The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Extended service plan: Remind me why I don't need this?
whuppins
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
OK, I know Rule #1 of shopping at Best Buy and other electronics chains is: Always say "no" when they try to push the extended service plan on you. That's fine, and I've never had a problem with skipping it. However, I've also never spent more than $250 on a single item there, and I've always felt that even if some disaster occurs, 50 bucks or so isn't really an earth-shattering amount to lose.
Now, though, I'm looking at dropping close to 4 grand on a top-of-the-line plasma TV and I find myself thinking that maybe an extended plan might be worth at least considering. I am a big fan of spending a little extra for a few years' peace of mind, and I'm a little spooked because of a recent experience my folks had with their new 50+ inch LCD. It broke after 3 or 4 months, and they were able to get it replaced, free of charge, without doing any legwork. My dad had gone ahead and gotten the service plan, and I don't know how much of that would have been possible without one.
So, Best Buy wants me to pay $500 for a 4-year plan. Two main questions:
1.) What kind of service am I really paying for if I do buy the plan?
2.) If I don't get the plan, what kind of service am I falling back on? I guess a manufacturer warranty, and/or some limited standard service plan from Best Buy? If I run into a situation similar to my parents, how much time, effort, and cash am I going to have to spend getting the problem resolved?
I know a lot of this stuff seems like it should be easily found on the internet, but my web-fu seems to be weak today. Please include as many details as you can and thanks for any and all replies.
Now, though, I'm looking at dropping close to 4 grand on a top-of-the-line plasma TV and I find myself thinking that maybe an extended plan might be worth at least considering. I am a big fan of spending a little extra for a few years' peace of mind, and I'm a little spooked because of a recent experience my folks had with their new 50+ inch LCD. It broke after 3 or 4 months, and they were able to get it replaced, free of charge, without doing any legwork. My dad had gone ahead and gotten the service plan, and I don't know how much of that would have been possible without one.
So, Best Buy wants me to pay $500 for a 4-year plan. Two main questions:
1.) What kind of service am I really paying for if I do buy the plan?
2.) If I don't get the plan, what kind of service am I falling back on? I guess a manufacturer warranty, and/or some limited standard service plan from Best Buy? If I run into a situation similar to my parents, how much time, effort, and cash am I going to have to spend getting the problem resolved?
I know a lot of this stuff seems like it should be easily found on the internet, but my web-fu seems to be weak today. Please include as many details as you can and thanks for any and all replies.
whuppins on
0
Posts
That being said, here's what you're paying for.
Protection from power surge (surge protector not needed to maintain this coverage)
Wear and Tear
Decline in performance
In-Home service, or free outbound and inbound delivery if the repair (which rarely happens on Plasma's) cannot be performed in-home.
Remote Control coverage.
Any repair exceeding the value of the television (about 90% of Plasma repairs) = Free new TV for you. Any decline in performance means they come out and assess it, attempt the repair and likely bring back a new one for you.
As far as depending on the manufacturer... Do some research on the company first. Some are amazing, some less so. I've seen camera manufacturers replace cameras with destroyed casings / LCD screens, and some that refused do to "wear and tear" which is impossible to avoid.
Lastly, if you do go for the Service Plan, never go through the store. It's a tad counter-intuitive but the service number on the back of the brochure they give you is a national repair center for BBY, and therefore has no margin to be concerned about, whereas the store is going to avoid eating a six grand TV with all their might.
Hope this has been of some help to you.
(also, if you're picking it up, bring a tall storage vehicle as a Plasma on it's side is a Xthousand dollar paperweight.)
Being on the internet, of course I have no personal experience with service plans at Best Buy and am only basing my opinion on things I have read from other equally clueless people online. I'm pretty sure I am right though (at least a little bit).
Here's the long and short of it:
For the consumer, extended warranties are notoriously bad deals because:
* Products seldom break within the extended-warranty window (typically around three years), our data show.
* When electronics and appliances do break, the repair often costs about the same as the cost of the warranty.
The two possible exceptions to this:
There are two caveats to our just-say-no advice: It's worth considering an extended warranty if you're buying a rear-projection microdisplay TV. Repair costs can be high, and these sets have been three times more likely to need repairs than other types of TVs. We also think it may be wise to get an extended warranty (which includes extended tech support) if you're buying an Apple computer, because they come with only 90 days of phone tech support.
And if you just must get a warranty:
Shop around. Extended warranties vary in length and terms. Don't pay more than 20 percent of the purchase price for one. Always try to negotiate a better price.
Also, if you buy it with a credit card, they might insure your purcahse. Look into it.
Eh? What? Really, there's no such thing as a cheap plasma repair? Hmm, that doesn't bode well for future breakdowns when my warranties have all expired. I guess TVs will be a lot cheaper then, though.
