Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[richy5150]

After browsing through a few of the threads on here I've come to a few conclusions:

1) Yes, it is the customer's responsibility to do their own due diligence and research before purchasing any type of extended warranty/protection on their purchase. HOWEVER, I can say that everytime that I've visited a Best Buy store, I've overheard one of the sales associates tell customers untrue things to try and sell them the extended warranties. This is obviously no secret as it's mentioned countless times here in the forums. I also know this from working at Best Buy many years ago and over hearing sales associate "sell" to customers. Employees are expected and encouraged to meet quotas and employees will tell customers what they want to hear in order to keep good standing with corporate.

2) Consumers need to be aware the difference between warranty and insurance. Warranties cover faulty workmanship.

Insurance covers anything else that could happen such as accidents. Any sales person that tries to tell you otherwise is lying.

3) Many credit card companies have built in extended warranties to each purchase (eg. American Express) thus eliminating the need to purchase any extended warranty from any retailer. Call your credit card companies to find out what is covered.

Though it's obvious that Best Buy corporate monitors this forum very closely and will quickly defend and deflect, we as consumers need to be conscious of our own purchasing power. Extended warranties do NOT have to purchased at the time of purchase. If it's something you are really interested in, take the policy home and read it over BEFORE you sign up.

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert]

For me, after working there and seeing firsthand the type of service that Black Tie provides and actually seeing the Black Tie plan in action, even though I no longer work there, I purchase Black Tie on all my major purchases.

I have personally witnesses the value and don't have to base my judgement on the one-sided stories we see here.

But you are correct that people should read the terms and conditions of any contract they sign. Remember though, that there is a 30 day window in which anyone can return their Black Tie plan for a full refund for any reason, so even if they buy the plan on the same day as the product, there is plenty of time to read the Terms and Conditions in order to ensure that you know exactly what is and is not covered.

[APR28]

My one and only extended warranty purchase in my life was on a Toshiba 46HD84 television. I paid $1200 for this tv back in 2003 from BBY and purchased the 3-4 year warranty. Don't remember how long.

About 2 years later the TV was pushing green and blue colors and I called BBY. The lady took the info and said someone would call me in 2-3days for an appointment. LOL..no one called. So I call back and start again with no file of the previous call. I was told the same thing. LOL..no one called again. Luckily the tv went back to normal the next day. No one ever called.

The tv is still working fine to this day in the play room at my in-laws for the grandchildren. It never even needed a new lamp.

The point of the story is that the one time and only time I ever purchase an extended warranty from BBY and I needed it, no one ever called.

That started the ball rolling for my disdain for BBY. 

[Jimmienomam]

Almost all financial experts agree that a majority of extended warranties are a money loss. It's just a fact. There are a few items that it helps with, but as a whole they just say step away from it.

[spenze]

Well, painfully aware now. But when someone purchases a product such as this, you don't expect it to be a scam. Because clearly that is what this is. Normally I don't purchase plans but I made a major purchase. Again, another reason BB is bad business - to sell a product they have no intention of honoring. Sounds like you just confirmed what I learned, they have no morals or ethics. Clearly, no worries as I won't purchase anything from them again. More customers like me and they won't have to worry about it as they will be out of business. I believe this is already in the works..

[CrimsonRain]

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richy5150 wrote:

After browsing through a few of the threads on here I've come to a few conclusions:

1) Yes, it is the customer's responsibility to do their own due diligence and research before purchasing any type of extended warranty/protection on their purchase. HOWEVER, I can say that everytime that I've visited a Best Buy store, I've overheard one of the sales associates tell customers untrue things to try and sell them the extended warranties. This is obviously no secret as it's mentioned countless times here in the forums. I also know this from working at Best Buy many years ago and over hearing sales associate "sell" to customers. Employees are expected and encouraged to meet quotas and employees will tell customers what they want to hear in order to keep good standing with corporate.

2) Consumers need to be aware the difference between warranty and insurance. Warranties cover faulty workmanship.

Insurance covers anything else that could happen such as accidents. Any sales person that tries to tell you otherwise is lying.

3) Many credit card companies have built in extended warranties to each purchase (eg. American Express) thus eliminating the need to purchase any extended warranty from any retailer. Call your credit card companies to find out what is covered.

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1. True

2. True

3. Yes and no. First, there are limits to those extended warranties too. They usually only kick in after the manufacturer's warranty expires. So, if you are within the manufacturer's warranty period, AMEX and other credit cards will direct you to the manufacturer. Second, you gotta keep all your paperwork. Not everyone is that diligient. Lastly, not everyone has and/or uses credit cards, and who is to say the ones that do have the credit cards that have these coverages. Personally, this is why I use my Chase Sapphire card to buy EVERYTHING. There's extended warranty coverage and return period. The only products that I have purchased the retailer service plans on are TVs and my washer/dryer. Why? Because I want to keep them longer than 2 years and that is the extent of credit card's extended warranty (most only tack on 1 additional year).

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Jimmienomam wrote:
Almost all financial experts agree that a majority of extended warranties are a money loss. It's just a fact. There are a few items that it helps with, but as a whole they just say step away from it.

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Yea, I've read most of the Consumer Reports articles that dissuade people from purchasing extended warranties. I guess one of the biggest reasons why people purchase extended warranties is the thought of, "What if I am the x percent that this product fails on?" On the flip side, my two favorite types of posters on these forums are the "It's brand new so it should not fail within x time." and the "So what if the manufacturer's warranty expired 5 months ago. You guys should back up your product." Makes me lose faith in humanity every time I read those.

[hydrogenwv]

I look at it as... "If I'm in the x percent of failures, can I afford to replace the device at that point?" For me, as the typical broke college kid, the answer is often no. However, a lot of my big electronics purchases have been from income tax return... At that point, I CAN afford the extra cost of the warranty.

Too many places try lumping extended warranties into "Never worth it".... I hate absolutes.

[Jimmienomam]

I should have completed my statement on financial advisors saying no to extended warranties.

They usually agree because they said that for the majority of americans that extra money would be put to use better if they paid off high interest credit, other debt or investing. With tech the way it goes that if your item lasts over the 1 year mark it probably has halved in price if it is replaced.