Upsie Versus Walmart Electronics Insurance

Walmart was founded back in 1962 and has made a name for itself as one of the worlds largest retailers. According to World Atlas, 90% of the US population lives within ten miles of a Sam’s Club (owned by Walmart) or a Walmart store. They sell almost everything from groceries to electronics to clothing and even car parts. As an added bonus, Walmart offers warranties for many of their electronic devices that customers frequently take advantage of. But just because Walmart is a great place to buy a product does not mean that it is a great place to buy a warranty. We compared Upsie versus Walmart insurance to make sure you get the best protection for your electronic device.

Walmart offers warranties on many, but not all, of their products. The items that Walmart protects are:

Upsie protects all of the same things except non-electronic jewelry. For example, Upsie can protect a smartwatch, but not a traditional watch.

When you purchase a device at Walmart or on walmart.com that is eligible for a warranty, you will be asked if you want to add one. If you click for more information, you will get vague statements regarding coverage and service. However, it doesn’t actually tell you what is covered and instead says, “We’ll send plan details to your email address after purchase.” This is Walmart’s way of getting you to purchase coverage when you may have decided otherwise if you were given all of the information upfront. Tricky, right?

Walmart warranties are backed by Allstate: the same company that owns SquareTrade protection plans. In fact, when you need to make a claim, you will end up on SquareTrade’s website. So they really are not Walmart warranties at all; they are just branded that way.

To begin, hopefully you saved your receipt. No receipt means you can’t make a claim. You can try to work with Walmart customer service to see if they can pull up your receipt in their system, though that’s not guaranteed.

If you have a plan through Walmart and are ready to make a claim, click here. First they will ask you a couple basic validation questions and then prompt you to create an account before continuing. From there you will chat with a service representative who will walk you through the rest of your claim.

Walmart offers on-site, mail in and local repair options for most of their devices. If your product cannot be repaired, they will replace it, but it might be replaced with a model that retails at a lower price than your original device.

In our opinion, SquareTrade warranties are not the best option, therefore no, Walmart warranties are not the best option, either. First, Walmart plans lack transparency so you don’t really know what you’re purchasing. Even when you search through the terms and conditions, important information like deductibles are left out. We can only assume that a company is that vague so they do not have to approve as many claims as transparent and customer-oriented companies like Upsie do.

Upsie can protect you electronic device as long as it was purchased within:

New, used and refurbished devices are eligible for Upsie protection. New devices must come with at least a 90-day manufacturer warranty, and used or refurbished devices must have at least a 30-day seller warranty or 30 days left on their manufacturer warranty.

Please note that you do need to have your receipt to activate your Upsie plan. Conveniently, you are prompted to do this immediately after purchasing the plan. Once the plan is activated, you can toss your receipt because Upsie will store it online for you.

Visit upsie.com to view and shop for warranty plans. Upsie plans are only sold online, so if you already purchased a warranty at the store, it is not an Upsie warranty. Most in-store warranties can be canceled for a refund, so you can switch to Upsie if you are within the eligibility time frame.

If you’re curious to learn more about how Upsie works, you can contact them via email, Facebook or Twitter.