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Best Buy Service Plan for Samsung DLP HDTV - Advice needed
Hi, we purchased a Samsung 61" DLP HDTV almost a month ago and we are
still debating the purchase of the Best Buy Service Plan. We have some concerns, however: 1) Our TV was purchased on sale for approx. $3800-3900, the service plan price quoted was $400 for 4 years. This seems high to me. Is it? 2) Is Best Buy reliable with their service? ie. Will they do what they say? We are interested in knowing if anyone has had any experience with actually trying to get things fixed. 3) We felt the sales manager was exaggerating with his stories of all that could go wrong, even in the first year, with these TV's. He had horror stories of possible $1500 repairs and such. At the minimum he suggested that the bulb would need to be replaced at least every 2 years, which at $200/bulb would recoup the cost of the service plan. I question this. With a 6000 hour bulb life, say we watch a maximum of 5 hours/day on average, that gives us 1200 days which is over 3 years. 4) We are not even sure the service plan WILL cover the bulb as the sales manager claims. It does not specifically mention the bulb. It does offer "complete coverage if your product fails due to normal wear and tear/usage", BUT it also says "not covered are replacement costs for lost or consumable parts (knobs, remotes, batteries, bags, belts, etc.)" We are afraid they could argue that a bulb is a "consumable part". We are not naive enough to think that just because the sales manager says something is covered, that it is. I have read the performance plan brochure carefully, and unfortunately, it is written for a variety of products and not specifically for an HDTV. So, should we or shouldn't we? $400 is a lot of money and we don't want to throw it away. Thanks! |
We purchased a Samsung 50" on the pedestal, considered 2nd generation DLP.
Love it!!! I usually do not purchase service plans, except on expensive items like the Samsung. Best Buy has been slammed about their service policies and is know on the up and up. Too much media exposure last time. They are worried about class action law litigation. Good Luck, Alan -- This Message is certified Virus free by Norton AntiVirus 2004 "Jim" wrote in message om... Hi, we purchased a Samsung 61" DLP HDTV almost a month ago and we are still debating the purchase of the Best Buy Service Plan. We have some concerns, however: 1) Our TV was purchased on sale for approx. $3800-3900, the service plan price quoted was $400 for 4 years. This seems high to me. Is it? 2) Is Best Buy reliable with their service? ie. Will they do what they say? We are interested in knowing if anyone has had any experience with actually trying to get things fixed. 3) We felt the sales manager was exaggerating with his stories of all that could go wrong, even in the first year, with these TV's. He had horror stories of possible $1500 repairs and such. At the minimum he suggested that the bulb would need to be replaced at least every 2 years, which at $200/bulb would recoup the cost of the service plan. I question this. With a 6000 hour bulb life, say we watch a maximum of 5 hours/day on average, that gives us 1200 days which is over 3 years. 4) We are not even sure the service plan WILL cover the bulb as the sales manager claims. It does not specifically mention the bulb. It does offer "complete coverage if your product fails due to normal wear and tear/usage", BUT it also says "not covered are replacement costs for lost or consumable parts (knobs, remotes, batteries, bags, belts, etc.)" We are afraid they could argue that a bulb is a "consumable part". We are not naive enough to think that just because the sales manager says something is covered, that it is. I have read the performance plan brochure carefully, and unfortunately, it is written for a variety of products and not specifically for an HDTV. So, should we or shouldn't we? $400 is a lot of money and we don't want to throw it away. Thanks! |
There is nothing to argue about. A bulb IS a consumable and not covered by
any warranty. But also understand that BB will NOT provide service to any device that is out of warranty...even when you bought it at their store! Do you have a good service source in your area BESIDES BB? "Jim" wrote in message om... Hi, we purchased a Samsung 61" DLP HDTV almost a month ago and we are still debating the purchase of the Best Buy Service Plan. We have some concerns, however: 1) Our TV was purchased on sale for approx. $3800-3900, the service plan price quoted was $400 for 4 years. This seems high to me. Is it? 2) Is Best Buy reliable with their service? ie. Will they do what they say? We are interested in knowing if anyone has had any experience with actually trying to get things fixed. 3) We felt the sales manager was exaggerating with his stories of all that could go wrong, even in the first year, with these TV's. He had horror stories of possible $1500 repairs and such. At the minimum he suggested that the bulb would need to be replaced at least every 2 years, which at $200/bulb would recoup the cost of the service plan. I question this. With a 6000 hour bulb life, say we watch a maximum of 5 hours/day on average, that gives us 1200 days which is over 3 years. 4) We are not even sure the service plan WILL cover the bulb as the sales manager claims. It does not specifically mention the bulb. It does offer "complete coverage if your product fails due to normal wear and tear/usage", BUT it also says "not covered are replacement costs for lost or consumable parts (knobs, remotes, batteries, bags, belts, etc.)" We are afraid they could argue that a bulb is a "consumable part". We are not naive enough to think that just because the sales manager says something is covered, that it is. I have read the performance plan brochure carefully, and unfortunately, it is written for a variety of products and not specifically for an HDTV. So, should we or shouldn't we? $400 is a lot of money and we don't want to throw it away. Thanks! |
When did they start that policy? A few years ago, I took a JVC SVHS I
bought at Circuit City to BB for service, and they fixed it no questions asked. "curmudgeon" wrote in message ... But also understand that BB will NOT provide service to any device that is out of warranty...even when you bought it at their store! |
I don't believe THEY service anything. They contract it out. Their
service policies didn't used to be theirs either, meaning that they sold a policy serviced by another company. I don't know if that's still true. Clay "Jeff Henkels" wrote in message ... When did they start that policy? A few years ago, I took a JVC SVHS I bought at Circuit City to BB for service, and they fixed it no questions asked. "curmudgeon" wrote in message ... But also understand that BB will NOT provide service to any device that is out of warranty...even when you bought it at their store! |
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"curmudgeon" wrote in message
