Farkers often times hvae trooble with splleing in hedlines. This means you, subby!

Tri to chec yor speling smity befor hitteng ad lenk.

Three posts, and the spelling seems to have been corrected.

Which means this thread will kick off with three irrelevancies.

Ha ha ha!



"Reality will often pwn you when you nitpick. Film at 11."

OMG spelling errors!! We are all gonna die!!

Extended "warranties" are sometimes worth the cost. If the item is expensive, has a high failure rate, and is hard or impossible to fix by yourself then they are worth it. A good example of this is laptops.

However, if it is something you can easily afford to replace it is never worth it to get an extended warranty. Also, in the case of most consumer electronics it is usually a better deal to get an insurance policy through your current agent. It usually only costs $1 for every $100. Of course this only covers you for dropping it, losing it, having your shiat stolen etc. However, if your item does spontaneously stop working it can easily be "lost," "stolen," or "dropped."

Let's get this out of the way as well..

Did you see his bio?
(1)He was a stewardess, er, Flight Attendant, and
(2)his mom was a bareback rider in the circus.


Also, I was severely dissapointed that this article had nothing to do with Ric.

It was a cheap attempt to get greenlight.

/and it worked.
//not subby
///just jealous.

True Story:

Bought a new laptop for school....rather nice Gateway MX6425 for about $1750. Got the extended warranty, and bought a high-cap battery at the same time.

Computer was two days old when my wife knocked it off the desk somehow and punctured the LCD display.

Went back to the store, told them what happened, and walked out with a brand new computer.

I think it was CompUSA. Of all the bad things I've heard about them, at least they honor their warranties.

Gee, really? Just because they charge employees $3 and consumers over $40 for the same thing?

The hell you say!

/former best buy employee
//where PSPs and PRPs are 100% profit

zelet
A good example of this is laptops.

On the other hand a laptap generally has a very short usable life span. If your laptop breaks down under an extended warantee chances are reasonable that you were starting to think about an upgrade anyways.

I don't buy extended warantees, ever. IMHO they are never worth the cost. Actually I take that back because I think maybe we did buy them for our kitchen appliances, since a) they sometimes need repair and b) we expect to keep them for a decade (or two).

It was a cheap attempt a very successful way to get teh greenlight.

/cheap fix

I_Make_Jebus_Cry, if you stop buying extended warantees and get a more coordinated wife in the long run you will save a ton of cash.

/I keed...

I_Make_Jebus_Cry: Computer was two days old when my wife knocked it off the desk somehow and punctured the LCD display.

Going to school and already married?! Git offa ma lawn, boy!!!

I found an online coupon for $20 off a $30 phone at Office Depot so I went there to pick it up. Not only was the guy helping me out stoned when I went to check out he was the cashier, and forgot that it came off the clearance rack so it was $15.

He then went into a 30 second long speil about how I could pay $8 to get an extended warantee on a phone. Hrm, I'm getting a phone for -$5 and you think I should pay to have this thing insured?

I'm not sure if he was a stoner before working there or the place drove him to it.

mistergecko

yeah, imagine that. I'm not-quite 30 and decided to go back to school for my master's degree.

We so need a Ric Romero tag...

Where is the Ric pic with the spinning mustache?

I work at Sears and rarely get the extended warranties on stuff, the fineprint is hell. Atleast you can get a loaner if something goes wrong and you have to get your merch repaired.

safeinsane,

"//where PSPs and PRPs are 100% profit"

Um, well, the standard retail mark-up is 100% over cost. There's like overhead and stuff that the retailer has to pay for.

Warranties, then, are the gravy on top of the 100% mark-up.

Usually, if something is going to go wrong with an electronic device, it's going to happen in the first twelve months, which is why most manufacturer's warranties last for the first year. After that, if you can get a device to last for more than ten years, then you're "playing with the house's money".

Anything in between...if you can't live with what happens and you'll sleep better at night then, by all means, go ahead and pay extra to get yourself a warranty.

Mazda offers 8 years of warranty here in Canada. Would that be too much for a Mazda 6?

/Red, please.

zelet
Extended "warranties" are sometimes worth the cost... A good example of this is laptops.

Amen to that! Especially if you are buying a quality-deficient brand like Dell. I've extended my warranty on this piece of junk twice already and Dell has replaced my motherboard five times. I don't think they even bother to figure out what's wrong with it. They seem to have a single fix that covers all problems.

Regardless, I've definitely saved money during the past four years over paying for repairs myself.

