SquareTrade
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|
| Type | Privately held |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
| Area served | USA |
| Key people | Steven Abernethy, Co-founder & CEO Ahmed Khaishgi, Co-founder & COO |
| Products | Consumer Electronics and Appliances Warranty |
| Website | SquareTrade.com |
SquareTrade is an extended warranty service provider for consumer electronics and appliances headquartered in San Francisco's SOMA district. The company sells through large retailers online and in-store, and direct through its website. SquareTrade is known for being infinitely researchable through customer reviews and prides itself on transparency and a human approach to customer service.[neutrality is disputed] The company is the only consumer brand in the warranty industry.[citation needed]
The company's underwriter is AmTrust Financial Services, Inc.
Contents |
Origins and history [edit]
Co-founded in 1999 by Steve Abernethy and Ahmed Khaishgi, SquareTrade launched as the first online service for resolving e-commerce disputes. Working with online marketplaces such as eBay, the company utilized an online negotiation tool to automate the dispute resolution process between sellers and buyers. Between 1999 and 2001, SquareTrade raised $15M from JP Morgan Partners, Weston Presidio Capital and Draper Richards. That same year, the company launched a merchant-verification service, the SquareTrade Seal. Both original services have since been discontinued.
In 2006, SquareTrade began providing consumer protection plans for portable devices, appliances, and other electronics.
In 2009, SquareTrade expanded internationally and now has European headquarters in London.
In 2012, Bain Capital and Bain Capital Ventures announced they were investing $238 million in the company, marking the second largest venture capital deal of the year.[1]
Sam's Club announced it would offer SquareTrade in January of 2012. Tesco and Asda (large retailers in the UK) announced late in 2012 that they would begin offering SquareTrade as well.
In January of 2013, SquareTrade announced it had grown 90% and now worked with 5 of the top 10 retailers in the world.
Products and services [edit]
SquareTrade protection plans typically offer protection against device failure from normal use as well as accident protection for portable devices. Plans do not include protection from loss or theft. SquareTrade is offered by many retailers including Costco and Sam’s Club, Amazon, eBay, TigerDirect, and through Tech Data’s network of 66,000 retailers.
RECENT RESEARCH:
In September 2012, SquareTrade authored research showing that Americans have spent $5.9 billion on damaged iPhones.[2] SquareTrade has also released findings about which states are the clumsiest when it comes to smartphone damage and where in the home smartphones usually break.[3] SquareTrade was the company behind the “1 in 10 iPhone owners have dropped their phone in the toilet” statistic.[4]
In December 2012, SquareTrade research revealed that people that trade stocks frequently, have tattoos, ride motorcycles or have sex more than 2x a week, are more likely to damage their iPhone.[5]
In February 2013, SquareTrade announced that 23 million Americans had damaged their phones while watching a sporting event.[6]
In February 2008, SquareTrade released information regarding notably high failure rates for the Xbox 360. The company found that the failure rate for the game system was 16.4% (almost 60% of the consoles that failed were due to general hardware failure, or the "Red Ring of Death".[7] Microsoft spokesman, Joe DiMiero, responded by questioning the methodology, but did not release any data to refute SquareTrade's report.
Awards and recognition [edit]
2012 American Business Winner for Customer Service Department of the Year[8]
2012 Money Award’s Excellence Award for Customer Service[9]
2012 Finalist for the SITEL Customer Commitment Award
Gold Stevie For Sales and Customer Service 2012[10]
Stevie Awards Winner for People's Choice for Favorite Customer Service 2012[11]
Shorty Industry Awards Finalist for Best Use of Social Media for Customer Service 2012[12]
Golden Bridge Awards Best Customer Service 2011[13]
Golden Bridge Award for Social Media - 2012[14]
Shorty Awards Finalist for Customer Service 2011[15]
Stevie Awards Winner for Best Customer Service in the E-commerce category 2011[16]
Bizrate Circle of Excellence 2010[17]
Stevie Awards finalist for Most Innovative Company 2010[18]
Named one of the top 100 Web sites of 2010 by PC Magazine[19]
CPR Institute of Dispute Resolution's Outstanding Practical Achievement Award 2002
Named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, 2001 & 2002
Notes and controversy [edit]
DROP VIDEOS: SquareTrade has made a lot of noise with its signature “drop tests” or “face off” videos where it tests the “breakability” of 2 or more devices. http://www.youtube.com/squaretradeinc
References [edit]
- ^ "Top 15 venture capital deals of 2012". Venture Beat. 2012-12-28. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
- ^ "Busted iPhones add up to big business". The Washington Post. 2012-09-22. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
- ^ "Mississippi is'clumsiest' when it comes to iPhones". USA Today. 2012-08-16. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
- ^ "iPhone Damage: SquareTrade Lists The Rooms Where You're Most Likely To Destroy Your Phone". The Huffington Post. 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
- ^ "Frequent Stock Traders, Motorcycle Owners and Those With Tattoos More Likely to Break Their iPhones". USA Today. 2012-12-14. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
- ^ "SquareTrade Urges Device Defense During Super Bowl". Consumer Electronics Daily News. 2013-01-31. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
- ^ "Xbox 360 failure rate 23.7%, PS3 10%, Wii 2.7% - Study" http://www.gamespot.com Retrieved on 2010-09-08
- ^ "Customer Service Awards Category Stevie® Award Winners". The American Business Awards. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
- ^ "Winners". The Money Awards. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
- ^ "2012 Stevie® Award Winners". The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
- ^ "2012 Stevie® Award Winners". The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
- ^ "Best Use of Social Media for Customer Service". Shorty Industry Awards. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
- ^ "Golden Bridge Awards 2011 Winners". The Golden Bridge Awards. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
- ^ "Golden Bridge Awards". The Golden Bridge Awards. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
- ^ "Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service". Stevie Awards. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
- ^ "2011 Honorees". Stevie Awards. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
- ^ "Bizrate Circle of Excellence 2010". BizRate. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
- ^ "2010 Honorees". The American Business Awards. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
- ^ "The Top 100 Web Sites of 2010". PCMag. 2010-08-16. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