... There is nothing to argue about. A bulb IS a consumable and not covered by any warranty. Actually depending on the manufacturer, the bulb is covered up to 1 year. 90 days for Sony and Hitachi. 1 year by Mitsubishi. (Please correct me if I'm wrong anyone) Also where I work, the largest independently owned department store in the US (located in NE US), we cover the bulb under our service plan. Plus we provide yearly maintenance service. Scott |
The bulb will not be covered. Rest assured that Service Plans bring in
more profit to the retailer than any other item that they sell. That alone should tell you that it is in their interest, not yours. The Samsung has four components inside it - the power supply, the analog board, the digital board, and the light engine. The first three cost about $200 each to replace. The last costs about $1500. If you lose the Light Engine during year 1, the warranty will cover it. Samsung provides in-home service under warranty (1-800-Samsung), no need to involve Best Buy in the process. They'll replace the light engine even if it's just noisy, or if it has a single bad pixel. If you lose the Light Engine during years 2, 3, or 4, then the Service Plan will have been a good purchase. However, the probability of the Light Engine working for a full year, and then failing within the next three, is very, very small. Jim wrote: Hi, we purchased a Samsung 61" DLP HDTV almost a month ago and we are still debating the purchase of the Best Buy Service Plan. We have some concerns, however: 1) Our TV was purchased on sale for approx. $3800-3900, the service plan price quoted was $400 for 4 years. This seems high to me. Is it? 2) Is Best Buy reliable with their service? ie. Will they do what they say? We are interested in knowing if anyone has had any experience with actually trying to get things fixed. 3) We felt the sales manager was exaggerating with his stories of all that could go wrong, even in the first year, with these TV's. He had horror stories of possible $1500 repairs and such. At the minimum he suggested that the bulb would need to be replaced at least every 2 years, which at $200/bulb would recoup the cost of the service plan. I question this. With a 6000 hour bulb life, say we watch a maximum of 5 hours/day on average, that gives us 1200 days which is over 3 years. 4) We are not even sure the service plan WILL cover the bulb as the sales manager claims. It does not specifically mention the bulb. It does offer "complete coverage if your product fails due to normal wear and tear/usage", BUT it also says "not covered are replacement costs for lost or consumable parts (knobs, remotes, batteries, bags, belts, etc.)" We are afraid they could argue that a bulb is a "consumable part". We are not naive enough to think that just because the sales manager says something is covered, that it is. I have read the performance plan brochure carefully, and unfortunately, it is written for a variety of products and not specifically for an HDTV. So, should we or shouldn't we? $400 is a lot of money and we don't want to throw it away. Thanks! |
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True. Best Buy sells warranties administered by NEW, National
Electronics Warranty Corporation. Not knowing how they work for HDTV, but I can speak for my experience. My wife handles claims for DirecTV for them. Claims are scheduled with factory authorized contractors who install, set up, and provide warranty service. The contractor that came out to service our multi-satellite receiver knew his job and was finished promptly. We would have received the same treatment even if my wife didn't work for NEW, as she has to play the bad guy and send a tech out if there are still problems with a subscriber's equipment after they closed the job. And the tech gets paid by the job, not by the clock. HDTV-slingr wrote: On 30 Sep 2004 16:54:29 -0700, (JDeats) wrote: DO NOT PAY BEST BUY MONEY FOR AN EXTENDED WARRENTY. Ever! Espeically not on a HDTV, something like this you'll want only an authorized service tech to touch your set should something go wrong. Best Buy does not have service techs. Factory authorized (I would assume) subcontractors perform warranty work on the electronic items they sell. |
"Jim Gilliland" wrote in message ... The bulb will not be covered. Rest assured that Service Plans bring in more profit to the retailer than any other item that they sell. That alone should tell you that it is in their interest, not yours. The Samsung has four components inside it - the power supply, the analog board, the digital board, and the light engine. The first three cost about $200 each to replace. The last costs about $1500. If you lose the Light Engine during year 1, the warranty will cover it. Samsung provides in-home service under warranty (1-800-Samsung), no need to involve Best Buy in the process. They'll replace the light engine even if it's just noisy, or if it has a single bad pixel. If you lose the Light Engine during years 2, 3, or 4, then the Service Plan will have been a good purchase. However, the probability of the Light Engine working for a full year, and then failing within the next three, is very, very small. Does the $200 for the boards other than the light engine include labor and a service call? Is that dealer cost or retail? Are you sure that there are not other parts that can fail that are not part of those assemblies? I have heard this claim about the cost of repairing the Samsungs before and asked these questions, but never get an answer... What happens if a fan, safety switch, or temperature sensor goes bad (most LCD and DLP sets have several of each and they have been some of the most common failures in most)? Do you have to replace a $200 board to replace a $14 fan? Bottom line is that replacing a power supply, analog board, or digital board will likely cost more like $400 on average and from what I hear from the guys servicing Samsungs, replacing light engines is much more likely than, for instance, replacing a CRT. Leonard |
Leonard Caillouet wrote:
Does the $200 for the boards other than the light engine include labor and a service call? Is that dealer cost or retail? Are you sure that there are not other parts that can fail that are not part of those assemblies? I have heard this claim about the cost of repairing the Samsungs before and asked these questions, but never get an answer... What happens if a fan, safety switch, or temperature sensor goes bad (most LCD and DLP sets have several of each and they have been some of the most common failures in most)? Do you have to replace a $200 board to replace a $14 fan? Bottom line is that replacing a power supply, analog board, or digital board will likely cost more like $400 on average and from what I hear from the guys servicing Samsungs, replacing light engines is much more likely than, for instance, replacing a CRT. Certainly there are other minor components, some of which may (rarely) fail. Certainly service companies charge for their labor, making a total repair bill higher than the cost of the parts. My information was simply intended to put things into perspective. It is possible that a service plan will pay for itself, just unlikely. If you can't afford the repair, then buy the insurance. But before you buy the service plan, consider whether you may be able to be "self insured". That means you save the cost of the service contract, but take the risk of paying for the repair yourself. On average, you'll be far, far ahead if you can absorb that risk. A very few owners will find that they do, in fact, wind up with an expensive repair. The rest will come out way ahead. There is no dispute about this: Service Plans are a HUGE profit center for the retailers that sell them and for the insurers who hold the policies. That huge profit comes from the difference between what you pay for the service plan and what they have to pay out to make repairs. |