Extended warranties -- the kind where they'll replace it no matter what happened -- are also fantastic for people with uncontrollable rage issues who like to throw things.

Honestly, the harrassment to get extended warranties is one of the reasons I don't go to BestBuy. I know I just say no, but the last time I went and they offered me an extended warranty for thirty farking percent of the cost of what I was buying. I was dumbfounded. I wanted to scream at the jerkass behind the counter, how farking stupid do you think I am? Thirty god damned farking c*cksucking percent.

zelet: If the item is expensive, has a high failure rate, and is hard or impossible to fix by yourself then they are worth it. A good example of this is laptops.

"High failure rate"? What are you doing to your laptops that makes them fail quickly? OK, terrible build quality on some brands probably contributes to this. Over the last 6.5 years, I've had 4 IBM laptops (all bought refurbished) and had exactly 2 hardware failures: One CD-ROM that died, and one fan that died. YMMV, obviously.

FWIW, the broken fan was easy to fix. Someone on the linux-thinkpad mailing list said "go here and order the right fan for your laptop." Manuals that give comprehensive directions about how to replace all the FRUs on an IBM laptop were available somewhere on IBM's website. $55 part, once FedUP got it here, it took 20 minutes of screwdriver-fu to replace it. The machine is currently working fine.

Again, YMMV. Other manufacturers may not make documentation on replacing stuff as easily available, which could mean you bend over and take it from an Authorized Misservice Center. I've done computer junk for a living since 2000, so RingTFM and screwdriver work doesn't bother me. If you're not comfortable with those things, or you make $LOTS/hour as an investment banker and so can't be bothered to learn them, that all changes.

I sell home theater in a high end specialty store. We sell extended warranties.

1) You're the customer, it's up to you. Ask questions, get it in writing if you decide you want the coverage. It's WELL worth it, depending on the item. (Custom programming on a Crestron control system for example)

2) You're the customer, not the queen of the universe. Don't get on my case for offering the warranty, or loudly proclaim that the service I'm selling is total crap and only an idiot would buy it etc...

3) If you're being hounded by a sales drone at one of the big box electronics stores and it's getting annoying, leave. You can't go into mcdonalds and expect the same service you get at Mortons.

4) As long as we're venting... Don't come into my store, waste my time asking a billion questions, go buy from the internet, then come BACK and expect me to explain how to use your system. Go ask the internet how to use it.

/grrrr..... idiot customers
//actual amount of them is very, very low. Maybe that's why they stand out so much...

I was offered an extended warranty on a phone I was buying for $9.

I just started laughing, and the cashier took that for "No."

"I could take a dump in a box and put a warranty on it"

The problem with Dell's warranty is that they never have the parts to fix the problem. My video card feed to my screen died in my laptop and it took them over a year to fix it. Thank god the video out port worked otherwise I would have a $2000 doorstop. Just having an extended warranty is half the battle.

danceswithcrows

IBM Thinkpads are a different story. I've had those, they don't break. I was referring to Compaq and Dell mostly. Their laptops are pure shiat. I bought a Dell and the extended warranty (I needed it to last through college) and I ended up replacing the mobo three times, the keyboard, the CD drive and a bunch of other random stupid things.

My Apple laptop and my T43p have been awesome and I never bothered with an extended warranty for either of those.

So, yeah, depends on the product, but laptops are complex and tightly packed little machines that are thrown into bags and lugged everywhere so they tend to fail more often then desktop machines.

SCUBA_Archer
The problem with Dell's warranty is that they never have the parts to fix the problem.

Too true! Dell sent a technician to my house once to replace the LCD screen, which had a physical defect. The guy opened the box with the part in it, announced (according to my brother) that "Hey, this isn't the part that was invoiced," and proceeded to replace the part he did have, which was the underside of the plastic case of the machine.

When he was done, he couldn't get the laptop to turn on! I had to ship the thing in to be fixed. They replaced the monitor and, of course, the motherboard.

CrunchyFrogger: Go ask the internet how to use it.

Which is way more helpful than asking a store employee, anyway.

lelio: I just quit OD after two years there. Trust me, he was driven to it.

OD has gotten horrible of late - employees are driven to sell "Market Basket" - Protection Plans, paper, cables and ink with printers, for example. THat makes sense. But with a computer, they expect Monitors, Printers, protection plans and surge proectors.

