I think it really depends on what services you are getting for your money. I bought a 53" Sony (HDTV ready)a few months back and paid $300 Cdn $ ($200 US equivalent) for a 5 year extended program. It was really only 3 years as Sony warranteed the unit for first 2 years to begin with. But at $100/yr or 27 cents/day I bought "piece of mind" with the intent to hold onto the unit for at least the warranty period (while the HDTV thing settles in by 2006??)
The key issue is what does it cover - only repairs or repairs + cleaning + annual convergence set-up? The Sony Tech performed the convergence (which only he can do with the remote, hidden button formula that I couldn't see) after delivery and it made a significant difference. I myself am not sure about if I can get this done every year for free but if your program covers it, I'd say go for it but then again its not my money... |
Extended warranties are for the rich, the fools, or better yet they are for the rich fools.
The only reason this schmo wants you to buy the warranty is because he gets a healthy commission from it. You'd be better off just handing him a couple hundred bucks directly and forget about the warranty. |
While I am neither a fool nor rich its nice to see an opposing viewpoint even if I don't happen to agree with it. |
Extended warranties are nothing but a retailers attempt to part you with more of your hard-earned money. Don't buy them unless you're extremely faint of heart. |
for 13 years, i worked as an attorney and manager for the u.s. federal trade commission. one of the most frequent questions our paralegals received was: "are extended warranties worth buying"? the standard answer was: "no, unless they are offered directly by the manufacturer." still true. as others have said, they are really disguised extra profit margins. just like "credit life" policies offered by mortgage companies. -cfb |
Kelly- I guess I feel a little better about the warranty I purchased (given the roar of disapproval...) as the TV I bought was from our local Sony Store and therefore the warranty is thru them. |
rgd: sorry to cause more precipitation on your parade, but the warranty is likely bogus unless the warrantor is SONY, not your retailer. -cfb |
these are like the lottery: save yourself some time by throwing your money out of the car window as you drive by the gas station... |
Kelly - the Sony Store is a sanctioned retail outlet here in Canada and is operated by Sony Canada. Only Sony gear save some PSB speakers for HT applications... |
rgd: for your sake, i truly hope you are correct in your assumption. sorry, but i'm not a licensed canadian barrister. hard enuf just keeping up with my usa legal specialties. -cfb |
I read this report concerning Best Buy extended warranties. The report claims that management puts so much pressure to push them, that sometimes salesmen will find an excuse (ex. 'not in stock') not to sell the item if the customer refues the ext. warranty.
As someone who has worked a lot of retail, it is apparant to me that they are sly rip offs. Getting a store to honor an extended warranty will surely be a challenge, and most likely, you won't even need it. You can't cheat an honest man. Have fun with your TV. |
Although the standard answer is no, I think it is not so simple. Several years ago I purchased a laptop from someone who stuck me with a lemon. Fortunately for me it had an extended "transferable" warrentee. After two unsuccessful repairs the warrentee company decided to give me $1200 credit towards a new unit at a major retailer. I only paid $600 for the original computer so it was a real windfall. Consider the hourly cost of repairs plus parts and the cost of a warrentee can be a real bargain. It is also a major selling point if you sell. BTW I am still using the second laptop after two years and am typing this follow up on said machine ! |
Most Electronics are "bad" right out of the box if they are going to fail. Under these circumstances the manufacturer's warranty will cover it. Extended warranties should never be purchased. |
I basically agree that most extended warranties are not worth buying. Most people NEVER use them and as such, they are "free" money aka "high profit" for the seller.
Having said that, some extended warranties are worth purchasing. I would recommend them for laptop computers. Big screens are also another one, but that is somewhat conditional. How long the warranty is, who performs the service, what you're recourse is if the unit can't be repaired correctly, has repeated problems of if the repair can't be done on a timely basis, etc... Since these devices DO go out of alignment from movement, vibration, etc... having it cleaned and calibrated once in a while can be a good thing. This is not to mention that if you are the poor soul that buys that "lemon", you'll be covered.
My sister bought a large Pioneer tv and it gave her nothing but headaches. Luckily, the extended warranty saved her as she had some very expensive modules go out after the factory warranty. This happened to her twice, so the warranty more than paid for itself.
