Extended Warranty for RPTVs (1 Viewer)

[Robert Kaplan]

Bought a new Mitsubishi 55311 at the Wiz on Long Island for what I think is a great price. Now the salesman is trying to convince me to purchase an extended warranty (5years) over Mitsubishi's one year for $300.

I'm a firm believer that if electronic items are lemons, they will go belly up or need repair within a month.

What's the consensus of HTF on buying extended warrantees?

 

[Eric Stuckey]

I just bought a Hitachi 43in HDTVready RPtv and I bought the CC ofered 4 year for $300.00.It includes any labor or defects and the will come out and clean,alighn and adjust everything 2 times in the 4 year stent. To me thats alot,but knowing my luck If I dint buy it,,,,Id get screwd some how.
Eric

 

[Jim FC]

It is a myth that if something's going to go wrong, it will happen in the first month or whatever... if there is a defect with the TV it will often show up early, but not always. Keep in mind that most RPTVs have been running for a number of hours at the factory before they are shipped off to the stores, so the odds of you plugging in a new TV and it being DOA are slim. Like with anything, the chances of something going bad increase the older a RPTV gets and the more you use it.

I sell all this stuff for a living, see things come and go for repair every day, and here's the straight scoop: if you want to buy a warranty on a reciever or a tube TV, it's certainly not a BAD idea, but I personally would use the money for a good surge protector instead... these types of items typically last long enough, and break infrequently enough, that a coverage isn't necessary. On a VCR or a DVD player, they do break a lot, but are so cheap nowdays that most people just buy a new one if it breaks. If I was buying a camcorder or a PTV, though, I'd get the extended warranty without question. These two types of electronics a) break down more often than most others, b) cost more to fix than most others, and c) can benefit from regular maintenance & cleanings, which most of the better extended plans cover.

As a very general rule of thumb, a 5 year coverage should cost somewhere around 10%-15% of the price of the equipment. $300 to cover a $2500 TV for 5 years sounds to me like a fair price. I'd say if this plan covers cleanings or tune-ups or some sort of regluar maintenance for your TV, it is worthwhile.

 

[Ron Boster]

Robert:

When throwing out general questions like extended warranties etc. It's best to run a search first. In most cases you'll find your answer (quickly) with previous threads. This topic was discussed within the last couple of months and should give you the results your looking for. If you have a specific question that wasn't addressed, feel free to post after your search.

Welcome to the forum!!!

Ron Boster