But let's say you sell a package deal - one with a monitor in the box with the CPU. It doesn't count. So your hurting yourself selling it. If the person has a printer, your down there (and you come off looking like a scummy salesperson if you try to push a new one when they have one, even if the one they have is ancient.) And no one, NO ONE, ever has an old surge protector (hint: Surge protectors no longer surge protect after two years, the quartz in them breaks down and is no longer good.)

So your left with that PPP. The only way for them not to crucify you. And they give you a pittance - most computers are a 5 dollar commission on PPPs.

So, hey, there ya go, there only doing it becuase if they don't, they'll be screamed at.

Soooo glad I left that hell hole behind.

I love my 3-year service plan. I can walk into any Best Buy in America and get my computer fixed right there, no mailing it off someplace. Of course, my last laptop was a POS and had a similar warranty, so it's possible I overcompensated. But it's been really nice so far.

we_hates

Which is way more helpful than asking a store employee, anyway.

As I said, depends on where you're shopping. I can't expect a 17year old kid at Circuit making $6/hr to know everything about the 'free with mail-in-rebate' headphones I'm buying.

If I'm shopping at a higher end store, buying higher end products I expect a higher level of expertise.

The people who irritate me are the ones who want the price they find on the internet, but the service they get from a high end store.

/"The cheap comes out expensive" - Judge Hottie

CrunchyFrogger: If I'm shopping at a higher end store, buying higher end products I expect a higher level of expertise.

That may be. I haven't really shopped at a high end electronics store. If I ever need high end electronics, maybe I'll give a physical store a chance. Eh, who am I kidding, I won't ever be buying the uber expensive stuff.

Everytime you're offered a service warentee, turn it down, and put the amount you would have spent in a bank account. Pretty soon you'll have enough to replace that one item out of dozens that breaks down out of warantee. Plus the money will be working for YOU, earning interest.

I just replaced my old laptop, a Powerbook G3/400 with a new one- A widescreen MacBook. The old lappy served me for nearly 6 years with very little trouble. The trouble it has had has been related to the high level of abuse the thing took. The only reason I replaced it was that it was... um... a bit slow running Tiger (it wasn't meant to, and it doesn't exactly work that well on it) and while I could have downgraded back to the previous version of the OS, the batteries were about done (one IS done, the other will give me about 20 minutes of work time) and I really couldn't see spending $100 minimum on a new one for a 6 year old laptop with cracks in the case, a missing DVD/ROM drive door (drive works fine) and a big gaping hole where the IR port cover used to be. I hope that my MacBook will last a long time as well, however, since it's the first generation model, I just might consider bying AppleCare when the warranty runs out.

Crunchy Frogger, its sales assholes like you that continue to further the stereotypes of electronics salesmen as customer hating sleazeballs.

No, I don't think I'll buy from you, go sell some rube some Monster cables for $300, there is always another sucker.

It's really simple, if they offer a service warranty, its either because the cost of the warranty is overpriced, or because the item in question rarely has issues... sometimes both. I was never able to sell the extended warranties as I personally believe they are basically a rip off.

I got a 5 year extended warranty with my Kenwood rack system. I had to bring it in every year for cleaning/tuning (at no cost). That alone was worth the cash, but I got my money's worth when they had to replace the midrange speakers approximately every six months. Also had a great argument w/Circuit City over whether my cat peeing on the remote was customer abuse or an act of God/natural disaster.

I got a 3 year warranty on a Sony LCD monitor I bought at Best Buy, made sure the manager told me that a single pixel was enough to get a replacement. 2 years 11 months (I kid you not) into owning it, the monitor stopped waking up when the computer would go into sleep mode. Went to store, they said pick a comparable version at same price. Obviously 3 years later, said model on longer exists. Instead, I got the newer version (with DVI inputs). Bonus: new model had an mail-in rebate, which for some insane reason they honored. So I got a better replacement and a refund.

On the otherhand our warranty on a Palm Pilot did not cover accidentally smashing the display into a door handle, destroying its LCD. Wife was very pissed about that.

Extended warranties are hit and miss.

We spent an assload of money - no, it was 2 assloads - on a warranty for an expensive couch 2 ywars ago. The thing keeps tearing and breeaking. Thank God for the warranty. No wait, they won't do shiat about it. But it cost a lot of extra money.

hoorays, #3 approved..yes I spelled it wrong, come on, 1 freakin letter .. give me a break! its a sunday

i worked at staples, and there was nothing more annoying than having to ask people to buy these godforsaken replacement/service plans. usually i just didnt, because i couldnt give a fark. but i fully understand, usually other workers would sell a plan without knowing jack shiat about it anyway. the only people it helps are those who cant help but break their own stuff. and thats some of the time.