"Jim Gilliland" wrote in message ... Leonard Caillouet wrote: Does the $200 for the boards other than the light engine include labor and a service call? Is that dealer cost or retail? Are you sure that there are not other parts that can fail that are not part of those assemblies? I have heard this claim about the cost of repairing the Samsungs before and asked these questions, but never get an answer... What happens if a fan, safety switch, or temperature sensor goes bad (most LCD and DLP sets have several of each and they have been some of the most common failures in most)? Do you have to replace a $200 board to replace a $14 fan? Bottom line is that replacing a power supply, analog board, or digital board will likely cost more like $400 on average and from what I hear from the guys servicing Samsungs, replacing light engines is much more likely than, for instance, replacing a CRT. Certainly there are other minor components, some of which may (rarely) fail. Certainly service companies charge for their labor, making a total repair bill higher than the cost of the parts. My information was simply intended to put things into perspective. It is possible that a service plan will pay for itself, just unlikely. If you can't afford the repair, then buy the insurance. But before you buy the service plan, consider whether you may be able to be "self insured". That means you save the cost of the service contract, but take the risk of paying for the repair yourself. On average, you'll be far, far ahead if you can absorb that risk. A very few owners will find that they do, in fact, wind up with an expensive repair. The rest will come out way ahead. There is no dispute about this: Service Plans are a HUGE profit center for the retailers that sell them and for the insurers who hold the policies. That huge profit comes from the difference between what you pay for the service plan and what they have to pay out to make repairs. I was not disputing this at all. In fact, I have stated many times that extended warranties are usually NOT a good value. It is importance to understand what the actual cost of repairs are likely to be. What I was pointing out was that you seem to be estimating on the very optimistic side of things...not a useful perspective, but a biased one that is stacked against the decision to purchase the warranty. I think it is more important to get real info. I asked some questions and still have not received answers. Has anyone actually priced these repairs with a Samsung ASC to see what they would actually charge out of warranty? In the case of newer, expensive products that are likely to be serviced primarily by board swapping, it is possible that extended warranties may be worth considering. You have to do your homework and consider the details of the particular product and warranty before coming to this conclusion. Leonard |
On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 20:06:59 -0400, Jim Gilliland wrote:
The bulb will not be covered. Rest assured that Service Plans bring in more profit to the retailer than any other item that they sell. That alone should tell you that it is in their interest, not yours. What makes you say that the bulb isn't covered? When I bought a 50" Sony LCD projection TV from Best Buy they said the bulb was covered. |
"General Schvantzkoph" wrote in message
... On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 20:06:59 -0400, Jim Gilliland wrote: The bulb will not be covered. Rest assured that Service Plans bring in more profit to the retailer than any other item that they sell. That alone should tell you that it is in their interest, not yours. What makes you say that the bulb isn't covered? When I bought a 50" Sony LCD projection TV from Best Buy they said the bulb was covered. They lied to you. Sorry, but that's the truth. It's a consumable item, like tires on a car. Call the number on the plan and ask, they'll tell you. |
General Schvantzkoph wrote:
On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 20:06:59 -0400, Jim Gilliland wrote: The bulb will not be covered. Rest assured that Service Plans bring in more profit to the retailer than any other item that they sell. That alone should tell you that it is in their interest, not yours. What makes you say that the bulb isn't covered? When I bought a 50" Sony LCD projection TV from Best Buy they said the bulb was covered. They'll "say" all sorts of things. Read the contract. It says consumables are not covered. |
On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 23:34:39 GMT, "Badger"
wrote: I don't believe THEY service anything. They contract it out. Their service policies didn't used to be theirs either, meaning that they sold a policy serviced by another company. I don't know if that's still true. That's still true. Sears is the ONLY major retailer that performs it's own warranty work. Sears employees wearing Sears uniforms, trained by the individual manufacturers, driving Sears vans turn the screwdrivers on all of the televisions they sell... when it comes to selling & servicing appliances and electronics, Sears is a HUGE "mom & pop" in that sense. |
Regarding this bulb/warranty issue, a salesman at Ultimate Electronics told
me that they used to sell two versions of their extended service (3 years) plan for HDTV's, bulb-included & bulb not-included at a lower price. But now, he said, they only have one plan, bulb-included, 3 years, $300. Can't vouch for his accuracy. Salesmen are known to be wrong, and worse. I would probably not buy an extended warranty, anyway. But to my way of thinking, a non-bulb, lower-cost, extended warranty would be preferable. I would rather buy a spare lamp and keep it in my closet in case the original goes out since I can replace it, following the manual instructions, in a few minutes. Why wait for a service tech to show up to do what I can do myself? mack austin "Jim Gilliland" wrote in message ... General Schvantzkoph wrote: On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 20:06:59 -0400, Jim Gilliland wrote: The bulb will not be covered. Rest assured that Service Plans bring in more profit to the retailer than any other item that they sell. That alone should tell you that it is in their interest, not yours. What makes you say that the bulb isn't covered? When I bought a 50" Sony LCD projection TV from Best Buy they said the bulb was covered. They'll "say" all sorts of things. Read the contract. It says consumables are not covered. |
"curmudgeon" wrote in message .. .
