PSA: Extended Service Contracts

[Modeps]

In answer to a thread about "it's just our job to sell the ESCs at Best Buy!" and for those of you who have bought into the 'need' for them, read on.


When "Nobody Beats the Wiz" was still around, I went in and bought a floor show model panasonic 'boombox', complete with everything I wanted for it. Aux Inputs, CD player, dual tape deck, am/fm, and a remote control for about $120. Sure it had a dig in the speaker and a scratch in the plastic, but whatever.

We were assaulted by the salesman about how these things break all the time and we NEED a service warantee. We said no. The guy even rung it up with the contract in the cost, which we told him again we didnt need it. Then he actually got angry that we wouldnt buy one. I used it at home to hook up to my sony playstation 1 when it first came out, brought it to college with me and hooked it up to my TV for movies and my computer for music. It's currently still being used in my basement gameroom... 10+ years later and I have NEVER had a problem with it.

This is just one example of an electronics device that I needed an ESC for, and refused.

If something is going to happen to your new TV, Stereo, et al, due to a manufacturers defect, it will most likely happen within the first year of ownership, and typically is covered by the manufacturers warantee.


Anyone else got similar electronic purchasing stories?

 

[RagingBITCH]

Every Sony I've ever purchased except for my 2nd vintage 1994 Sony Walkman has died, or some component has just crapped out. I could have used a service contract on all of those products (most would have been covered)

 

[Lonyo]

That's why you shouldn't buy Sony
Overpriced crap.

EDIT: We have a 20 year old Panasonic VCR that's still going. The date is bad, because it stops at around the year 2000, so it has to be set to some time in the 90's to get the right day/date set, but apart from that it's still OK.
Not in use at the moment, as we have another one, and the TV broke that it was being used with.
Panasonic > *

 

[yukichigai]

When I first bought my PS2 at BB (like 3 years ago) they pushed the extended service contract. Now being that PS2s were in short supply at the time I got it, as did my friend. My PS2 has yet to break, though my friend did eventually exchange his for a new one. (Can't remember why) Since he had the extended service plan he didn't even have to say why; they just gave him a new one and he was out the door.

PS2 was the only thing I've ever bought an ESC for though.

 

[Ogg]

My wife bought a ESC for a vaccuum purchased last week......3 yrs. @19.99

Guess Ill have to divorce her now. Thanks modeps :Q

 

[Kenazo]

I bought an ESC on my Panasonic Microwave. I put a toaster oven too close to the front of the microwave and melted the door. oops. Sears gave me a new door, it would have cost about $130 to replace. (though the new microwave was only $150, so that's dumb). Not bad for $15 though.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Every Sony I've ever purchased except for my 2nd vintage 1994 Sony Walkman has died, or some component has just crapped out. I could have used a service contract on all of those products (most would have been covered)

I hate Sony crap too. It always breaks. Every sinlge sony product I've owned w/ a motor in it has broken.

 

[EagleKeeper]

I got a ECS for my wife's portable DVD player last Xmas.
System died on the road bck in May. Went into a BB somewhere in Omaha and walked out with a replacement. Biggest irratation was that the unit was $50 less than when I bought it.

I would only buy those for expensive items that have not proved their worth/quality.
$20 for a $400 item is worth it; $20 for a $100 item is probably wasted.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Every Sony I've ever purchased except for my 2nd vintage 1994 Sony Walkman has died, or some component has just crapped out. I could have used a service contract on all of those products (most would have been covered)

I hate Sony crap too. It always breaks. Every sinlge sony product I've owned w/ a motor in it has broken.

Yep :| My parents just bought into the name brand of Sony. Turns out they have the highest defective rate of any electronics manufacturer, and they're #2 in the world behind Matsushita. (You'd think the maker with the highest volume with have the most, guess we all know how good Sony's quality is otherwise)

 

[C'DaleRider]

My take on extended warranties......on most electronic equipment, most failures happen either very quickly in their life or after quite a long time of use....rarely "jut after the wqarranty expired......it happens, but not the norm.) Failures typically are rare on products from good manufacturers on mature products.

On the other hand, cutting-edge technology with little history of reliablility over time, esp. for the early adopters out there, an extended warranty may be something to consider. I'd probably have bought one if I'd purchased a first-genereation plasma TVs. If I buy an expensive laptop, I'd probably take an extended warranty on that, too, but only if it replaced the lappy if damaged by my own stupidity, like dropping it.

Otherwise, why buy one? I love getting offered an extended warranty on soemthing that costs less than the warranty......why buy the stupid warranty when it's just cheaper to replace the item new?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Some AV gear (including some $400 DVD recorders) now only come with a 90-day warranty

Some hard drive portable music devices other than Apple's only come with a 90-day warranty, and at least for Amazon reviewers the failure rate after warranty is fairly high.

