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Can a store force you to buy a warranty?

M

MrCodeDude

Lifer
In my quest to get a Nintendo Wii, I purposely avoided Fry's Electronics because they were only selling Wii bundles. Target was crowded, so I had to settle for Toys R Us (which opened 2 hours later than Target).

About 10 minutes before opening, the manager comes out and says that you have to buy the Wii as part of a bundle, including one game and a 1 year warranty.

There was no TRU advertisement in my newspaper, but Toys R Us is only offering Wii bundles, but none of them involve a warranty.

Considering warranty's are basically 100% profit for the store, can they force you to purchase a warranty with a product?
 
Reading your thread title - no.

Reading the details - yes. Playing devil's advocate, I don't see why you make a distinction. It's ok that he made you buy a game but not ok if he makes you buy a warranty?
 
Originally posted by: sygyzy
Reading your thread title - no.

Reading the details - yes. Playing devil's advocate, I don't see why you make a distinction. It's ok that he made you buy a game but not ok if he makes you buy a warranty?
Click to expand...

You're gonna get a game anyway.
 
Originally posted by: sygyzy
Reading your thread title - no.

Reading the details - yes. Playing devil's advocate, I don't see why you make a distinction. It's ok that he made you buy a game but not ok if he makes you buy a warranty?
Click to expand...
I can resell a game, I can't resell a warranty. And what's the point of having a system if you don't get a game?

I know lots of people who own systems without a warranty. Not so many who own a system without a game.
 
Originally posted by: intogamer
Do you know how much commission they get for extended warranties?????

You can probably return the warranty
Click to expand...
I plan on it, but if they give me any flak, I want to make sure I've got some information on my side.
 
If the warranty is part of the bundle, and they're only selling the bundle, then, well, yeah.

EDIT: And why anyone wouldn't want a decent warranty on a new console is beyond me.
 
Originally posted by: Quasmo
Originally posted by: sygyzy
Reading your thread title - no.

Reading the details - yes. Playing devil's advocate, I don't see why you make a distinction. It's ok that he made you buy a game but not ok if he makes you buy a warranty?
Click to expand...

You're gonna get a game anyway.
Click to expand...

not necessarily with the wii, i'm gonna buy a wii to play gamecube games and then over the holiday break i'll purchase wii games...
 
Originally posted by: Alone
If the warranty is part of the bundle, and they're only selling the bundle, then, well, yeah.

EDIT: And why anyone wouldn't want a decent warranty on a new console is beyond me.
Click to expand...
... because you already have a warranty with the manufacturer?
 
It depends on what state you live in, some states have laws against it because of the auto industry. As I recall in Indiana you could not (back in the dark days of my retail management career)
 
No one can force you to buy one. By that same token, though, you cannot dictate to the store what components of the bundle you want or don't want. Personally, it's what i would deem an unfair practice but they are well within their rights to squeeze every last cent on these high-demand systems.
 
Originally posted by: Alone
If the warranty is part of the bundle, and they're only selling the bundle, then, well, yeah.

EDIT: And why anyone wouldn't want a decent warranty on a new console is beyond me.
Click to expand...

Nintendo isn't known for problem consoles like Microsoft and Sony.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: Alone
If the warranty is part of the bundle, and they're only selling the bundle, then, well, yeah.

EDIT: And why anyone wouldn't want a decent warranty on a new console is beyond me.
Click to expand...

Nintendo isn't known for problem consoles like Microsoft and Sony.
Click to expand...

Oh, I see. So they're still making quality products? Thank God. My N64 is a trooper.
 
Originally posted by: Alone
Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: Alone
If the warranty is part of the bundle, and they're only selling the bundle, then, well, yeah.

EDIT: And why anyone wouldn't want a decent warranty on a new console is beyond me.
Click to expand...

Nintendo isn't known for problem consoles like Microsoft and Sony.
Click to expand...