There is nothing to argue about. A bulb IS a consumable and not covered by any warranty. I totally agree that most extended warranties are much more favorable to the retailer than the customer, and in general I won't buy them. However, in fairness to Best Buy, I *did* buy a 3-yr warranty with my new Canon S400 digital still camera for two reasons: a) it *does* cover both the original and the additional rechargeable battery I purchased - both of which are clearly "consumables"; and b) I was told the warranty would even cover damage if the camera accidentally fell in the lake. Since I'll clearly have to replace both batteries within 3 years, it seemed like a no-brainer. So - about 14 months later, the camera was dropped on concrete. The lens tube was out at the time, and was bent at a 30-degree angle. Obviously, the camera was trashed. I took it into Best Buy and showed it to them. The tech took one look, said it was not repairable and that they no longer carried the S400 model. So I was given full credit for my original $500 cost and told to go pick out a replacement. I walked out with a new 5-megapixel S500, which had replaced the S400 for the same $500 cost. The whole transaction took less than 15 minutes. I'm still not a big believer in warranties, but this time was sure glad I had it. You have to read the fine print re. consumables - some cover these; most don't. Rob |
On Fri, 01 Oct 2004 09:31:29 -0400, Jim Gilliland wrote:
General Schvantzkoph wrote: On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 20:06:59 -0400, Jim Gilliland wrote: The bulb will not be covered. Rest assured that Service Plans bring in more profit to the retailer than any other item that they sell. That alone should tell you that it is in their interest, not yours. What makes you say that the bulb isn't covered? When I bought a 50" Sony LCD projection TV from Best Buy they said the bulb was covered. They'll "say" all sorts of things. Read the contract. It says consumables are not covered. It doesn't say if a light bulb is a consumable the only thing specifically mentioned is batteries. BB is making this representation to everyone, several different salesmen said it to me and someone said it to the OP, presumably in another part of the country. BB is inviting a lawsuit if they don't honor these service contracts. |
On Fri, 01 Oct 2004 14:27:00 -0400, General Schvantzkoph wrote:
On Fri, 01 Oct 2004 09:31:29 -0400, Jim Gilliland wrote: General Schvantzkoph wrote: On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 20:06:59 -0400, Jim Gilliland wrote: The bulb will not be covered. Rest assured that Service Plans bring in more profit to the retailer than any other item that they sell. That alone should tell you that it is in their interest, not yours. What makes you say that the bulb isn't covered? When I bought a 50" Sony LCD projection TV from Best Buy they said the bulb was covered. They'll "say" all sorts of things. Read the contract. It says consumables are not covered. It doesn't say if a light bulb is a consumable the only thing specifically mentioned is batteries. BB is making this representation to everyone, several different salesmen said it to me and someone said it to the OP, presumably in another part of the country. BB is inviting a lawsuit if they don't honor these service contracts. One more thing, I bought the service plan for my cell phone from them because they said it covered batteries. My battery wore out and they replaced it, no questions asked. |
I think the way you have to think about extended warranties is not in terms
of one individual transaction, but rather in terms of the overall practice of buying them -- or not buying them -- over a long period of time, for many products. On average, over time, does the practice of buying extended warranties pay off for you, or are you better off to just "self-insure"? I believe that, over the long term, it is cheaper for me not to buy them. You also have to consider special circumstances. If a product has some problem that seems very likely to arise, then that may make buying the extended warranty more rational in that circumstance. That is, if the service you would get under the extended warranty would be of sufficient quality. That can be hard to determine. mack austin "Rob" wrote in message om... "curmudgeon" wrote in message .. . There is nothing to argue about. A bulb IS a consumable and not covered by any warranty. I totally agree that most extended warranties are much more favorable to the retailer than the customer, and in general I won't buy them. However, in fairness to Best Buy, I *did* buy a 3-yr warranty with my new Canon S400 digital still camera for two reasons: a) it *does* cover both the original and the additional rechargeable battery I purchased - both of which are clearly "consumables"; and b) I was told the warranty would even cover damage if the camera accidentally fell in the lake. Since I'll clearly have to replace both batteries within 3 years, it seemed like a no-brainer. So - about 14 months later, the camera was dropped on concrete. The lens tube was out at the time, and was bent at a 30-degree angle. Obviously, the camera was trashed. I took it into Best Buy and showed it to them. The tech took one look, said it was not repairable and that they no longer carried the S400 model. So I was given full credit for my original $500 cost and told to go pick out a replacement. I walked out with a new 5-megapixel S500, which had replaced the S400 for the same $500 cost. The whole transaction took less than 15 minutes. I'm still not a big believer in warranties, but this time was sure glad I had it. You have to read the fine print re. consumables - some cover these; most don't. Rob |
Actually, on the PSP brochure it lists AIG Warranty Guard Inc. I went
to their website and it is the most convoluted mess I ever saw. The information there is NOT aimed at the individual consumer. I was hoping to find a number to call to ask about the bulb coverage, but no such luck. (The 1-888 number listed on the front dialed directly to Best Buy, not AIG). Richard Ray wrote in message news:[email protected] True. Best Buy sells warranties administered by NEW, National Electronics Warranty Corporation. Not knowing how they work for HDTV, but I can speak for my experience. My wife handles claims for DirecTV for them. Claims are scheduled with factory authorized contractors who install, set up, and provide warranty service. The contractor that came out to service our multi-satellite receiver knew his job and was finished promptly. We would have received the same treatment even if my wife didn't work for NEW, as she has to play the bad guy and send a tech out if there are still problems with a subscriber's equipment after they closed the job. And the tech gets paid by the job, not by the clock. HDTV-slingr wrote: On 30 Sep 2004 16:54:29 -0700, (JDeats) wrote: DO NOT PAY BEST BUY MONEY FOR AN EXTENDED WARRENTY. Ever! Espeically not on a HDTV, something like this you'll want only an authorized service tech to touch your set should something go wrong. Best Buy does not have service techs. Factory authorized (I would assume) subcontractors perform warranty work on the electronic items they sell. |