I did buy the extended warranty on my Mitsu big screen. Although i have confidence that it is a well built product, i had very little to loose. The dealer that sold it to me offers a 75% store credit if you never take advantage of the warranty. As such, it will either pay for itself if i do have to use it or it will have cost me VERY few pennies per day for complete piece of mind. Given the fact that i like to shake the entire house when watching sci-fi movies, i'm sure that it could use re-aligment as we speak : ) Sean
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Kelly - its no assumption on my part. I guess the word "sanctioned" I used was inappropriate as these stores known as the Sony Store are owned and operated by Sony Canada and the staff are employed by Sony Canada. Do you not have these Sony Stores in the good ole US of A? |
I think Homer Simpson said it best, "Extended warranty! How can I lose??!? Woohoo!" Most of the time you are throwing money away on an extended warranty. Though with some items, it is justified, especially if the extended warranty is thru the OEM. Laptop computers, and cars with fancy engines come to mind. If you can get a 3 or 4 year extended warranty on a laptop computer, get it. You probably end up busting the screen sooner or later. And a couple cars that come to mind that NEED an extended 100k mile warranty WERE the older Ford Taurus SHO models with the yamaha V6. Another were the older mitsubishi/Eagle/plymouth 'DSM' 2.0L turbos (ecplise/talon/laser). The trick was to MAKE sure your engine blew BEFORE 100k miles, and you were set!
A TV, IMHO, falls into that 'gray' area. I guess it would depend on if the warranty will cover a full failure, and if you believe the set may very well fail with five years. |
I seldom buy extended warranties but a year or so ago I did when I picked up a Sony ES (can't recall the model offhand) CD jukebox for my son. It listed for $1100 and I bought it for $200 from Sound Advice without box, manual, or remote. $30 for three years of warranty seemed reasonable.
The unit went back to the shop twice. The first time, the 3rd party repair shop replaced the laser and cleaned the mechanical drive train. The second time, they replaced the entire laser tracking/drive unit, the control board, and a couple of parts in the drive mechanism. No questions asked, old parts returned to me with the repaired unit, turnaround less than two weeks.
I got lucky! OTOH, I haven't bought any extended warranties since then so go figure.
Will |
rgd: i am iunaware of sony having such stores in my area of the usa. they did operate a "service center" close to where i live but they closed that and all others just last year. -kelly |
Hi My opinion is a little biased as I sell big screens and I do recommend getting something extra. The average service call on a rear-pro tv is about $300. This is what our service dept told me. It is kinda like life insurance-its better to have and not need than need and not have. Make sure it involves in-home everything. Also, Most stores have to contract out to outside service instead of the store`s own serv.dept. So if there is a dispute over something, you will be dealing with the outside business instead of the store from which you bought the tv. Fortunately where I work we have our own dept. so we take care of our customers a lot better. Now Ultimate says they have their own dept but they still have to send out. It is just a facade. In the end it is your decision. I would get it if I could afford it. Hope this helps Dan Rdlr |
Yes-Sony 36 XBR weighs 250lbs,latest version 450 has less
problems but they still seem to pop up AFTER basic waaranty.
But OH ! What a pix ! |
I work at an electronics store who sell about 15 different brands of hdtv;s mits, hitachi, and toshiba being our top line, around 3,000 for a 55"-60" hdtv's..and yes, we do make a commision off selling extended warranties, but if you didnt buy anything because the person makes money off of you, you'd have no house,car, diamond ring etc..that is assanine. Capitalism folks. if the warranties are full inhome with yearly checkups including convergence, its totally worth it for $80 dollars a year. if you spend 3 grand, its not worth $400 do make sure your tv is hassle free for 5 yrs.miked |
If it includes yearly check-ups, get it in a heartbeat. If it includes pick-up and delivery or in-home service get it, but negotiate price. Otherwise, forget it. An in-home service call on my Loewe was quoted at $250 plus parts; the thing weighs 150 lbs so I can't imagine dragging it to the shop. |
Normally no but for big ticket priced tv's yes.
My story. I bought the top of the line Sony XBR 53" five years ago and got a discount on the extended warranty. (Negotiate the price down for the max number of years is my policy.) I paid the three year price for five years of coverage. One month before the warrenty expired, the picuture tubes died. It took the service people almost three months for various parts to come in and be installed before it was determined "unable to restore to original specs". "Replacement" under the coverage was going to get me the current equivalent large screen rear projection Sony but it was almost half the price of what I originally paid. Instead of accepting the new mid-line Sony, I took the credit against a 65" Mitsubishi HDTV.
TV projection tubes have shorter lives than before. They'll give out about five years so if you get coverage pay for the five year coverage and negotiate the price. Any coverage under that time is playing into the game of paying for a service you'll likely not use. |