Ummm... when you talk about "going through the store", are you talking about buying the plan at the local store, or making a claim on it, if the product ever needs service? I think I understand if it's the latter, but if it's the former, I'm not sure.
A plasma display will break if it's laid flat? I hadn't heard that before. What happens? How long does it take for the effects to set in?
Its the latter. When someone comes into a store, they have "numbers" that are affected when they have to just give out merchandise. Thus, they will typically avoid giving out anything of high value. The BBY doesn't have to worry about numbers.
If you turn a plasma on its side, it breaks the fetzer valve, which basically murders the screen.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Not instantly, but don’t store it like that. Hell, LG plasmas come with fold-in stands that require the screen to be laid flat during unpacking.
Essentially what you're doing is gambling. You're betting that you'll be the one out of however many that have a failure of some sort, they're betting you won't...The house generally wins, but when you win, you win big.
As to this
Purchase through the store. Claim through the service.
Oh and don't be too paranoid about laying it flat. Those fuckers can take more abuse than you think.
Let's see...Anything else? Oh yeah. Don't fucking buy a Maxent. That's all I got.
Oh yeah, one more thing. The service you can expect from the manufacturer tends to be "Ship it to us and we'll fix it." Guess what bucko, most of the time you pay for shipping it. That ain't fun.
About 5 months ago I bought a 42" Phillips LCD with Ambilight (say it's gimmicky if you want, with the right movie it's well worth it). Maybe a couple months into it I started noticing the lights acting up. Occaisionally there'd be a split second bright red flash, often seen while playing NHL 2k5. Ignoring details on the glitch, I called the best buy service number, explained the problem, and they said someone would be out to look at it in a few days (they gave me a specific day of course). On the day in question I should be around to recieve a phone call in the morning in which I'd be given a 2 hour window for the repair man to show up.
On the morning of, I recieved a phone call and was given a 3 hour window. Irritating, yes, but fortunately I'm a short drive to work, so no biggie. They showed up in the latter third of the window and I explained the problem. Then I tried to replicate it for him. Of course, the damn thing doesn't replicate. An entire game of NHL 2k5 and not a damn thing. He took my descriptions though and left.
About a week later I recieve a call telling me that they called Phillips and eventually were given the go ahead for repairs even though there were no visible problems that day. I was told again to expect a call in the morning for a 2 hour window (more like 3 hours....). This time though they showed up within the first 45 minutes or so. The repair was completed in about 15 minutes and everything was back to normal.
So yeah, I'm glad I purchased the extended warranty. The service I recieved was quick and professional (aside from the varying window estimates they gave me). It's a gamble, sure, but my thoughts are that if I'm buying something this expensive, then yeah I'm going to throw in a couple hundred more in case something happens down the road. And with the Best Buy plan, I didn't have to do anything except take some time off work (no pay hit, since I'm able to make up the hours in the morning / evening), no dealing with shipping / packing, or anything else.
go with that and be done with it.
Think about the plans in this way:
The retailer offers them not as a service to the customer but as a source of profit for the company.
That is to say, they expect to bring more money in by selling service plans than they do by paying out for repairs and replacement on products covered by them.
They wouldnt offer coverage on things that ARE likely to need coverage and thus cost them money. Rather, they'd definitely like to sell you service on something that WONT need coverage (or breaks down long after coverage anyways).
I have seen this with iPods and coverage for the battery. Used to be covered, but since it's like the #1 reason for repairs/replacements, they took away the coverage for that particular issue. (they also jacked up the cost for a service plan).
I'm far more a fan of purchasing from companies with their own good warranties in the first place (like say, Nintendo, who always takes care of you) and purchasing with a credit card to double the manufacturer's warranty.
There are but a handful of products I would ever unequivocally recommend a service plan on. Like Xbox 360's.
But then being a pro consumer, I wouldnt be buying one until the manufacturer has it's shit together anyways. I shouldnt have to pay more to them or (retailer here) to ensure a working product for a reasonable amount of time.
I don't know enough about plasmas in particular to recommend one way or the other but I am strongly biased against ever needing a "plan" especially for such a large amount.
Thats correct but be sure to hold onto the receipt!!! For any big ticket item you should keep the receipt.
for anything non consumable you should be holding onto your receipt for the length of warranty
Just the fact that the company plans on making a profit is not the real issue. The fact that they push these warraties at the cashier and if I'm not mistaken evaluate the performance of their employies based on how many they sell point to the fact that the profit margin on these is high. Hence you should only get one if you are extremely risk adverse as to the particular purchase (or if buying a 360 heh).
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Thanks for all the replies.
90 days on electronics now, I think. People were abusing the shit out of their old system by breaking stuff right before the 2 years is up, getting the original price back, and buying a new (bigger) TV or whatever. That's right: because some people are douchebags, honest customers don't get protected anymore. It's not Costco's fault, but it still sucks.