How do you define “soon” in terms of a one-year warranty? Howard doesn’t have an exact timeframe in mind, but he imagines that it’s not “more than nine months from now.” Yet when Maytag sent him a letter urging him to extend his appliance warranties, that’s how much time he had left. [More]
Samsung Provides Out-Of-Warranty TV Repair After I Express My Disappointment
By July 10, 2012
When your TV conks out, there is that moment when you play the “When Did I Buy It?” game to try to figure out whether it is still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. And when you realize it’s several months past the warranty date, that when you begin playing a different game: “Should I pay to fix it or just go to town on it with my old golf clubs?” Luckily for one Consumerist reader, he found a Samsung rep who understood his pain and decided to do something about it. [More]
Dear Target Employees: Lying Is Not A Valid Extended Warranty Sales Tactic
By June 19, 2012
It’s one thing to repeatedly push extended warranties on customers. We’re not fans of this particular revenue-drivng tactic (or of most extended warranties in general) but there’s nothing fundamentally dishonest about it. What is dishonest is what David says that an employee at a midwestern Target store did. While selling him an iPod Touch, the employee told David that Target’s extended warranty covers accidental damage. It doesn’t. [More]
LG Suggests I Buy Extended Warranty For Problem Warranty Doesn't Cover
By May 4, 2012
Buying a new kitchen range should be a rather straightforward process. And yet Consumerist reader Bruce says he hasn’t been able to get anyone at LG to give him an honest answer about the appliance on which he wants to spend his cash. [More]
Buying An Extended Warranty From Lowe's? Keep The Paperwork Very, Very Safe
By January 26, 2012
When the dishwasher that Greg bought at Lowe’s broke down after a failed repair, he called up the store. A manager instructed him to bring the appliance, which was covered under an extended warranty, in to the store and they would exchange it for one that actually worked. Only when he brought it in, the employees on duty treated him “like a criminal” because he had lost the receipt in a recent move. Wait, don’t appliances have serial numbers that they can use to look up warranty information? Nope.
[More]
5 Bad Deals In Extended Warranties For Holiday Shoppers
By November 1, 2011
Extended warranty plans are generally known as being bad deals for consumers. But how specifically are they bad? An insider who works, begrudgingly, for an extended service plan company lays out some of the worst extended warranty deals to watch out for when shopping this holiday season. [More]
Best Buy Customer Takes Laptop In For Hinge Fix, Has Hard Drive Replaced & Old Data Held Hostage For $59.99
By October 7, 2011
A Best Buy customer in California needed to get the hinge on her laptop fixed. She’d paid $350 for an extended warranty from the electronics retailer so she thought there wouldn’t be any problem getting it fixed. We’re going to assume she’s never read Consumerist… [More]
Dell Warranty Provider Buys Customer New TV On Amazon
By June 23, 2011
Two weeks ago, we shared the story of Tom, who bought a Vizio TV from Dell that he bought an extended warranty for, but couldn’t track down the warranty company when the television actually failed. He finally got in touch with the nice people at Service Net Solutions, and they did amazed him by doing exactly what they were supposed to: replace his busted TV with a nicer one. Curiously, they did this by ordering one up for him from Amazon.com. [More]
Dell MIght As Well Have Not Sold Me An Extended Warranty For This TV
By June 10, 2011
Tom normally doesn’t bother to buy extended warranties. Now he knows why. He did happen to purchase one for the Vizio TV that he bought from Dell last year, but the third-party warranty provider seems determined to ignore him at all costs. [More]
Insider Debunks The 9 Extended Warranty Sales Pitches
By February 24, 2011
Here are 9 of the most common lines salespeople try to feed you in order to get you to buy an extended warranty, debunked by an insider. His job is training and development in this 3rd-party service plan industry, a job he’s leaving soon because he’s sick of the “half-truths and deceptions” it foists on consumers… which he will now reveal to you. [More]
DirecTV Installer: Oh, Most People Don't Notice Our Stealth Warranty
By January 19, 2011
Was it an error, or a sneaky upsell tactic? When Brandon’s grandfather moved, taking his DirecTV service along with him, he declined an extended warranty. The final paperwork for the installation included the unwanted warranty, however. When Brandon pointed this out, the installer noted that most people don’t notice this stealth warranty. Oh, yeah? Brandon declined again–so, of course, the warranty showed up on the next bill. [More]
23 Things An Extended Warranty Call Center Rep Wished You Knew
By December 28, 2010
A shadowy figure steps out of the shadows, his fingers nicotine-stained and shaking. He glances around nervously before leaping forward and grabbing you by the lapels. “I’ve got 23 things to tell you about calling into an extended warranty call center,” he says, “and I don’t have much time.” [More]
Before You Buy A Store's Extended Warranty, Check With The Manufacturer
By December 9, 2010
It’s no surprise that an electronics store salesperson might try to talk you into an extended warranty that you don’t need. However, reader Chris learned recently to be even more cautious in his dealings with salespeeps: they might be misinformed as to how long the manufacturer’s own warranty is. Or–gasp!–even trying to mislead customers. [More]
Best Buy Takes 115 Days To Repair Your Washer
By October 5, 2010
As if you needed further proof that buying the store-offered service plan is a bad deal, Terri says that it took Best Buy to 115 days to repair her LG front-loading washer. That’s a lot of days to go without clean undies. [More]
Best Buy Salesguy Won't Let You Buy An iPad Without $129 Warranty
By April 25, 2010
Reader Ed says he tried to buy an iPad from Best Buy, only to be told that someone was on the phone buying all of them, and that he could only get one if he bought the “black tie protection
plan” for $129. Ed told them to get lost and instead reported them to Consumerist and Best Buy. [More]
Yes, You Can Still Make Claims On Your Circuit City Extended Warranty
By April 3, 2010
If you bought a TiVo with an extended warranty at Circuit City before the chain died and came back as a retail zombie, TiVo forum poster Mark has good news and bad news for you: It is still technically possible to use your warranty, but doing so requires superhuman levels of persistence. [More]
SquareTrade Replaces Item Out Of Warranty, Almost Makes Extended Warranties Worthwhile
By April 1, 2010
Like most readers of Consumerist, Adam is cynical about extended warranties. However, he writes that he had a surprisingly good experience with a SquareTrade warranty that he purchased, and wanted to share. [More]
Geek Squad Finally Replaces My Linux-Infested Laptop
By January 15, 2010
An anonymous Best Buy customer told us in December that the Geek Squad refused to honor his extended warranty on his laptop because he had installed (horrors!) Linux. [More]
