necros

Every time I buy any kind of hardware whether it's a piece to my sterio or something for my PC, the salesman asks if I want an extended warranty and I gotta pay usually at least $50 extra.. whether it's at Best Buy or Circuit City or Bryn Mawr Sterio, and I'm sure tons of other places.

Question is... do I really need it? Or, is this warranty thing just a scam to get more cash out of the consumer? Over the years I've gotten a reciever, then a whole HT setup (with new reciever), dvd player, computer stuff, car sterio.. every time I've gotten the warranty too.. and the ONLY time I ever used it was when a speaker blew out in my car and I took the car back and they gave me a new speaker. Personally, I don't see why I need this extended warranty, because as far as I can tell if you take good care of your stuff (and I do), then it should last a long time regardless, and if it gets wrecked in a fire, I'm sure the insurance you get can cover it.

I'm planning to buy a big expensive new TV soon.. and I just dunno if I should get the warranty with it too

X

The extended warranty is pretty much a scam. It's a huge profit center for the stores, that's why they push it so much. Of course, this is based on probabilities. If you bought lots of equipment, the warranties would undoubtedly cost more than your repairs. For an individual unit, if it breaks during the warranty period it's worth it. If it doesn't, it's not.

Funny how my stuff breaks just after the warranty is up for the few times I was stupid enough to get it. And once, when I had a 5 year $99 warranty on a $1000 VCR, the VCR developed trouble just before the end of the warranty. Unfortunately, when I went to use the warranty, the company selling it was out of business. Don't buy a warranty from the same store you get the equipment. There are third-party, big name warranty companies that you can buy coverage at a better price over the web. But check out their likelihood of staying in business.

Also check out the piece of equipment and others' experience with it as a possible guide as to whether you're likely to need the warranty. And you might want to do what I do, which is use a Platinum or Gold card to buy it and have the warranty automatically doubled for free. Call the warranty service department of the credit cards for details. I found the Visa Platinum to be the best and I bought a RPTV with a 2 year manufacturer's warranty with that card so I automatically have an extra year. The Gold card only would have extended a 1 year manufacturer's warranty to a second year. And don't put the piece of equipment in a business name -- they don't cover that.

Heat

I agree with X except that I thing extended warrenties are useful for items with a lot of small moving parts (though VCRs are pretty reliable these days).

I have bought three multi disk CD players in my life (two Sony carasole, one JVC cartridge), all three have broken more than once, in all three cases the extended warrenties more than paid for themselves.

If I were buying a single disk DVD player (which I did) I would not buy an extended warrenty. If I were buying a carasole (spelling?) I would pick up the warrenty.

As for your TV, don't waste your money -- follow x's advice.

Rand

The only one I've purchased is for my tv. It's a 16x9 RP Mits and ran me $3k. I paid
an extra $150 for a five year in home extended from a very stable company. I wouldn't think about purchasing one for any
other electronic equipment.

young

some credit cards offer an extended warranty automatically - up to one year. i figure two years warranty is plenty for any item.

young

peskoe150

Does anyone know what the deal is for Sony TV's? It says on the warranty card that "color tubes" are covered for 2 years. What does "tube" mean? Do they just mean the TV or do they only mean a specific part? What counts as the "tube"?

X

quote:<HR>Originally posted by peskoe150:
Does anyone know what the deal is for Sony TV's? It says on the warranty card that "color tubes" are covered for 2 years. What does "tube" mean? Do they just mean the TV or do they only mean a specific part? What counts as the "tube"?<HR>

It means the tube. The CRT, the thing you look at behind a piece of glass. And that's all. Unfortunately, it doesn't mean the labor to replace the tube or any of the electronics producing the picture you see on the tube.

My Wega came with a whole 90 days labor warranty. Now that's standing behind your product! I'm so glad I used a credit card that doubled it to an astounding 180 days!!!

jsjesse

Honestly, I think that extended warranties are good. But before you buy them be sure to consider just how much wear and tear you plan on putting your equipment through. Yes, selling extended warranties are a big profit booster but it's all based on odds. They are willing to take the risk that the product will not fail and you won't have to use the warranty. I know because I use to sell them. I've seen many cases where people have bought DVD players, TV, etc. and have broken down after the MANUFACTURERS WARRANTY and the store could do nothing for them since they didn't buy an extended warranty. If they HAD bought one, the store would have taken the unit back and repaired it and if they couldnt repair it or if the repairs took too long, the customer would be offerered a NEW replacement(even if the model they had isn't available). Extended warranties are good for just about anything, especially sound equipment. The best extended warranty I ever bought was from Electronics Boutique. I had bought a 2 yr ESA(Extended Service Agreement) for my Dreamcast and after about 6 months my younger brother tripped on the unit and knocked it across the room. I took it back to EB and they replaced it with a brand spankin new one with no questions asked. They told me that even if it had a bullet hole in it that they still would have replaced it. If that's not a good warranty, then I don't know what is.

So, if you want the peace of mind knowing that your stuff is insured then I think you should buy the warranty. If you don't feel like spending the extra dough and believe that the brand you bought will last a great while then don't buy it. JUST BE SURE TO READ THE TERMS OF THE WARRANTY BEFORE YOU BUY IT.

Jesse

[This message has been edited by jsjesse (edited December 29, 2000).]

broadwayblue

necros,
Possibly the only item I would ever purchase an extended warranty on is a big screen tv. First of all they can break easily in transit...I don't know your personal living situation, but if you might be moving in the next 5 years then $150 is good insurance for a several thousand dollar set. The other reason is that the extended warranty often includes features that you would want to purchase anyway. For example, if you buy the 5 year extended warranty on a rear proj set at hifi buys you get free professional calibrations once a year. These are very important as it is impossible (even with avia or any other dvd calibration software) to accurately adjust many of the settings including gray scale without proper equipment. One of these calibrations performed by a professional technician runs as much as the whole 5 year warranty. If this service is included in the warranty it's a no-brainer...buy it! If it's not included then you might want to consider buying the set from a different retailer.