Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[Mishki]

While I agree that a T.V. should last more than 18 months, you're essentially asking Best Buy to defraud customers who purchased a service plan by freely repairing your television after the manufacturer's warranty has expired - something that they paid additional for.  You're also asking Best Buy to now eat a $500 repair on an item that is well beyond the date to which it was guaranteed and to which you agreed to when purchasing the T.V.  As for shopping elsewhere I think you'd be hard-pressed to find another business that would handle the situation differently.  Best Buy cares about its customers but asking it to possibly take a loss on an item it held up its end of the bargain for seems incredibly unfair.

[robert0919]

I'll certainly never buy another Insignia product ever again. My 32" 720p LCD is starting to go out and it's only 3.5 years old. The blue light does not come on in front and the picture flickers (with no sound) for an increasing amount of time before it finally "warms up". It's up to about 4 minutes now. Contrast this with my 25 year old 27" Sony Trinitron CRT that has never missed a beat in all that time. It gets used every day, on and off in the morning and on and off at night, just like clockwork. What disappoints me is that Best Buy appears to know (from all the complaints) that Insignia is a flawed product and yet they continue to sell them. When I went to Best Buy to ask about service, I was told that 32" is too big for them to take and, basically, that I bought a POS and what did I expect? Well, for $750 dollars (which got knocked down to $600 when the set went on sale 3 weeks later) I expect an honest product that's a good value. Obviously that's not Insignia and apparently not Best Buy either. I'm going to get a 46" Sony (old reliable) for upstairs along with a Blu-Ray player, but I'll be buying it from a respected online retailer who won't be charging me tax or shipping. Matter of fact, I may have already set foot in Best Buy for the last time. If you're listening, Best Buy...there are a lot of others out here like me that feel the same way. Just so you know, Best Buy, I sent you an e-mail telling you about my experience and never heard back from you. Sayonara, blue shirts!!

[Nokia]

That's normal for an LCD of any brand.

[Markus]

Mishki hit it right on the button.

In fact, Best Buy is one of the few major retail companys that will take products to service under the original warranty. If you buy a computer at another competitor, have fun getting service, or the lack of it.

The Black Tie protection that the stores offer is not a joke. We don't offer it to you for thrills, it means something.

If you do not take the Black Tie offer, you are AGREEING that you will take care of all repairs after the warranty expires.

Many products throughout Best Buy do not carry a large margin. Especially core products (computers are generally sold at cost or even below it) It is not realistic for Best Buy to repair items out of warranty. Their funds would become quickly depleted.

[CrimsonRain]

This is just my take on products and their warranties, but the length of time a manufacturer provides for their product(s) is pretty much the amount of time they expect it to last under normal circumstances. Any shorter than that then they will repair/replace. Any longer than that then you take good care of your stuff or you are lucky. Consumer Reports argues against extended warranties because they expect everyone to just buy a new product when their old one dies and is out of warranty. So, if you want that piece of mind that your product will last longer than the manufacturer's warranty, then that's where exnteded warranties come in.

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi robert0919,

My family just purchased our first flat screen TV last year, and if it broke after only three and a half years I can assure you we would be very disappointed. I don’t blame you at all for being upset that your Insignia TV is already breaking, and it is definitely concerning that we could have lost your patronage because of this.

The new TV that my family purchased replaced an old 50 inch CRT that still worked perfectly. CRT technology had decades to perfect its technology, and I believe that is why they seem to last longer than newer TVs before needing repairs.

I should say that after handling many TV repair concerns for our customer’s it is my experience that all manufacturers have products that break after a short amount of time on occasion. In my experience there is honestly no brand that stands out as lasting longer, or breaking sooner, than any other brand when it comes to TVs.

I should also say that the reason the store wouldn’t send your TV out for repair is because any TV 30 inches or larger in screen size is serviced by our technicians in the customer’s home.

I would like to see if there is something I could do to earn your business back, and I am sending you a private message to start that conversation. To check your messages you should log into the forum, and then click on the letter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Thanks for posting,

[pardee]

Robert I totally agree with you, my 50 inch Insignia TV broke after 18 months Insignia and Best Buy were no help, since then I have bought a new Flat Screen and 2 new computers and I did not buy them at Best Buy, I will not step foot in there ever again.