I just bought a 40" sony bravia flat panel LCD this morning and the protection plan they hit me with was $339. is this worth it? couldn't I just get an extended warranty from sony when my first year is up? I have a year warranty anyway from sony so i am not sure what to do. some people say the protection plan is a waste of money, others say of course i should have it. Any opinions??????? thanks
Lowss01....welcome to afterdawn! I'm sure you'll get some responses soon; there are a couple of guys in this forum who work at best buy and cc and who really know their stuff. I'm sure they'll give you good advice but the site is a bit slow right now ... lots of people away for the holiday I guess. I was just looking at your TV on best buys web site. damn, I wish I'd waited two years before buying. With what I paid for my Sony LCD rear projection, I could have bought your TV and half of another LOL! Oh, well. THe price of impatience. Personally, I didn't buy the extended warranty on the tv but I usually do on big ticket items. I'll take a chance on a two hundred dollar air conditioner but not on a two thousand dollar item. A word of advice, if you don't mind one. If you buy the extended warranty, keep every scap of paper you get regarding the warranty! I've twice been told "Oh, we have no record of your having purchased an extended warranty, we'll need you to fax us the policy and receipt". TWICE!! THen, I saw this thing on CNN where most manufacturers do that because its a huge money maker because Americans are crappy with paperwork. They don't keep it and the companies know this. I just went through it with HP. Boy was I pissed! FIrst they said I had none so I faxed the receipt. Then they said it only covered phone tech help (Like I'd pay 300 for that!) so I had to fax them the paperwork that said the hard drive was covered. Sorry for the rant but if you buy it, keep every shred of paper.
Get your extended warranty from Sony. I think you have 60 days to get it. Go here and inquire about it: http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...iewExtendedWarranty-Detail?CategoryName=CE_TV
I have web pages up about this and right now (circuit city protection plan - search on Google) brings up my story on the first page third one down and its on several sites, Circuit City Dis-advantage Protection Plan cityadvantage protection plan - my lack of customer service. Lets start off with my purchase of my TV a Panasonic CT 26WX15 26" TV. This TV was great, we bought it because it had the best picture in the store and all of the features I wanted like plenty of connectors, HDTV, flat screen, and wide screen. I bought this TV on 12/11/05 and loved it untill early December 2006 when the picture started shifting off to the right. I tried calling about the TV on two different occasions and gave up after being on hold for over 30 minutes. On the third try I got through to someone and they told me to contact a local TV repair center. Well after talking to the repair center and them telling me I need a number from Circut City to authorize the repair. Again I started with the calls and after many failed attempts I finally got some one to give me the information to get it fixed on 12/30/06. That night the picture went out completely and I took the TV in for repair and was told it would be about 10 days. I leave not happy about not having the TV but hey, great, it will be fixed. After 12 days I call and check on TV, they tell me they are running about 10 days behind. OK, not happy but it will be fixed, they have ordered parts. Flash forward to 02/19/07 the TV shops calls but I can't answer because I am sitting in a Emergenry First Responder Class. I figure my TV is ready so I will call in the morning and finally get my TV back. I call and get the bad news on 02/20/07 that my TV can't be fixed and will have to be replaced. It TOOK THIS LONG TO FIGURE THAT OUT! Ok they replaced some parts but that wasn't the problem, it was the circuit board but you can't get them anymore and they won't refinish them. Well I spend about 2.75 hours on the phone today to find out what my next step is only to be hung up on twice and had my transfered call lost about 5 times. I talked to Cindy and was lost in a transfer and to a Candice who told me it would take around 72 hours for some one to call me back about replacing my TV. Well I went to the TV shop and got my TV to take back to the store and went there to see about another TV. The manager at the Spartanburg, SC Circuit City then tells me that my protection plan doesn't provide a comprable TV because they don't make it anmore. And if I wanted one I would have to spend more money on a more expensive TV because its just my tuff luck they don't make that style anymore. He tells me they will give me credit of what I spent on the TV to put toward another TV that fore the same money is not even in the same ballpark as my TV and down to a 20 inch unit. When I asked the manager to show me what was comprable to my TV he dissapeared for around 30 minutes before comming back out and giving me a story how I was stuck and would have to spend about another 300-500 Dollars to get a simular TV in picture quality and functions. This is a far cry from the "if anything happens to your TV we will fix it or replace it with the same quality or better TV, and they will do their best to fix it so they don't have to replace it." I can not recomend the (Cityadvantage Protection Plan) to anyone if it is just used to get you stuck will having to spend another $100.00 for the plan to only have to shell out 300-500 more dollars a year later because they no longer carry that TV. To me that seems like a form of entrapment that you spend more money to be locked into a deal where you have to spend double what you paid for in the first place to get a comparable TV. I don't know how this is going to turn out but I after buying TV's, computer packages, video cameras, and lots of other things I don't see me ever going back to Circuit City again in the near future.
I guess, besides buying the extended warranty, it is important where you buy the TV, I bought a Samsung 61" HDTV at PC Richards 14 months ago. Exactly a year after I bought it, the master board went bad, I called PC Richards and within 2 weeks they replaced everything (I was told it was about $1,500.00 worth of repair) I was glad I had the extended warranty.
Beware ... Disadvantage Plan ... Circuit City is misleading the average consumer ... their intent is to deceive .... they can send anyone (unauthorized service techs) to your home to fix the TV. Once they deem that they cannot fix the TV or if they do and use blackmarket parts, and further damage the TV.. they may offer you an exchange .... this after weeks and months of the consumer of trying to get Circuit City to help you. A similar TV could be a new TV that is similar but much less than you paid for the original TV or they could even exchange your damaged TV for another TV that was returned by someone else. Most of the time they will not transfer you service contract to another TV ... it's basically an insurance policy .. once you call to service the product ... the protection plan null and void. They will not refund your money. Go to Circuit City Formus, and read the first post of Advantage Protection Plan ..... to read our case .... We're in the process of filing in Small Claims Court.
I never buy warranties. I self insure. And over time if I get a big hit so be it, but so far none. I just bought a Samsung from CC and bought on line and picked it up locally, specifically so as not to suffer the harrassment of not buying a warranty! LOL. I'm like gerry, small ticket items are just tossed. I figured I've saved thousands over the years, from extended car warranties to electronics etc. Edit: Usually if something breaks, it's going to happen in the first 6 months.
You can get a Repairmaster extended warranty and usually they are half the price of Best Buy, CC, etc... Do a Google search on them.
I’m with you! I never buy warranty neither, anymore that is! Things I got never ever broke or went bust on me and before buying anything I inquire about its manufacture warranty and the store’s return policy. People need to realize that cheap brands or unknown products are not always their best choice, if anything do a research first. To me if what I bought lasts at least 5 years it was a good purchase… I read a business article a while back that said companies are making more money on warranties then anything... I paid $1400 for my Technics shelf system stereo back in 1994 and it’s still kicking.. If a person is clumsy “they should get the warranty” that’s my 2 cents anyway.. I just got a 22’ HD Widescreen LCD monitor, $435 no warranty and so far it’s great..
