Gioman

I'm planning on buying a HT by the end of summer. Aside from a new TV ($2000-3,000 range) , I also plan on buying a budget/mid-range HT receiver and good "bang-for-your-buck" speakers, while spending about $1,000 - $1,500 for my sound set-up.


Just about every retailer, large or small, offer a variety of service plans on anything you buy, from anywhere between one to five years. What experience have you had with your HT equipment?

Do you consider it essential to buy extended coverage on your equipment, particularly high-priced items?

Or (in your opinion) is it a waste of money that could be better spend on investing in a better TV/receiver/etc?


-Gioman

zargon

Well, a lot of companies have warranties which are usually 2-3 years on a lot of stuff. After shopping at mom and pop shops something got to me. I asked about a warranty since I was paying over $1000 for my receiver, I didn't want to shell out a ton of money to fix it. They said they didn't have extended warranties, they do how ever cover the manufactors warranty which if it is covered under warranty is it free. A lot of the major stores you will have to wait a long time if you don't have their extended warranty and/or even fight with them to get it done for free (which it should be covered by the manufactor anyways). I really only buy at mom and pop shops now since I am beyond what most large chain stores sell, plus I just like the atmosphere of the mom and pop shops more. They tend to know a hell of a lot more about equipment and they just seem to bend over backwards for you. The one plus the warranties do have though if for instance on a TV, Audio King's extended warranty covers calibrating the TV, also a big plus for larger TVs is in home service and repair.

Overall I have NEVER had any problems with any of my equipment that I own. I have lucked out I guess, but I also do a lot of research on my equipment and don't buy crappy/sub-par brands. I wish more companies were like Bryston who actually carry a 20 year warrany on at least their amps and pre-amps, if not all of their products. Now that is a company that takes quality serious and backs their product.

Red Dog

No.

I went to Best Buy a few weeks ago to buy a simple alarm clock radio. I pick one up for $9.99. The cashier rings it up and asks me if I want an extended warranty for $5? All I did was

DigIt

This is almost always the case. The extended warranty is merely a scheme to make more money -- the store is making almost pure profit off of it, so it tries to convince you that you need it.

You'd be much better off keeping the money than gambling that you'll have one of the few units that will break outside of the manufacturer's standard warranty. I've never had it happen, and I don't know anyone who has had it happen to them.

Kman1011

I believe it essential on big screens and camcorders, and Audio King's do not cover calibration you are misinformed.

zargon

Sure they do, I know people that work there and currently looking at buying a new TV. They will come out, make sure all the guns are aligned, clean the mirrors, get it all converged, etc... Now that is what you call calibration. They do have ISF certified techs, but that is not convered under the warranty and you have to pay extra for that.

SilentBobrulez

I buy them on all my really big purchases (except video game systems. Spend all my money to get the system and the games themselves) Anyways yeah i spend the extra incase anything happens, because i know a few months before my warrenty is up on a few items i have bought 'something terrible is going to happen' =)

Brian Shannon

It depends on the item and the cost ratio.

I have bought them in the past but only for very expensive items.

GMLSKIS

NO - Never Ever.

Kman1011

They will come out once and five years and do a cleaning, they do not fully calibrate a set, I work for the company.

zargon

They will come out more than once, you just don't get your half of your money back if you have them out to clean and re-align everything. It isn't extensive as a ISF calibration, but it is a calibration.

Kevlar

It really depends on the item. The more electronics in it the more chance the item will someday malfunction.

Standard tv sets are pretty durable. Its old technology and cost of the set is usually low. Newer flat screens and HD projectors on the other hand are pretty intricate and if you are unlucky enough to have even something minor malfunction then the warranty has more than paid for itself.

If you buy gimmick items like combination tv/dvd or dvd/vhs players then you better get the warranty. They are not using top of the line components in those things and there are alot more things that can go wrong there. Same thing with home theater in a box deals. You are covered on all your speakers, amp/tuner and dvd player.

-K

jon_jon

Most salepeople agree (although they won't tell you outright) that they like to sell Extended Service Agreements, because it is an extra money making scheme and people hardly ever use it.

