Any consensus? BestBuy extended service plan for 32 Wega? (1 Viewer)

[Frank_M]

I, like most people, loathe extended warranty/service plans... unless they involve some sort of routine maintenance I'd be doing anyway. For example, when I bought my lawn mower at Sears, the SP included annual in home tune up/blade sharpening. I felt it was a good deal.

But we've just lugged (and that is the operative word)our new KV-32HS500 home. Haven't even set it up yet.. as it was hard enough just getting it in the right room!

I waived off the BB plan without thinking, but now that its home I've started to wonder. There is no way I'm ever going to be able to take this somewhere for service, not to mention SHIP it somewhere.

But $300 on a $1500 (acutally $1275) TV seems so high. But the idea of in-home service sounds pretty good.

I'm pretty much in favor of taking my chances, but I've never spent this much for a TV before.

So I'd appreciate your thoughts/experiences.

 

[Jack Briggs]

An authorized Sony repair station should come out to your home and do any servicing that's possible right there in your viewing room. This seems to be the case with any of the major OEMs and sets of 27 inches and larger. Just call the Sony service line and ask for an authorized repair center in your area. You should not have to lug the set to a center yourself.

I'm not a fan of instore "extended warranty" plans myself.

 

[Mary M S]

I am struggling with this issue currently. We normally never buy service plans and have not regretted it in the past.
I just spent more on a Display than ever before, and the coverage that attracts me on our offered service plan is surge/electrical strike replacement coverage.

But 400+ for 3 yr and 800+ for 5 yr, (the display was 5K) = funds to buy a whole new (something).

In my location we have spectacular storms, brownouts,power losses fairly frequently. I have never lost an electronic device to lightening yet know people who have.

What to do, - what to do, wish I had that crystal ball handy!

 

[Michael Gretton]

Frank:

I just bought the same set from Crutchfield. How did you get it so cheap? I know best buy gives out coupons now and then and damn, I just moved and I bet mine are in the mail. I did get a 200 dollar shopping spree thing from Crutchfield though. I reall think that set looks nice. I can't wait. I paid to have it delievered too.

I agree that best buy service plans are over priced and they stink. Some people have had great experience with them; however, I have not. YOu have to be a good lawyer type and plead your case that you don't fall within their many "exclusions" in the plan.

Mike

 

[Jeff Bamberger]

the coverage that attracts me on our offered service plan is surge/electrical strike replacement coverage.

Mary, Don't forget, many high end surge protectors (i.e., Panamax) have connected equipment guarantees. Mine covers me for like $50,000 worth of equipment connected to it. I would invest in a really good protector and use the money saved on another piece of equipment, like a TiVO or something.....

 

[Mary M S]

Jeff,
Thanks for that to chew on, I was just posting on Outlaw asking for recomendations (he suggested the panamax also) on a surge protector, (old cheapie one disapeared) right now we're plugged into the wall, which scares me silly.

Has anyone ever made a claim on one of the surge protector included policies, and had satifaction?

 

[Frank Frandsen]

Don't forget to charge any big purchase with a American Express or other premium card that doubles the manufacturer's warrantee. Usually only a year extra but free is good and it is better than giving the dim wit sales associate who knows nothing about the product a spiff.


double F

 

[AlbertH]

and it is better than giving the dim wit sales associate who knows nothing about the product a spiff.

grr, bb employees don't work on commission and don't get SPIFFs.

 

[Arron H]

$300 seems a little bit high for a $1275 TV but it may be worth it if something goes wrong. I had to take my 27 JVC in for repair a couple of days ago. I asked the owner about Wega and Tau (I recently purchased a Panasonic CT32XV41). He had a 32 flat screen Sony Wega (not sure what model it was) in for repair. The repair estimate was $700 for the Wega. He indicated that Sony is very good but that if something does go wrong, it can be very expensive. It's probably worth considering the extended warranty much as I loathe to admit it. I purchased the 3 year extended warranty for my Panasonic for $159.

 

[Cub Karabian]

Frank - On a completely unrelated topic, can you provide Feedback on that Sony TV...I have been unable to get real-world feedback on the KV-32HS500 as it is pretty new and have been dying for some info.

Thanks!!!

 

[Frank_M]

Michael -
Price was $1499 - 10% off ($150) = $1350. But the BB sales people messed up a few times with what they told us regarding shipping options, delivery dates, etc. And as I've found works in the past with them, if you complain enough about the misinformation... they give you something "for your time." In this case, an additional $75 off.
Cab - Relating to that, we took the thing home ourselves, and didn't (couldn't) get it delivered. So how does it look? Well, the box looks lovely sitting in my family room. But since we've yet to figure a way to lift and move our older TV down into our basement ... we haven't yet tackled moving the WEGA (so damn heavy) up onto the stand.
Hopefully in the next day or so. I'll report back when I do.