"Jim" wrote in message om... Actually, on the PSP brochure it lists AIG Warranty Guard Inc. I went to their website and it is the most convoluted mess I ever saw. The information there is NOT aimed at the individual consumer. I was hoping to find a number to call to ask about the bulb coverage, but no such luck. (The 1-888 number listed on the front dialed directly to Best Buy, not AIG). Seems to me, you probably have to pay extra for "bulb coverage" and you have to question if you really want it, anyway. The lamp is something that is fairly likely to go out at some point but is easy to replace, following instructions in your TV's manual. If you buy a spare one (about $200 for a Sony RP-LCD HDTV lamp) and keep it on hand, you can get your TV up and running in 10 minutes instead of waiting a week for the tech to get there. If you are lucky and never need the spare lamp while you have the TV, it's still sealed in the box and you can probably sell it on Ebay for much of what you paid for it. mack austin |
"HDTV-slingr" wrote in message ... On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 23:34:39 GMT, "Badger" wrote: I don't believe THEY service anything. They contract it out. Their service policies didn't used to be theirs either, meaning that they sold a policy serviced by another company. I don't know if that's still true. That's still true. Sears is the ONLY major retailer that performs it's own warranty work. Sears employees wearing Sears uniforms, trained by the individual manufacturers, driving Sears vans turn the screwdrivers on all of the televisions they sell... when it comes to selling & servicing appliances and electronics, Sears is a HUGE "mom & pop" in that sense. That does not mean that they are any good, nor that they are a good value for service. In this market, I have had to go behind Sears techs who had not a clue about how to deal with very routine service problems. Consumers need to shop for service as carefully as for the products. With respect to extended warranties, one should read the fine print, contact the company that underwrites the contract, contact the servicer that supports it, and be sure that they are both reputable, experienced, accessible, and can answer the questions that need to be asked. Leonard |
On Fri, 1 Oct 2004 08:56:12 -0400, "Rich" wrote:
}They lied to you. Sorry, but that's the truth. It's a consumable item, }like tires on a car. Call the number on the plan and ask, they'll tell you. BB replaced the lamp on my 40 inch Panasonic Rear Projection LCD in May which was under their extended warranty (bulb blew literally on the 366th day of the factory 1 year warranty period). I bought the extended warranty because the salesman (their TV dept manager no less) said it was covered and NOT a consumable. Note that Panasonic does cover their lamps for a full year along with the warranty of the set itself. I specifically asked the BB salesman if the lamp was considered a consumable as it is rated by the manufacturer at 5000 hours (he said it was covered even if it smelled funny). According to the BB service tech, BB changed their corporate replacement policy on lamps literally the week before -- nearly a year after I bought the set. He said they were replacing them but it was costing them so much money, they now consider it a consumable item and no longer covered. Due to my complaining about being lied to they replaced it no charge this time only (mainly due to the sympathetic service tech -- he called the local store manager direct). Otherwise, I would have been out a $300+ lamp AND a $300 extended warranty. Bottom line is the salesman will say anything to get you to buy their warranty, so caveat emptor... Read the BB extended warranty carefully. It is written so generic that they can change almost anything at will, making ANY part they find to fail often a consumable and hence not covered. Think about it this way, the normal TV picture tube gets used up too, but over several years and not in 1000's of hours... What I did was this, I bought a replacement lamp off eBay for less than 1/2 the factory cost. It is here waiting for the replacement bulb to fail next time. As for the extended warranty, I figure getting the lamp replaced once paid for it but I still feel cheated and lied to. Had I known the set could cost me nearly $300 a year in lamp replacements, I never would have bought a $2400 rear projection set no matter how good the picture is... Later, Dave |
On Fri, 01 Oct 2004 14:27:00 -0400, General Schvantzkoph
wrote: }It doesn't say if a light bulb is a consumable the only thing specifically }mentioned is batteries. BB is making this representation to everyone, You are correct. The BB salesman said even if the lamp smelled funny it was covered (see my earlier post). Later, Dave |
FWIW, the salesguy (pretty knowledgeable too) at our local Bernies
here in Western Mass said they have a service plan that definitely does include the bulb. Also, maybe Sears does their own work, I'm not sure, but I'd bet dollars to donuts none of these retailers have factory-trained staff sitting around waiting for a DLP set to crap out. It's all contracted out to a few local "factory authorized" service centers. On 30 Sep 2004 09:57:18 -0700, (Jim) wrote: Hi, we purchased a Samsung 61" DLP HDTV almost a month ago and we are still debating the purchase of the Best Buy Service Plan. We have some concerns, however: 1) Our TV was purchased on sale for approx. $3800-3900, the service plan price quoted was $400 for 4 years. This seems high to me. Is it? 2) Is Best Buy reliable with their service? ie. Will they do what they say? We are interested in knowing if anyone has had any experience with actually trying to get things fixed. 3) We felt the sales manager was exaggerating with his stories of all that could go wrong, even in the first year, with these TV's. He had horror stories of possible $1500 repairs and such. At the minimum he suggested that the bulb would need to be replaced at least every 2 years, which at $200/bulb would recoup the cost of the service plan. I question this. With a 6000 hour bulb life, say we watch a maximum of 5 hours/day on average, that gives us 1200 days which is over 3 years. 4) We are not even sure the service plan WILL cover the bulb as the sales manager claims. It does not specifically mention the bulb. It does offer "complete coverage if your product fails due to normal wear and tear/usage", BUT it also says "not covered are replacement costs for lost or consumable parts (knobs, remotes, batteries, bags, belts, etc.)" We are afraid they could argue that a bulb is a "consumable part". We are not naive enough to think that just because the sales manager says something is covered, that it is. I have read the performance plan brochure carefully, and unfortunately, it is written for a variety of products and not specifically for an HDTV. So, should we or shouldn't we? $400 is a lot of money and we don't want to throw it away. Thanks! |
wrote in message . ..