On a side note, it sounds like CrunchyFrogger needs to realize hes selling home farking theater equiptment and is, for the most part, entirely useless to the world. i did your job as a summer gig to make extra cash for school with friends. and i seem to have come out of it alot happier in life than you have. assclown.


/so glad im out of there
//motivation to do well in school.

... and, yes, it was a shameless angle at getting a greenlight. But it worked suckas, bwahahha

Not to sound cliche, but I work for a "major appliance company" that makes kitchen applainces as well as washers and dryers. One thing I can assure you is that the extended warranties we sell are quite often less expensive that the cost of one out-of-warranty service call once you factor in the parts and labor. Perhaps I would get one for a dishwasher or microwave, but for anything else I definately would.

/doesn't get paid to offer them
//seriously, I don't
///slashies!

Sorry, I meant I wouldn't get one for dishwahsers or microwaves.

Some are worth it, especially if you buy a frontloading fridgidaire washer. You will be pleased with the warranty after the rear beearing goes out (which can only be replaced with the rear half of the drum and will run about $400 parts and labor), or the controll board ($200), or the door lock ($150). One of which is garaunteed to burn out within 5 years.

Make sure the warranty is parts, labor, diagnostic, trip fee, and has a company locally who honors the warranty. Best Buy, Circuit City, Home Depot... once it is sold and out the door, they don't know you, don't want to know you and don't give a fark how you refrigerators compressor wasn't soldered shut and the drip pan is missing. Also, I will not fix the TV in your fridge, it's a farking fridge, not a TV. Buy an american fridge, without a TV, commy bastard.

I killed commies in vietnam so you farkers could have fridges with TV's imported from korea. I lost my left testicle to shrapnel. So remember my left testicle when you are buying some farking korean products made by 12 year old children who work 12 hour shifts.

Egregious Philbin

Ahh! I'd almost forgoten the smell of the troll. Makes me long for the early days of IRC when every yahoo living in his grandmothers basement with her body decaying in an upstairs room while he cashes her welfare checks tried to make himself feel important by trashing everyone else with his (less than) razor sharp comebacks.

/ahhh the good ol' days.
//"really? You're a 19year old gymnast/model? Cool!"

Thing is, it's usually incredibly easy stuff to fix, people are just to intimidated by it. Case in point:

I bought a Compaq Presario 2500 laptop three years ago. About 8 months ago, it just stopped booting. Now, I had bought Best Buy's 2-year PSP for it and reupped when it ran out. Since it was still under the service plan, I took it in. They wouldn't fix it without me paying around $1000. I finally got sick of the runaround and replaced the laptop elsewhere. The dead machine just sat in a corner for 8 months.

Cut to a few weeks ago. I'm cleaning out my junk and I run across the dead laptop. I get brave (I've never had to guts to do laptop maintenance before) and decide to look up disassembly instructions on the internet. I get the laptop apart and find the culprit: it appears that whatever cheap-ass thermal paste Compaq used had crumbled away and left a gap between the processor and heatsink. I went down to CompUSA and bought a $10 tube of Arctic Silver 5, cleaned off the processor and heatsink and regooped them. Lo and behold, once I got everything back together it worked perfectly, nay, better than before. Now my wife has a laptop all her own.

Moral of the story, skip the warranties, no matter how intimidated you may be by whatever needs fixin'. You can easily find the information online on how to repair the shiat yourself.

JMZ

While self-maintenance is always a good thing, many problems warranty services are meant to fix are not like the one you experienced.

For instance, a service plan for a laptop that covers the screen is an excellent thing to have if the screen physically cracks. The reason is the screen itself, which you would simply have to purchase, can easily cost over $700 whereas the service plan might have costed, say $250 or so.

Did anyone read the article? (probably not....since, yah...you already know)
But for those that didn't, here's a little gem I found in there from an aged Sears customer.

"I couldn't make an egg for my daughter when she came to visit," said Goodman, 71, of Tamarac. "Isn't that horrible?"

Imagine that being said with the sincerity of a 71 year old lady.

Good Times



AND AND...

I'd like to point out that she couldn't make her daughter eggs because her ReFrigOrAtOR was broken. She couldn't wake her lazzy ass up in the morning, go get some eggs, and make em' right away?
O, wait, thats right. Everyone over 62 only uses EggBeaters. Crazies.