Besides it also becomes part of their commission. That's why they spend so much time trying to sell the Service Agreement. They often hit you with a high pressure sales pitch, which I tell them "OK, i don't want it" like five times and they still say "Hear me out, it's really a plan you can not afford to pass over".

icondude

No - Never ever.

Franchot

No. No way.

With the way that technology changes so quickly, most products go down in actual value just too fast. A newer product is often cheaper and better, and I would rather put the extended warranty money into that.

psxfan2

on anything with moving parts i'd say yes but stationary stuff like amps and so on, nah why bother a few years you might want to upgrade anyway, their extended warranties should start when the manufactures warranty expires.

JimRochester

Normally no because I know from experience an extended warranty is roughly 90% profit for the retailer. I made the exception on my HDTV though. It was $250 and the set was $4000. I figured if nothing else I wait until near the end of the warranty and they'll do a quickie cleaning and adjusting for free.

kevin75

normally i don't but i will be making an exception when i purchase my HDTV later this year.

Dammit

Almost never. The only items I have ever gotten extended warranties include the FRONT speakers in my HT (and only the front since I work those pretty hard when listening to music) and the speakers in my car. The warranty for my car speakers included installation so even if the speakers are fine but something loosens up, they fix it for free. Odds are I'm going to blow those speakers eventually anyway so I figured it was a wise investment (and actually didn't cost much). >

Other than that, it's usually a waste of money.

Kevlar

This is actually a good reason *for* the purchase of the extended warranty. Take my old voodoo2 card for example. I paid like 200 bucks for it, it crapped out after 2 years of pure abuse. They didn't sell that card any more, so I got a brand spanking new nvidia DDR card for nothing.

Newer products are cheaper and better so when your old one that you paid too much for craps out you get that much money to apply to newer technology later. If you have really bad luck *evil grin* like me then you can almost always take advantage of that warranty. Being an experienced electronics technician does help.

-K

duy37

man I wished I didnt waste 100 bucks on an extended warranty on my Sony WEGA 27" TV. I guess I just wanted to hook up the guy who sold it to me since I had orginally bought a Panasonic flat and I didn't like it so I took it back, 2 times actually.

I move around alot since I'm in college so thats why i wanted some extra warranty just in case..

The Bus

I never buy it, but I did get it for my Hitachi HDTV which I bought open-box. Even with a 3-yr service plan it is still $400 off the lowest price I had seen advertised.

Movie_Man

I only consider extended warranties for expensive items that would be a real hardship to replace. Be sure to READ the text of the contract before signing, and not assume what the salesperson told you is correct. On big ticket items, you may also be able to negotiate the price of the service. When I bought my widescreen 2 years ago, they threw in the extended warranty for no extra charge.

I say read the contract: Just yesterday, a Best Buy employee was telling all the virtues of their plan. Turns out upon reading the fine print, it specifically excluded everything he promised me, so it was basically worthless, and I would have been pissed if I came back expecting something and get turned away.

tlwizard

I gotta agree with this. For convenience sake, I've gotten most of my electronics at Best Buy. Best Buy's repair department is probably the poorest I've ever seen. The best they can do is to get a stuck vhs tape out of a vcr.

Over the years, I notice certain problems with different pieces of equipment, and they don't perform up to par. I take it to best buy, they let it sit around for a month and then tell me they can't fix it. I've essentially upgraded my entire home entertainment system because of this. I also just turned my old component cd-burner into a nice new dvd burner. Which of course, in three years time, will get turned into a brand new with the latest technology dvd burner.

I consider it an investment for the future.

Oh, but they are total profit for Best Buy and commision for the employees. I have a friend who used to work for them who said that the Product Plans are jokes amongst the employees -- they all compete to see who can get the most and then stand around in a circle and laugh. But if you know an employee who can swing his or her discount your way, do that -- employees get the service plans for about five dollars each.

vwbeetlvr

Best Buy employees DONT work on commission. You must be talking of another store.