FWIW, the salesguy (pretty knowledgeable too) at our local Bernies here in Western Mass said they have a service plan that definitely does include the bulb. Also, maybe Sears does their own work, I'm not sure, but I'd bet dollars to donuts none of these retailers have factory-trained staff sitting around waiting for a DLP set to crap out. It's all contracted out to a few local "factory authorized" service centers. On 30 Sep 2004 09:57:18 -0700, (Jim) wrote: Hi, we purchased a Samsung 61" DLP HDTV almost a month ago and we are still debating the purchase of the Best Buy Service Plan. We have some concerns, however: 1) Our TV was purchased on sale for approx. $3800-3900, the service plan price quoted was $400 for 4 years. This seems high to me. Is it? 2) Is Best Buy reliable with their service? ie. Will they do what they say? We are interested in knowing if anyone has had any experience with actually trying to get things fixed. 3) We felt the sales manager was exaggerating with his stories of all that could go wrong, even in the first year, with these TV's. He had horror stories of possible $1500 repairs and such. At the minimum he suggested that the bulb would need to be replaced at least every 2 years, which at $200/bulb would recoup the cost of the service plan. I question this. With a 6000 hour bulb life, say we watch a maximum of 5 hours/day on average, that gives us 1200 days which is over 3 years. 4) We are not even sure the service plan WILL cover the bulb as the sales manager claims. It does not specifically mention the bulb. It does offer "complete coverage if your product fails due to normal wear and tear/usage", BUT it also says "not covered are replacement costs for lost or consumable parts (knobs, remotes, batteries, bags, belts, etc.)" We are afraid they could argue that a bulb is a "consumable part". We are not naive enough to think that just because the sales manager says something is covered, that it is. I have read the performance plan brochure carefully, and unfortunately, it is written for a variety of products and not specifically for an HDTV. So, should we or shouldn't we? $400 is a lot of money and we don't want to throw it away. Thanks! Up until last week, I worked for Best Buy for 22 months in the Home Theater dept. For 22 months, I was placed under EXTREME pressure to sell their PERFORMANCE SERVICE PLAN to 'every customer, every time.' IMHO, BBY exaggerates to the extreme, the so-called 'need' for their PSP. The bottom line is that a $400 PSP costs BBY less than $100 and it is a HUGE source of revenue. I was instructed to 'tell the customer whatever was necessary' in order to close the sale for a PSP. Yes, things can go wrong after a mfg's warranty expires--but as long as the unit is protected by a high quality surge protector, the chance of anything failing is minimal on a high quality product. My advice would be: If you plan on keeping the set for more than 4 yrs and use it a lot, it might be worth considering--However, w/all the technologiical advances coming at such a rapid pace, you might be surprised that you'd be willing to 'upgrade' your set in 4 yrs, and do w/o handing BBY another $300 in pure profit. |
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Thanks for clearing this up. I assume my bad experience with warrenty
repair work wasn't the fault of Best Buy. Staying on the subject, there's still very little value in extended warrenties. From an engineering standpoint, electronic products operate on a "bathtub curve": Life span of consumer electronic device, chance of failu High \ / \ / \ / Low ------------ |****| *extneded warrenty coverage As is taught in any school of engineering, if anything serious is going to go wrong (with any manufactured product relying on components) it will happen near the begining or the end of the life of the product. On consumer electronics products the acuracy of this curve is somewhere between 75-85%. The majority of the time, the chance of something going wrong is extreemly low, this makes the decision to buy an extended warrenty a very bad choice for the consumer and a very good thing for the retailer. Having said that, instead of complicating their extended warrenties as Best Buy does by making consumers wait 4-6 weeks and having strick policies against exchanging product under extended warrenty. Some retailers will take the opportunity to demonstrate outstanding service when they are required to honor an extended warrenty. One such retailer is Electronics Boutique/EB (popular mall outlet retailer for computer and video games). Having worked as an assistant manager for this chain, I am aware of their policies (which may have changed, it's been six years). Electronics Boutique had a policy for extended warrenties where if anything went wrong within the 3 year "extended warrenty" period they would exchange old product for new (identical) product, no questions ask and no waiting period. Buy an extended warrenty at Best Buy and the best case you could hope for is to wait four weeks to get back your product in working order. Worse case, you're going to have to wait eighteen weeks (three six week periods) and you'll be given someone elses "refurbished" product at the end. You'll likely come in somewhere inbetween best and worse case. Regardless, you're most likely giving the retailer free money. |
(Mr Fixit) wrote in message . ..
