The positive: It was very easy to purchase the plan and Square Trade eagerly took my money and processed everything.
The negative: They haven't honored the plan.
The story: I purchased a battery for my trolling motor on Amazon. I forgot to get the protection plan, but contacted SquareTrade/Allstate who assured me I could add it within 30 days of purchase, so that's what I decided to do.
Fast forward a year and a half...the battery, which is supposed to last 5 years, is already on it's last legs. So, I contacted SquareTrade and tried to make a claim. At first, it seemed great...they were willing to refund most of the purchase price. But then my claim got flagged for review...and the hoops began. Send pictures. Not just pictures, pictures of every angle of the product, and I had to include a handwritten note with the date and time. Wow. Now, they're asking for a receipt from THEM, with the vendor name and contact info, date of purchase, location of purchase, price, etc. Only problem is, they never gave me one to begin with, and they never told me this would be required to make a claim. I keep every email I receive and I never got something like this from them. Just another hoop. They're "paperless", and they sent me an email telling me they had all that info, so why are they asking for it from me? Seems like the more I press, the more hoops they want me to jump through. Instead of being out fishing, I'm wasting what's left of my summer exchanging emails with someone who seems like their only goal is to not honor the plan that they sold me. So frustrating.
Recommendation: Proceed with caution...Squaretrade/Allstate can make any pie-in-the-sky claims they want if they never have to pay out.