Oh, I see. So they're still making quality products? Thank God. My N64 is a trooper.
Click to expand...

And think of how many SNES and NES consoles are still around... *pats SNES* this thing is almost 15 years old now, lol.
 
And think of how many SNES and NES consoles are still around... *pats SNES* this thing is almost 15 years old now, lol.
Click to expand...
Well...the original Nintendo isn't doing so great. Mind you...it was pretty crummy to begin with. Those cartridges, just, well, sucked.

*bang, smack, blow, bang, blow, smack, smack, smack*
It works!
 
Originally posted by: Alone
And think of how many SNES and NES consoles are still around... *pats SNES* this thing is almost 15 years old now, lol.
Click to expand...
Well...the original Nintendo isn't doing so great. Mind you...it was pretty crummy to begin with. Those cartridges, just, well, sucked.

*bang, smack, blow, bang, blow, smack, smack, smack*
It works!
Click to expand...
Thanks for derailing the thread, noob.
 
Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
Originally posted by: Alone
And think of how many SNES and NES consoles are still around... *pats SNES* this thing is almost 15 years old now, lol.
Click to expand...
Well...the original Nintendo isn't doing so great. Mind you...it was pretty crummy to begin with. Those cartridges, just, well, sucked.

*bang, smack, blow, bang, blow, smack, smack, smack*
It works!
Click to expand...
Thanks for derailing the thread, noob.
Click to expand...

You're quite welcome, MrCode.
 
Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
Originally posted by: postmortemIA
BestBuy had lots of problems because this bundling policy, so they dropped it not so quietly.
Click to expand...
They just dropped it to avoid bad press?
Click to expand...

That would make the most sense. Considering how much attention they've been getting as of late, they definitely wouldn't want the media to have anything they could slam them with.

Best bet with the warranty deal is to talk to the manager and see what he has to say.

EDIT: Oh, the manager DID say that. Interesting.
 
Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
Originally posted by: postmortemIA
BestBuy had lots of problems because this bundling policy, so they dropped it not so quietly.
Click to expand...
They just dropped it to avoid bad press?
Click to expand...

Well it was huge controversy last yr when XBOX360 came out... they were selling bundles and press and everybody got pissed off, so they had to fire some people (who only played along) to make it look like they actually are resolving the issue the proper way.
 
Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
Originally posted by: sygyzy
Reading your thread title - no.

Reading the details - yes. Playing devil's advocate, I don't see why you make a distinction. It's ok that he made you buy a game but not ok if he makes you buy a warranty?
Click to expand...
I can resell a game, I can't resell a warranty. And what's the point of having a system if you don't get a game?

I know lots of people who own systems without a warranty. Not so many who own a system without a game.
Click to expand...

that logic sucks..... there's hundreds of games out there. why is having that particular bundled game any useful ??
 
Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
Originally posted by: Alone
If the warranty is part of the bundle, and they're only selling the bundle, then, well, yeah.

EDIT: And why anyone wouldn't want a decent warranty on a new console is beyond me.
Click to expand...
... because you already have a warranty with the manufacturer?
Click to expand...

absolutely... any half decent product you buy is covered by a manufacturer's warranty anyway.
besides, competition law forbids any sort of bundling... this is clearly spelt out - no ifs and buts

 
Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
Originally posted by: sygyzy
Reading your thread title - no.

Reading the details - yes. Playing devil's advocate, I don't see why you make a distinction. It's ok that he made you buy a game but not ok if he makes you buy a warranty?
Click to expand...
I can resell a game, I can't resell a warranty. And what's the point of having a system if you don't get a game?

I know lots of people who own systems without a warranty. Not so many who own a system without a game.
Click to expand...


Ah, so it's a way to minimize system scalpers' profit! Kudos, TRU!
 
I'm sure legally it's okay for them to do it. Although you may wanna take it up with the manufacture to see if there is any stipulations that the retailer must follow when selling their units.
 
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