 

[Michael Gretton]

Frank :

Thanks. I got mine from crutchfield and it hasn't arrived yet (they even haven't shipped it) but i am so excited. FIrst new TV in 9 yrs. IT looks sweet in the store. I think it is the best I have looked at and I have been searching for a very long time. You will enjoy it.

mike

 

[DeanAB]

FYI,

I bought a Wega a few years ago with the extended service plan (from Tweeter though, not BestBuy). I don't usually buy the extra plans either, but in this case I was glad that I did. Turned out we've had a couple of issues with the set since we bought it that has necessitated having the service guy over to fix and it hasn't cost us a cent. I'd hate to think how much it would have cost us otherwise!

But, as always, YMMV.

- Dean.

 

[Mary M S]

If I did just have that crystal ball,
Our last JVC was terrific nary a problem and running 24/7.

The Sony is so pricey, I'm sure the 'fix's would be also if it ever has issues.
Prob ought to spring for the warranty.

 

[Jeff_Sm]

I wouldn't purchase the extended warranty myself unless you were buying a product that was REALLY cheap. Sony makes pretty consistant products and I wouldn't think this was an issue. Like the store owner were I get my gear says "9 out of 10 times if a TV is going to break, it will break in the first few months which is well within the warranty period." Oh, yeah the other "1" is on a tv that is made by an offbrand or a really low model tv. My .02

 

[Steve_Tk]

I would only buy a plan for a projection TV and a camcorder. Actually probably any tv over 1200 I would. CC plans seem to be cheaper.

I think a lot of people actually dismiss the service plans before they actually look into them. They have the mentality of "I don't buy those service plans, I don't need them and they are a rip off!". They act like any store that has a service plan is just trying to rip them off. At least look into the benefits of them and then decide if you think it would actually benefit you. Find out some average cost of repairs, then dismiss the service plans.

I bought a 10 dollar plan on a APEX dvd player once for one year, and it did benefit me and I usually never buy plans. This was my first DVD player and I knew it was a hunk of crap. It died on me, I didn't want to hassle with a manufacturer's warranty so ran up to the store and they just gave me a new hunk of crap APEX dvd player. It was worth my 10 dollars. I looked at the prices of the plans, saw a couple that were around 50 dollars and they were not worth it, but the 10 dollar one was. I'm about to buy a Panny rp whatever and I'll probably again go with a very cheap plan. If they offer a plan around 20 bucks for a 170 dollar dvd player then I'll probably get it.

Good luck trying to get warranty coverage out of a surge protector. Well, good luck on getting in a timely fashion, meaning less than a few weeks.

 

[Jeff_Sm]

Steve,
I totally agree if your buying something relatively inexpensive and you can get a warranty for $10. Heck that's great piece of mind.
The most expensive thing on a tv is going to be replacing the tube itself. My friends dad bought him an inexpensive 32" w/warranty from BB for like 50 bucks. Well worth it 'cause two weeks after the one year warranty was gone, the tube was too. BB came out and replaced no questions asked. Frank is talking about 300 dollars though. Yeah, its probably cheaper than a new tube, but like you said if he could find something for less than 300 bucks I would too.
Its a matter of comfort level of the individual which is going to be the deciding factor for Frank. I think everyone doesn't want to get stuck with a lemon, nor do they want to feel like they got taken by a store either for something they may or may not need.

 

[Frank Frandsen]

__________________________________________________ _________
grr, bb employees don't work on commission and don't get SPIFFs
__________________________________________________ _________

I don't mean to crap on BB sales associates Albert. However, the way the young man I was dealing with kept pushing a extended warantee but could not answer basic questions about 720p on a HDTV makes me wonder if some kind of benenfit is gained in closing a deal with a extended warrantee. He was well versed in countering all my points in favor of not getting the extra coverage. If he can learn this so well why not learn features of the products as well.

FF

FF

 

[Steve_Tk]

Best buy is not on commision. they will tell you this right off the bat. I think CC sales are better because A) They are on commision so it benefits them to know what they are talking about and work harder for the customers, not sit around and talk to other employees. B) When on commision they will not lie to you because they DO care if you return it. BB is not on commision, but they get shit all day long if you do not sell service, and you have a supervisor in your face every 2 minutes if you don't get service, because his job is based on their Service Percentage. That's all they care about, is their % of total revenue per department that was service plans.

And yes, 300 is a lot for 3 years. At CC a 4000 dollar tv was 500 for 5 years. Which doesn't seem too bad for a 4000 dollar TV. But 800 for 4 years is horrible.

 

[Greg*go]

I agree with Steve,
The fact that CC (and can't forget Sears) employees are on commision seems more helpful if the person isn't a complete moron. Both stores basically have a 30 day , no questions asked, return policy. So if you don't like it, you can return it. I think that the fact that the employees know this discourages them from selling you something you don't need. Of course, when it comes time to offer the service plan, they're as much in your face as anyone in sales. I hate the ones that don't accept "no" the first seventeen times you say it and try to tell you yet another advantage of having the service plan... "If you buy this plan, you'll not only be covered for 5 years, I'll also be able to eat lobster next week..."
Greg.