UPDATE - Anybody ever had an irreparable tv with Best Buy's extended warranty?

[Rio Rebel]

I have a Daewoo 42" plasma, ED (480p), that I bought four years ago for $1800. I also bought the service plan. It started getting tiny green spots flashing on it a few months ago, but I thought my warranty had already run out and it didn't bother me that much since it is no longer my main tv (I bought a 46" Samsung LCD, and also have a theater room with a 720p projector).

So anyway, I got a reminder to renew the warranty, and realized I still had a couple months left. So I called in for a repair, and he determined that the plasma panel was going bad, which of course would be more than the price of the tv, if they could even locate one. They are still processing things with the warranty company (AIG, I think. It's hard to tell who I'm working with sometimes - Best Buy, AIG, or the tv repair company).

I'm wondering what to expect. If they replace it with a different tv, I'm wondering if it will be the cheapest 42" plasma they have, or what. I don't think they give the full amount of the original purchase back in store credit - I am expecting they will offer store credit in the amount it would cost to purchase a "comparable" tv...but I'm wondering what will pass as "comparable".

Anyone had a tv replaced through Best Buy like this before?

 

[Chapbass]

I'm actually a geek squad tech at my bby. When i look for comparable (in my case most of the time its with computers), I look mainly at the specs. proc speed, ram, hdd space. If they go from an xp to a vista machine i usually try and get them a little bit more memory (for example a 512mb machine with say an older p4m processor might get a 1gb pentium dual core, assuming were talking about laptops).

The only catch i see is that specs can be a little more non-standardized when it comes to tv specs. For example contrast ratio and response time and all that, all the companies measure pretty differently. How they will do it i honestly dont have an answer for ya.

As far as the AIG and such, yeah, all the large tv's are done through them, but i BELIEVE the exchange itself is handled by the home theater employees at the store (but dont quote me on that, since large TV's dont go through my dept besides for testing).


Hope that helps at least a little.

 

[nsafreak]

Well you'll more likely than not be getting an upgrade is how I'm guessing it. I don't believe Best Buy even sells ED sets anymore so you'll likely now have a secondary set that displays in HD. I'm guessing you'll get a 720p set around the same size or smaller than your current set.

 

[Rio Rebel]

I'd be surprised if it were smaller. I'd guess that they will offer to replace it with one of their low end 42" plasmas. I can't really complain if they do, but I don't like Insignia or Dynex...I am hoping I will at least be able to get something like an LG in the $1000-$1100 range. I wouldn't expect a Sony, but I'm hoping it won't be the very bottom...the Insignia and Dynex looked washed out to me. I guess it just depends on how they view it, since Daewoo doesn't make them anymore.

 

[Chapbass]

Does westinghouse's new line of tv's (the tx series) have a 42"? i could see them replacing it with that, even though its lcd and not plasma, it might fit the bill, as their cost of the tv should be kinda in line.

LG plasma wouldnt be out of the question i dont think. What does samsung have in that range?

 

[Rio Rebel]

Samsung has a 720p plasma for $999. I'd be pretty pleased with that.

Truth is, if it ends up being a Westinghouse or Insignia, I can't complain. I'm getting a pretty nice boost in technology at this point.

The Daewoo was basically a monitor - it has no tuner at all, and not even speakers. I had to buy the speakers later (spent about $150 on the speakers that mount on the sides, and another fifty on the wall mount off ebay that only works with this tv.)

 

[phillyman36]

My Westinghouse went bad after only 4 months. imo dont get Westinghouse. Ide stick with either Samsung or Sony

 

[Chapbass]

and my westinghouse is still going strong after 2 years. one bad product doesnt make a bad company. budget company yes, bad company...not so much.


edit: btw rio. If its anything like my store (and if its the same as computers etc), they should give you a comparable model, but then if you want to upgrade, you can, you just pay the difference in price between the one they give you and the one you want. So if they give you a 1k tv, you can essentially have a 1k credit towards anything you want (i believe it would still have to be a tv, though).

double edit: keep in mind, that your PSP will be used up when you get a replacement, so you will need to purchase a new one (the only time this doesnt apply is if youre still under manufacturers warranty and its something covered by theirs).

 

[Rio Rebel]

Update:

I am getting a Panasonic 42" 720p plasma (th-42px80u). I had a choice between that or three other 42" 720p plasmas: a Samsung pn42a450, a Philips, and an Insignia. My tv was 480p with no hdmi ports, tuner, or even speakers, so there was no way they could match specs other than size.

Interestingly, I was told that if I wanted to upgrade the tv to a bigger size or other technology, I would have to pay the difference between the value of my tv (which they put at $200), and the new tv. I would have thought that they would let me pay the difference between whatever comparable tv they assigned, but that's not the way they do it. So I can either get one of the 4 plasmas (the Panasonic is on sale for $1100), or get $200 toward my choice of televisions. Tough call, huh?

I also was a little surprised that I have to bring my old tv back to them. I guess that is to prevent fraud, or something, but it seems like an extra expense for them to trash it. I was going to use it until the green spots got worse and made it unwatchable, but no problem. I'm thrilled to get a new tv.

 

[Rio Rebel]

Wow - another update!

I went in to Best Buy this morning (a different one from the one yesterday, because the one yesterday didn't have the tv I wanted in stock). So I explained what I wanted to do, and was ready to get the 42" Panny like I mentioned in the above post.

As I talked more with the audio/video guy from Best Buy, he went back and verified what I was told, and returned and said that I could actually pick out any tv I wanted, up to the original purchase price! I bought the original tv four years ago for $1,997. So instead of getting a nice upgrade to a 42" 720p Panasonic plasma, which was more than I originally expected, I ended up getting a 50" Panasonic 1080p plasma worth $1,999!

