them). I add a year to the original expiration date if I used a charge card that has that benefit. This is such a great thing to have on my To Do list.
I love this idea!!
Genius 😋. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Love this! Thanks for the great idea!
what a awesome idea. I just have a drawer i throw everything in.
Great idea. Thanks!!
Exceptional idea!!!!
Great idea
I love this! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Thank u! Simple but smart! Love this idea!
Omygoodness I can’t believe I’ve never thought of this such a good idea thanks so much!!
Right! Fabulous idea. Now all I have to do is find them. Lol
You might also consider doing this for Rebates.
I do rebates a little differently. Make copies of everything — completed rebate form, receipt, UPC, etc., and staple everything together (or scan and store in one file or folder on your computer). Then, enter the rebate information (store, description, amount, date sent, etc.) as a line item on a separate sheet. Then, when the rebate check comes, you can cross it off your list as paid. If the check doesn’t come in a reasonable amount of time, then you have all the information to call the rebate phone number and get on their case.
All I can say is, “Why haven’t I been doing this for years?” This is a FABULOUS idea. My goal is to try and get more organized in our home office.
Thanks for sharing!
I also think this is a wonderful idea but it can have multiple purposes. My hometown was devastated by a tornado in 2007, we were lucky but my girlfriend lost everything. She discovered several things about her insurance, 1st thing is you must have NON-Depreciating Replacement Content Insurance. If you have content insurance and think your covered you are not, she had $65,000.00 content insurance, not knowing that it would depreciate every single item she could prove she bought, she fought through 13 adjusters and finally got her home back together it took 12 months and her content insurance only ended up paying out around $11,000.00. So this would be the perfect binder to keep a running tab on your big ticket items, if you take a pic of everything and store that on a flash drive in your safety deposit box at the bank would be best and hopefully protect you from moe than a faulty warranty. I called my insurance company after she had this experience and sure enough we had content insurance but not the NON-Depreciation kind, I now have that. Hope this helps someone.
Sorry about your town’s tornado. Replacement cost endorsement very important.
How do you get coupon?
Wow, what a great idea! Thank you!
This sure beats the ginormous box of unorganized manuals and warranties that I have! Thanks for sharing!!
I wish I had time to get organized but I only have enough time to read through 100 comments to make snarky comments.
Wow wish i had that much spare time,so lucky!
You read my mind Mia! LOL
I Guarantee this is saving their family money. it’s not intimidating, its just printing a sheet out (like printing a coupon) or submitting an IbottA rebate. Then sticking the booklets, barcode, and receipt in the slit. Really not That time consuming. Just pass by the post if it doesn’t jive with ya.
I hate comments like that. A roundabout way of saying something rude. This is something that will take very little time to set up and then about 5 minutes each time you buy something to insert it into the binder.
This may take a while setting up the first time if you have a lot purchased and saved warranties lying around but it pays off.. I don’t buy the whole “I don’t have time” routine. I’m a single mom who works 12 hours a day 6 days a week and I can find the time to coupon and do this.. Multitask. I take 1 hour each night to watch tv and coupon or do whatever I need to. I also wake up early on Sundays and make time before I get ready to run around with my daughter and her busy Sunday schedule plus all the housework I don’t get to do other days. I’m not saying your schedule isn’t as busy as mine, but when you want something you find the time for it. My next endeavour, finding time to make a blog and actually blog lol.. Now that is my “I don’t have time” project but I will make the time since it’s something I really want.. Perhaps during my non-existant daily lunch or while I cook at night.. Maybe waking up 20 minutes earlier might help. Either way, I’ll get it done.
I would suggest photocopying the receipts as well- sometimes the receipts fade depending on the store where the purchase was made (Sam’s Club receipts are pretty bad at maintaining readability over time).
That is a great point! I have a few receipts from tv and other electronics that are completely unreadable and all they’ve done is sit in a drawer.
Great idea! I have the receipt for our sectional that we added an additional warrantee and you can’t see it an more! Yikes!
Sue exactly what I was going to suggest. I had to call Allen & Roth regarding defective screen panel for our 10′ x 20′ patio canopy. It was a huge purchase for us.. to spend $500 for a canopy..so we expected much better quality. I got out my manual, mind you all mine are kept in a shoe box, with any upcs, receipts, etc, called A&R didn’t request I send them a photo or send screen back. They sent me an entire full screen very promptly, no questions asked. The representative on the phone suggested that I make a copy/scan of the original receipts when I purchase a product because now the receipt paper used turns dark if left in sun or fades over time. But if I make a copy..it will last for much longer time. I thought that was nice of them to not only send me a replacement FULL screen set not just the panel, but also to go out of their way to suggest a helpful hint.
TIP: Also, always make your notes when you call the manufacturer of who you spoke with and what date and why you phoned. I have had to call back to a manufacturer and they asked to whom did I speak with and when. I just jot my notes on the back page of my manual. Also staple the receipt to the inside of the manual if you use the store print out kind.
Great idea Shannon..I think I will work on this project in the early spring once football is over..I like the binder idea with the pages printed out with information so you don’t have to hunt it down in dire times in the manuals. Thank you for sharing.
