AndrewKC

Extended warranties

Okay, so I've decided that my old HK receiver isn't worth fixing and I want to get another receiver rather than step up to separates because I don't have the money to do that yet.

Anyway, I saw a good deal on an HK AVR525 (am I crazy for going back to HK or what?) at a local circuit city. Should I spring for an extended warranty or not? My old receiver started acting up 4 years after I bought it, so I was thinking if I had some kind of warranty after the 2 year manufacturer one, I would have been okay. Any have any experiences with these?

Eric C D

To use an extended warranty, you usually have to jump through all kinds of hoops. So even if the item fails, often they make it more hassle than it's worth. Also
electronics tend to either fail early (infant mortality it's called) or to last quite a while. The basic warranty convers the infant mortality phase. The wearout phase will occur after the period of the extended warranty. This means there are few failures of the type they will cover during the extended warranty.

But the real truth of it is, realize that that these warranties are sold to make money. That means on average, you will pay out more in extended warranties than you will ever collect. Only get insurance (that's what this is) on items you can't afford to replace. Do be aware that there are exceptions - but it's like winning at Las Vegas. Put the money from the warranty into an investment - it will almost undoubtedly make you more.

enjoy,

Eric

ChrisChap

Typically, extended warranties are a bad deal.

For the most part, getting a repair done or a prodcut replaced under an extended warranty is a nightmare.

However, my one experience at CC was great, but it was about 10 yrs ago. I bought a Sony receiver for about $600. I bought the extended warranty. It was powering off by itself quite a bit, so I took it in and they worked on it for about a week. I got it back and after a while it did the same thing. I took it in again, got it back a week later, and within a few months it started doing it again. When I went in the third time, I asked for a replacement unit. They did not have mine in stock, but offered to give me the newer Sony model that had replaced it. The newer model was priced at $800. I told the manager that I did not want another Sony because of all the problems I had with the receiver and a couple of other Sony products in the past. He gave me $800 store credit to replace my $600 receiver! I used it to get a nice Onkyo that I just replaced with the HK 525 today.

I went ahead and got the extended warranty on the HK because it was only $35 for 3 yrs, it was an open box item, and I was paying a lot less for the receiver than I had anticipated. $35 was worth it to me, if for no other reason than it is more ammunition I have on my side in case there is a problem with the unit.

John Robert

I don't know if this is still true but I was told years ago that only 10 cents of every dollar sold in extended warranties is paid out in repairs. Dealers love them because they have a 90% profit margin and they get to "float" 100% of your money until any repairs are made. Kind of like American Express and traveler's checks...

Kevin. W

Personally I have an extended warranty on my Panny RPTV(cost: 3yr for $300CDN), Panny RP82(cost: 2yr for $50CDN), and Rotel RMB-1095(cost:4yr for $50CDN). Now what this gives me is piece of mind over the life of my equipment as well as a selling point down the road. Also the dealer offers a instore credit for the amount of the insurance if not used over its lifetime.

Kevin

JohnSer

My first HT receiver came from CC, with extended warratee. It was a Pioneer Digital ready receiver. It went back to CC twice for two different problems, last being the relay to energize the speakers, wouldn't stay on. They were unable to fix, and received all my money back, including the remainder on the extended warrantee. Picked up an Onkyo 575X openbox for the same $.

I had also purchased a 200 disk CD player with ext warrantee, from CC. They took it back and fixed a noisy carasol, once. Sony ended up replacing this with a 300 disk unit, because the box said it had optical output, but the unit did not. Received balance of ext warrantee back.

Had a Sony DVD player purchased from Sears, when they would price match to anyone. Purchased ext warrantee, but didn't have any problems.

I haven't purchased any ext warrantees, since. I would consider it, especially on high-end displays and CD/DVD players.

JohnS