In article (Mr. Viagra) writes: Up until last week, I worked for Best Buy for 22 months in the Home Theater dept. For 22 months, I was placed under EXTREME pressure to sell their PERFORMANCE SERVICE PLAN to 'every customer, every time.' IMHO, BBY exaggerates to the extreme, the so-called 'need' for their PSP. The bottom line is that a $400 PSP costs BBY less than $100 and it is a HUGE source of revenue. I was instructed to 'tell the customer whatever was necessary' in order to close the sale for a PSP. Yes, things can go wrong after a mfg's warranty expires--but as long as the unit is protected by a high quality surge protector, the chance of anything failing is minimal on a high quality product. My advice would be: If you plan on keeping the set for more than 4 yrs and use it a lot, it might be worth considering--However, w/all the technologiical advances coming at such a rapid pace, you might be surprised that you'd be willing to 'upgrade' your set in 4 yrs, and do w/o handing BBY another $300 in pure profit. Mr. V. is absolutely correct on all points. ...and it's not just Best Buy either. Sears, Circuit City, Tweeter, independent retailers, etc., along with virtually all automobile dealerships ***PUSH*** these plans because they are *extremely* profit-laden. Minimum 100% markup, occasionally as much as 400%. In most retail stores (Sears, etc) the salesperson's performance is measured not so much by their gross volume of sales as it is by how many of these service plans (extended warranties, maintenance agreements, etc) they are able to sell to their customers. The product pretty much sells itself, or your customer has already decided which one they want. Prices are already cut to the bone due to local competition. Therefore, your job as salesperson is to **SELL** the customer on the embellishments! Faten the deal! Convince them that their new $2000 widget not only -might- melt but no doubt *will* melt like chocolate on the stove if they don't protect it right now with this plan!!! Their pay and bonuses (and even job tenure) are in large part predicated on their ability to successfully sell the contracts. The "high quality" surge protector is an excellent idea, but what's he mean by high quality? No one teaches a course in Quality Recognition anymore, so how do you know what to buy? Hint: quality doesn't come cheap. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The suggestion of a power supply backup is excellent and in my opinion, money much better spent than on $400 for a PSP. Perhaps I need to clarify the use of the term 'high quality surge suppressor'-- Surge prtection units are rated in 'Joules'--the higher the joule rating, the greater protection. You can 'throw away' money for an overpriced Monster Power Center, rated at around 1400 joules ($140) or buy an 'Acoustic Research' also sold by BBY for $40, 2150 joules--both have 'clean power filtering' to help eliminate noise from the AC line. The A R is just as efficient as the 'comparable' Monster for $100 less--BBY cost on these units--The A R, $16, the Monster, $70. I sold these things day-in, day-out--I know from where I speak. |
On Sat, 2 Oct 2004 08:44:26 -0400, "Leonard Caillouet"
wrote: That's still true. Sears is the ONLY major retailer that performs it's own warranty work. Sears employees wearing Sears uniforms, trained by the individual manufacturers, driving Sears vans turn the screwdrivers on all of the televisions they sell... when it comes to selling & servicing appliances and electronics, Sears is a HUGE "mom & pop" in that sense. That does not mean that they are any good, nor that they are a good value for service. In this market, I have had to go behind Sears techs who had not a clue about how to deal with very routine service problems. Actually, if you look at the Consumer Reports online, you'll find that Sears' servicing organization ranks #1. They are good and they know what they're doing. I'm not referring to the Sears extended warranty / "Maintenence & Protection Agreement", just the abililty of the techs to perform the work to factory standards. The techs aren't perfect but they're ranked #1. Something to be said for that. |
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"HDTV-slingr" wrote in message ... On Sat, 2 Oct 2004 08:44:26 -0400, "Leonard Caillouet" wrote: That's still true. Sears is the ONLY major retailer that performs it's own warranty work. Sears employees wearing Sears uniforms, trained by the individual manufacturers, driving Sears vans turn the screwdrivers on all of the televisions they sell... when it comes to selling & servicing appliances and electronics, Sears is a HUGE "mom & pop" in that sense. That does not mean that they are any good, nor that they are a good value for service. In this market, I have had to go behind Sears techs who had not a clue about how to deal with very routine service problems. Actually, if you look at the Consumer Reports online, you'll find that Sears' servicing organization ranks #1. They are good and they know what they're doing. I'm not referring to the Sears extended warranty / "Maintenence & Protection Agreement", just the abililty of the techs to perform the work to factory standards. The techs aren't perfect but they're ranked #1. Something to be said for that. Ranked #1 compared to what? The competition that a consumer has to choose from did not get considered in those rankings. That is like saying that Monster Cable is the #1 maker of overpriced cables. It doesn't mean that what they are selling is a good value. Factory standards, BTW, is largely a myth. Other than board swapping as a standard practice, Sears doesn't do much of anything that maintains "factory standards." I have seen some pretty lousy substitute parts used by Sears techs because they wanted to "fix" the set without having to make a return trip rather than repair it correctly. One of the problems with a big system like Sears is that as soon as something is encountered that is a little "out of the box" or not on the troubleshooting chart, they become ineffective. Like shopping for electronics, CU is not going to tell you much useful information. Most service is still provided mostly by independent servicers and dealers and you will find that, like Sears, the quality of the service varies from terrible to excellent. It will depend mostly on the experience and professionalism of the tech that happens to be doing the work. Most experienced techs would not even consider working for Sears. So how do you find the best service? It takes some effort and is not easy. First, you need TALK to each shop. The ones that are any good will usually be willing to discuss how they charge for repairs and what they will be doing at each step in the process. They