Funny thing is, I didn't even think I had any warranty left, and I would have gotten nothing at all if they hadn't sent a letter asking me to renew the service plan. Now I'm sitting on a new $2000 bigger, better, higher quality plasma tv.

One other funny part: the audio/video guy kept "explaining" to me the benefits of 120hz (an LCD tv I was considering), and he was all wrong. He was telling me "it's twice as fast, so it reduces motion blur", and "plasma tv's are 90hz, but these are 120hz, so they look even better than plasmas." I started explaining 3:2 pull-down, but he wasn't having it, and I was so thrilled to be getting a two thousand dollar tv, I just told him thanks for the information.

<------One happy camper

 

[olds]

Nice. BB finally didn't screw someone.

 

[Chapbass]

Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
Wow - another update!

I went in to Best Buy this morning (a different one from the one yesterday, because the one yesterday didn't have the tv I wanted in stock). So I explained what I wanted to do, and was ready to get the 42" Panny like I mentioned in the above post.

As I talked more with the audio/video guy from Best Buy, he went back and verified what I was told, and returned and said that I could actually pick out any tv I wanted, up to the original purchase price! I bought the original tv four years ago for $1,997. So instead of getting a nice upgrade to a 42" 720p Panasonic plasma, which was more than I originally expected, I ended up getting a 50" Panasonic 1080p plasma worth $1,999!

Funny thing is, I didn't even think I had any warranty left, and I would have gotten nothing at all if they hadn't sent a letter asking me to renew the service plan. Now I'm sitting on a new $2000 bigger, better, higher quality plasma tv.

One other funny part: the audio/video guy kept "explaining" to me the benefits of 120hz (an LCD tv I was considering), and he was all wrong. He was telling me "it's twice as fast, so it reduces motion blur", and "plasma tv's are 90hz, but these are 120hz, so they look even better than plasmas." I started explaining 3:2 pull-down, but he wasn't having it, and I was so thrilled to be getting a two thousand dollar tv, I just told him thanks for the information.

<------One happy camper

Thats pretty funny.

Normally how we do it is the differnce in price between the one that is the most similar (so maybe the 42" 720p was what, like 1300-1500 or something? dont really follow tv prices atm), and the one you want.

But if he wants to do original purchase price, sounds good .


As far as screwing someone, if most of the bby's are anything like my store, most of us care about the customer and will definitely go out of their way to help people if theyre nice and courteous in return. Alot of the employees can be misinformed productwise, thats true definitely. Its the managers, however, that are often trying to make as much money as possible considering that they get performance bonuses.

 

[Rio Rebel]

The "comparable" tv's, 42" 720p sets, were between $900-$1100. So the difference is literally around a thousand dollars.

I don't have the copy of my service contract, and some terms may have changed since I bought mine 4 years ago. Maybe that's why there was confusion. But it is very odd that I've gotten three different answers from three different sources for Best Buy. One store said I could only get a replacement of a comparable set or "market value" of my old set toward a new one...the other store let me replace it with a tv worth the full original purchase price, and you are sort of in an in-between position (which is the one I expected), saying that I could get a comparable tv as a replacement, or pay the difference between the replacement tv and the upgrade if I wanted one. Very confusing.

All's well that ends well, and this one really ended well.

 

[Chapbass]

yeah man, I've been working there several years, and thats the policy that everyone in my store has always adopted. You get a comparable model (spec wise, not price wise), and then if you want to upgrade you take the price of the comparable one and pay the difference. Which in my mind is fair for both parties (bby and the customer).

Customer isnt getting free upgrades, but IS getting something comparable to what they have, brand new, with the option to go to the newer tech now that its out.


Either way, congrats on the new tv .

 

[EvilYoda]

I had thought that that was what they were SUPPOSED to do when dealing with a failing set with a PDP coverage. I've never worked at BB, but I used to do various marketing stuff there so I had to hear about it every now and then. I'll be buying a new TV after I move to Phoenix...between 2-3 year financing (depending on current deals) and their PDP program, that'll be the only substantial CE product I'll ever buy at BB. (TV sets are one of the only things I would buy an extended warranty on)

Congrats though! You probably got the 50" 1080p Panny plasma that's all the rage on the deal forums due to an ad error.

 

[Baked]

Nicely done Sir! Looks like visiting different BBs paid dividend. It's weird how policies differ between BBs.

 

[ManBearPig]

nice job man! I would be a happy person if i was you haha

 

[Chapbass]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
I had thought that that was what they were SUPPOSED to do when dealing with a failing set with a PDP coverage. I've never worked at BB, but I used to do various marketing stuff there so I had to hear about it every now and then. I'll be buying a new TV after I move to Phoenix...between 2-3 year financing (depending on current deals) and their PDP program, that'll be the only substantial CE product I'll ever buy at BB. (TV sets are one of the only things I would buy an extended warranty on)

Congrats though! You probably got the 50" 1080p Panny plasma that's all the rage on the deal forums due to an ad error.

Question! what does PDP stand for? BB's term for warranty is Performance Service Plan (PSP)....although i will say when someones talking about a psp on a playstation portable it gets miiiighhtty confusing.

theres also PRP's, which is product replacement plan. Mainly for smaller devices that arent worth servicing. If it breaks, you use your PRP and get a new one. I think the biggest thing ive seen for a PRP is some of the smaller mp3 players (I think the nano and maybe the mini (isnt that what its called?) are the only ones from apples lineup ive seen).