A lot of people with X-Box consoles seem to have drive problems after the warranty is up, and the repair cost is over $100. PS2 failure rates are lower (probably because it's a simpler design) but still high enough that a service plan might be worthwhile.

For laptops, repair costs can be very high.

 

[Kenazo]

ESC's are like insurance. The company bets it won't break, you bet it will. Odds are, you will win if you don't buy the ESC, however if you lose, you lose big.

 

[NutBucket]

Heh. I bought one on my cell phone only because the battery is covered. $40 on a $400 cell phone is fine by me. Plus, when they stop carrying the phone I'll have a nice, cheap upgrade path

 

[Thraxen]

I guess I've been lucky with Sony products. The only Sony product that has ever died on me was the original Playstation. And it didn't die until I had had it over 3 years, had installed 3 different modchip revisions, had traveled with it extensively, and had replaced the entire outer casing due to an experiment to dye it black gone wrong .

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Every Sony I've ever purchased except for my 2nd vintage 1994 Sony Walkman has died, or some component has just crapped out. I could have used a service contract on all of those products (most would have been covered)

I hate Sony crap too. It always breaks. Every sinlge sony product I've owned w/ a motor in it has broken.

Me too, and the weird thing is Aiwa (Sony's cheap brand) seems to have good stuff - I've never had a problem with any of it... but every time I buy a Sony anything it seems to have problems.

 

[TerryMathews]

Originally posted by: Kenazo
ESC's are like insurance. The company bets it won't break, you bet it will. Odds are, you will win if you don't buy the ESC, however if you lose, you lose big.

 

[vi edit]

I'm choosy on what I put them on. I bought a Canon G2 when they first came out for around $700. I put a $70 ESP on it. A year later the camera wouldn't work anymore (don't know what happened to it) and I got an upgrade from Best Buy to a G3 for free.

Worked well on that.

 

[Freejack2]

I have a 5 year ESC on my Kenwood car deck. It's going in for it's third repair shortly. Makes me glad I got the ESC on it.

I bought an ESC on my last digicam and I went to use it for a problem. Apprently the company that sold me the camera no longer sold to the public or something like that, so the company that managed the ESC sent me a check to replace the camera.

Sometimes it's been a waste though. Got an extended warranty on my car and I don't think it's been used for more than $200 worth of repairs.

 

[sygyzy]

Your PSA reads like some great advice column, except it's BS. I personally don't like ESC's nor do I ever buy them. But your "evidence" is that the product never broke, thus all ESC's are worthless? What are you? 12?

 

[MustISO]

I did it for my TV but I rarely would get it for anything else. I just hate when they badger you to buy one. My favorite is for DVD players where they tell you that you can bring it in for monthly cleanings if you want. Yeah, I think I'll disconnect my DVD player, bring it to the store and leave it overnight with some employee who couldn't care less about taking care of my DVD player.

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Your PSA reads like some great advice column, except it's BS. I personally don't like ESC's nor do I ever buy them. But your "evidence" is that the product never broke, thus all ESC's are worthless? What are you? 12?

It was a single example chowderhead. I'm saying more times than not, you'll be fine if you dont buy one because there are always options. RMA it to the company within the first year, bring it back within 30 days to the store. If a TV is gonna go, it's gonna go within a year. The same holds true for most electronic devices.

Oh, and NEVER buy a first generation product. Ever.

 

[MustISO]

I've seen TV's die 2-3 years after purchase, some older than that. Not everything is going to die in the first year. My apex dvd player died after 4 years, naturally it wasn't a big loss but it was expensive at the time.

 

[dirtboy]

We bought an ESC from Office Depot on a floor model Tektronix solid ink printer. All I can say is that the printer did break and the warranty company paid quite a bit more than we paid for the contract. It was well worth it. I'd probably buy one again on something like that, but not on everything. They weren't pushy either, we actually wanted it.

I also bought a 3yr one for my Xbox. After hearing about all the problems with the cd rom drives, I figured for a few extra $$ I'd get one. Now that I think about it, I got it for free. Nobody waited on me, so I went home and called the manager to complain, so he gave me the contact for nothing. That was at Circuit City.

 

[brtspears2]

I bought a hard drive from Circuit City, they offered me CityAdvantage. They said $54.99 for 3 yrs. I'm like WTF, the drive is $99 after rebate. Besides inside the package, WD offers 3 yr warranty for $15, and I replace my drives well before the end of the warranty.

 

[ucdnam]

I've always gotten one from Sears since they're no hassle, unlike other places. I've returned my dvd player 3 times and each time, I just pay the difference for the new one. Really good if you want to cheap out and buy an Apex dvd player or TV.