will have experience on your specific product and have access to the service literature and test equipment needed. They are likely to be an ASC for the manufacturer of your product, but not necessarily. I recommend getting to know the local servicers before you buy. Find out what the service options are on the products you are considering and only buy products that you are confident have good quality service support locally. Otherwise, you can spend $96 for a service call from Sears only to have the tech give you an estimate that your $250 problems will cost you $600 because they want to swap boards rather than repair the problem. At least that's what I have seen happen in our market. The fact is that most servicers are pretty lousy, including Sears. There will be a handful of good techs in most markets (some at Sears) and many more who are half-assed yahoos that will do whatever it takes to get your money as quickly as possible. Anyone who thinks a large service operation like Sears is going to protect you from this reality is deluded. Leonard |
In article [email protected] "Leonard Caillouet"
writes: [snip to the chase...] Otherwise, you can spend $96 for a service call from Sears only to have the tech give you an estimate that your $250 problems will cost you $600 because they want to swap boards rather than repair the problem. At least that's what I have seen happen in our market. The fact is that most servicers are pretty lousy, including Sears. There will be a handful of good techs in most markets (some at Sears) and many more who are half-assed yahoos that will do whatever it takes to get your money as quickly as possible. Anyone who thinks a large service operation like Sears is going to protect you from this reality is deluded. Leonard makes some excellent points. Almost any minimum-wage high school dropout, with little more than the I.Q. of a common houseplant and only 15 minutes of training, can bench your expensive system, follow a troubleshooting chart, swap an expensive subassembly and charge you full price for the new board. It might get you going, but that's not a "repair" and furthermore you just got hosed. It is not at all uncommon for these shops to subsequently send out the pullout boards, pay a flat rate of $50 each to actually get them "repaired" (whether they're bad or not) and return them to inventory so they can shotgun someone elses set and charge them $600 again. Darn few "repair" shops are in existence anymore because those techs are the true craftspersons and command a living wage. If you're fortunate enough to find an honest-to-God "repair" shop, keep them in your Rolodex. If you find that they actually specialize in servicing a specific brand, or they recommend a certain brand, then that might be the brand you ought to be considering. |
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On Mon, 4 Oct 2004 06:27:32 -0400, "Leonard Caillouet"
wrote: Actually, if you look at the Consumer Reports online, you'll find that Sears' servicing organization ranks #1. They are good and they know what they're doing. I'm not referring to the Sears extended warranty / "Maintenence & Protection Agreement", just the abililty of the techs to perform the work to factory standards. The techs aren't perfect but they're ranked #1. Something to be said for that. Ranked #1 compared to what? The competition that a consumer has to choose from did not get considered in those rankings. Leonard, you make excellent points. I'm just stating the fact that consumerreports.org has Sears ranked #1. Outside of that, I don't have enough info to argue with you, only that most of the customers I've personally dealt with seemed to be fairly to highly satisfied with Sears' servicing techs, while a few others (every here and there) are not satisfied at all. I guess it's just like anything else that is consumer oriented... you can't please everybody all the time but you can certainly try to and I believe Sears *tries*. |
Maybe this concept exists and I just don't know about it, but if it
doesn't it might be a great business opportunity for someone. The concept is to be an independent repair (local) service that is authorized to work on these various new HDTVs, but one that you don't necessarily buy at the place where you bought the set. I seems that without the rape and pillage prices that a BB,Tweeter, or whomever charges you, an independent company could sell you the exact same quality service plan for 50% of the normal $400-$500 and still make a profit. It's basically an insurance policy. Whether or not this could blossom into a franchise business is up in the air, but everyone I know who has worked at an appliance store admits that the profit margin in the extended warranty plans is in the hundreds of percent. OTH, you could also attempt to negotiate a lower price for the plan when you buy, but if you don't have any competition, the store will hold the best cards. On 30 Sep 2004 09:57:18 -0700, (Jim) wrote: Hi, we purchased a Samsung 61" DLP HDTV almost a month ago and we are still debating the purchase of the Best Buy Service Plan. We have some concerns, however: 1) Our TV was purchased on sale for approx. $3800-3900, the service plan price quoted was $400 for 4 years. This seems high to me. Is it? 2) Is Best Buy reliable with their service? ie. Will they do what they say? We are interested in knowing if anyone has had any experience with actually trying to get things fixed. 3) We felt the sales manager was exaggerating with his stories of all that could go wrong, even in the first year, with these TV's. He had horror stories of possible $1500 repairs and such. At the minimum he suggested that the bulb would need to be replaced at least every 2 years, which at $200/bulb would recoup the cost of the service plan. I question this. With a 6000 hour bulb life, say we watch a maximum of 5 hours/day on average, that gives us 1200 days which is over 3 years. 4) We are not even sure the service plan WILL cover the bulb as the sales manager claims. It does not specifically mention the bulb. It does offer "complete coverage if your product fails due to normal wear and tear/usage", BUT it also says "not covered are replacement costs for lost or consumable parts (knobs, remotes, batteries, bags, belts, etc.)" We are afraid they could argue that a bulb is a "consumable part". We are not naive enough to think that just because the sales manager says something is covered, that it is. I have read the performance plan brochure carefully, and unfortunately, it is written for a variety of products and not specifically for an HDTV. So, should we or shouldn't we? $400 is a lot of money and we don't want to throw it away. Thanks! |
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