Forgot to add this to my post. Also, I would put not on the UPC info but add the model # and the serial # to your page your printed out with all the info. I say this because most times that is one of the first things that is asked for when you call about a warranty or for insurance purposes. Sometimes manuals don’t have that info in them. Seems strange not to, but some of mine have not.
Thank you, great idea. I was just looking at some of my receipts and I was wondering why I saved them because you can’t even read them. It didn’t occur to me that they had faded.
Wow awesome Idea 👍.
Fun fact, if you use your Costco American Express card for any purchase, it doubles the manufacture’s warranty up to one additional year on warranties of 5 years or less. I know the policy is different for each of their cards so I’ve attached the link here: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/card-benefits/extended-warranty-terms.html Never buy an extended warranty because it’s already included when we use our Amex!!
My chase sapphire card extends the original warranty by 1 year.
https://cdn.f9client.com/api3/file/1130201/inline/Sapphire_Visa_Signature_V0000018_BGC10378_Eng_P.pdf?__gda__=exp=1452943103~acl=/api3/file/1130201/inline/Sapphire_Visa_Signature_V0000018_BGC10378_Eng_P.pdf*~hmac=7f7ac7616ef2acd233fd2e73964c153123a5a83792767a3f2e445e4d738d7bbb
any MasterCard purchase will also extend warranty for 1 year. Plus Square is awesome for high value items!! Call and get them to offer you a 40% off coupon code too. Lol. Always work for me!! I paid $30 for 3 year in my new Samsung tablet.
Unfortunately Costco is dropping American Express soon. I’m a pretty organized person, but never thought of this one. Great idea and thanks for sharing. Yes this takes some time, but not nearly as much if you need to track one down when your wash machine or refrigerator goes out. You either spend a lot of time trying to locate it, and perhaps an expensive prepare.
When we sold our house 8 years ago you should have seen the realtors face when I gave her our manual of our home book. We replaced everything and all of it was there. In her 38 years of selling homes this was the first time she seen something like that. I have and index with tabs and everything. I am just weird that way,
WOW great advise all around! Love the binder idea and the info on nondepreciating insurance is extremely valuable. We will be buying our first home soon and will be sure to check that when setting up insurance!Thank you!!
I think this is the first time where I think this is really awesome and something I will start doing right away
Cool ideas…I will make one and put it with all my other important folders where I know I can find it. thank you…loving visit your app. early in the morning…:-)
Super idea! Thanks for sharing.
Valerie, I make a home binder too. We also gave it to the family who bought our home 4 years ago. Our realtor made same comment about never seeing anyone do that before. However we figured the new owners bought the appliances etc too & needed all that information. We even include plants we put in yard & garden – then we can remember what a plant that didn’t make it was & avoid it next year.
The home we purchased, currently live in, came with no information at all & only one key. Not even a garage door opener nor key. It’s been terrible trying to find info online on how to operate things & replace needed parts.
A home binder helps us while we live in the home, & new owners if we move.
Wish the previous homeowners had done this with this home we purchased many years ago. We had to clean out junk drawers, closets , garage, storage shed; etc and would stumble upon a manual of an appliance or in our case we purchased their entire lawn equipment and tools in the work shed since we rented prior to this home.
Great idea I’ve always kept paper warranty stuff but not this organized!
Great idea!
I don’t have a binder like this, but maybe I should. LG just replaced our 5 year old washing machine for free! It had a recall on it where they had come out to reprogram it a few years ago, but now the programming started malfunctioning to where it wouldn’t complete a spin cycle. When they couldn’t fix it, they offered us a full refund or replacement. Luckily, I had stapled the receipt to the manual back when we purchased it. They also have a flat fee repair program that I didn’t know about; for $200 they will fix your out-of-warranty machine, all parts and labor included. It’s such a good deal that my regular appliance guy wouldn’t even come out. We figure that’s about as good as an extended warranty, so when they only gave us a 90 day warranty on the replacement washer, we figured we’ll save the money on extended warranty and only spend that $200 if it actually breaks.
For most of my larger appliances, I put the manual, etc in a plastic sleeve and tape to the side, or in the case of my washer and dryer I attach to the bulletin board in my laundry area. My free standing range has a storage drawer so that’s where the instructions and warranty info is. For my shredder that has a pull out bin I taped to the inside back of the shredder. I do this as soon as the appliance is installed. For all the smaller items, I have to hanging folders – one marked Inside the other Outside. So depending where the item is used, I go to one or the other folder. Then once a year (after I submit my income taxes) I go through the folders and make sure that the warranties/manuals for any items I don’t own are purged. There are many ways to capture the warranty information. I think the most important is to just start and do something.
Awesome ideas! Thanks for posting.
How did you make the worksheet? I am not that computer savy or is there a way I can copy yours?
Great idea but I would also keep all boxes that these items came in. Just flatten the boxes for easy storage..
Great idea! I have done the same with the instruction manuals for my appliances. Sure is easy to toss out the manual when the appliance goes. I have sold small appliances at yard sales and people were surprised there was a manual.
Excellent idea! I like how you set up your sheet to fill out. Will really save time in the end if you ever need it. Thank you for sharing.
Great idea! I just got an $850 check from a tv I bought at Walmart. I didn’t have the receipt but knew I had the warranty and they let me claim the first claim without registration of the product but from now on I have to register the product to get the warranty after I paid at the register.