Extended service plan worth it on a large DLP television?

[Sluggo]

We are thinking about going out and getting a new Samsung DLP television today.

I generally dont buy the extended service plan stuff, but on a large bulky item I am thinking it would be a few bucks well spent to prevent any hassle if things were to go wrong.

Any thoughts?

Any experiences?

 

[RU482]

define "a few bucks"

 

[yllus]

My Samsung HLR-4264 42" DLP TV has been having trouble turning on lately - it's about six months old. I suddenly sort of wish I had purchased the extended warranty, but at least there's the warranty doubler on my credit card.

 

[DaveSimmons]

If you pay with a credit card that doubles warranty then your first 2 years are covered with Samsung. If you register online with Samsung they add 3 more months = 2.25 years of coverage.

So a 2-year warrnty is pointless and there is not much value in a 3 year. The extended warranties that make sense are 4-5 year.

A 5-year extended warranty with bulb replacement is $400-550. Bulbs cost $200 and repair parts can easily cost over $500 so it's probably worth the high cost.

 

[Sluggo]

Originally posted by: redly1
define "a few bucks"

$400 for 4 years from Best Buy, so about 13% of the cost of the television.

And yes I really dont want to get it from Best Buy, but its in stock and I want it today

 

[doze]

Now that you have posted this thread, you do realize that if you do not buy the warranty your TV will break immediately after factory warranty expiration.

Only thing I ever got extended warranty on is my Laptop (3 years total) and the hard drive just died at the 2 1/2 year mark so the warranty will pay for itself and then some since it was only a few $$$ more. Assuming that your TV will be in the same place all of the time and connected to a surge protector or UPS then I wouldn't buy the warranty unless the price was really good. TV's can still be serviced locally.

 

[Sluggo]

Originally posted by: doze
Now that you have posted this thread, you do realize that if you do not buy the warranty your TV will break immediately after factory warranty expiration.

Actually I figured my house would explode when I plugged it in. I guess the ESP wouldnt cover consequential damages?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: doze
Assuming that your TV will be in the same place all of the time and connected to a surge protector or UPS then I wouldn't buy the warranty unless the price was really good. TV's can still be serviced locally.

Tube TVs using 50-year old technology last a decade or more, but DLP and LCD technology is much less mature.

The parts are much more expensive, and with the extended warranty you know that if the repair people are unable to obtain parts you'll get a new TV instead.

 

[Born2bwire]

I got screwed over on the manufacturer warranty on a TV I bought earlier this year, so when I bought a replacement open box TV from BB, I got their extended warranty. Well, ended up having to use that though. Fortunately, I initiated the problem within 30 days of purchasing it, so I argued that since they had to replace the TV, and because I was given the runaround for about two-three months, the service plan should not be used to replace the TV. Finally got that to go through so I got store credit for my purchase and the service plan transferred to my new TV. Fact is, two TV's that I have bought in the past six months all died on me so it seems worthwhile these days to get an extended warranty.

 

[frankgomez75]

Well let me chime in here... I bought the ESP from bestbuy for my DLP and have already used it. My TV set is about 1 1/2 yrs old and already blew 2 bulbs. The original bulb worked for 18 months with heavy heavy usage... 60 hours/week of usage. The replacement bulb lasted 1 month! :Q

Now, here is something I read on the repair receipt when the repair guy came: Bulbs will only be replaced one time. WTF!

Well, my replacement bulb only lasted one month and I told them they must have gave me a bad bulb. So they replaced the bulb again for me.

But personally, I still recommend getting it. The bulbs are about $200 - $300 but if anything else goes wrong like the light engine you're screwed. That will easily cost over $500 to fix.

The only thing crappy about the ESP is if they have to replace your TV, you have to REPURCHASE the ESP, which I think is a load of crap. They should honor your warranty for whole 4yrs, including the replacement TV.

 

[KoolAidKid]

If it were worth it for you to buy the extended warranty, they would not offer to sell it to you. You figure it out.