HD Guru took a deeper look at the extended warranties and service plans Best Buy pushes on customers who buy expensive electronics like hi-def TVs. You probably won’t be surprised to find out that the fine print negates a lot of what the person or pamphlet on the sales floor will try to promise you—but you might be surprised at just how useless these plans can be when you get right down to it.
extended warranties
Don't Threaten To Kill Telemarketers
By 7.21.09
We know how you feel; telemarketers suck. But no matter how much they’re in the wrong, please don’t threaten to burn down their place of business and then kill them and their families—even if they call you a jackass—because they may report you to the police. Then, if your police are anything like the ones in St. Louis, Missouri, you’ll likely be arrested and charged for making terrorist threats, like poor Charles Papenfus.
RadioShack Will Say Anything To Upsell Extended Warranties
By 7.19.09
An anonymous RadioShack employee sent us what he considers unethical talking points distributed by the corporate office to help employees upsell the RadioShack Replacement Service Plan. According to our tipster, “each example encourages lying.” Read the deceptive talking points, inside…
Macbook Pro Owner Caught In Warranty Catch-22 Thanks To Apple's Mistake
By 7.7.09
Because of an Apple technician’s mistake, Gennadiy had two options for repairing his 2009 Macbook Pro: either pay $1240+tax to replace the logic board because Apple said water damage voided the warranty, or push the unseated cable back into place and prove that there was no water damage—which would void the warranty. Gennadiy took the second option and saved himself over $1300, but now has no warranty should something actually happen to the logic board that should be covered.
Why Do You Buy Extended Warranties?
By 6.21.09
We all know that most extended warranties are wastes of money that generally go unused, so why do people buy them? According to a study in the Journal of Consumer Research, guilt-racked and nervous consumers are willing to shell out the extra cash to buy a little peace of mind…
Sports Authority Is Selling An Extended Warranty For Shoes
By 6.14.09
Sports Authority is pushing a new “Extended Coverage Plan” for footwear that runs for one year after Sports Authority’s 30-day warranty expires. The extended warranty, which costs between $4.99 and $15.99, supposedly even covers normal wear and tear. So how is this profitable?
Texas Electronics Retailer Sued For Deceptive Sales Practices
By 5.29.09
The Texas Attorney General filed suit against aptly named electronics retailer Conn’s, accusing the store of aggressively marketing extended warranties to customers, then doing everything in its power to avoid honoring those warranties.
Seven Things That Aren't Worth Your Money
By 3.29.09
Want an extra $1,000? The Wall Street Journal has a list of seven things that you can easily stop buying without making drastic changes to your lifestyle.
Office Depot Employee Claims He Photoshops Price Tags
By 3.17.09
Who needs to lie about inventory when you can inflate the price directly? LAPTOP has uncovered more dirty secrets of Office Depot employees being dishonest to customers, this time by altering price tags on clearance items to incorporate the cost of an extended service plan.
Office Depot To Employees: "Don't Lie About Inventory"
By 3.13.09
An anonymous Office Depot employee sent us this internal reminder from HQ that addresses this week’s allegations that associates and managers lie about inventory depending on the customer. Now the next time you’re told by an Office Depot associate that the laptop you want is out of stock, you can say, “Are you absolutely sure? Because I know you had a Sales Practices Reminder on March 12th about lying to customers.” And if a manager tries to get all up in, uhm, your grill area, you can say, “Don’t you have some tasks to go check off in your Task Manager?”
Office Depot Employees Claim They're Told To Lie About Stock If You're Not Buying Extras
By 3.11.09
According to LAPTOP mag, Office Depot has implemented such a stringent sales quota program that the company has essentially broken the in-store laptop buying experience. If you don’t buy accessories and extended service plans, many associates will tell you the laptop is out of stock. Of course, this doesn’t happen at every Office Depot, but LAPTOP writes that they were surprised by the number of similar reports they received of it happening at multiple locations.
Sorry, Your XBOX 360 Isn't The Right Kind Of Broken
By 3.9.09
By now, most people know about the dreaded Red Ring of Death issue on the XBOX 360 — and the accompanying 3 year warranty. What many do not know is that that 3 year warranty only covers the “3 red lights” issue. If you get any other error code, you’re out of luck.
How Do I Use My Circuit City Extended Warranty Now?
By 1.27.09
When Circuit City finally went pining for the fjords, we all understood that their extended warranties and service plans would remain in effect. Assurant Solutions, the company servicing these plans, came right out and said so last week (warning: PDF). But the company contracted to service David’s TV said they can’t reach Circuit City for more info on how to handle in-home support calls, so they’re not going to do anything.
Best Buy Threatens To Replace A $2200 Sony Laptop With An Asus EeePC
By 11.4.08
Is there a difference between a Sony TZ ultraportable laptop and an Asus Eee PC? Reader Ignacio bought Best Buy’s accidental damage protection plan for his $2200 Sony TZ laptop, and when he did, indeed, drop it — Best Buy threatened to replace it with a $600 Asus Eee PC, and finally decided to issue a $1200 gift card — the price of a 15″ Dell notebook. Fair?
Circuit City's "Advantage Protection Plan" Doesn't Live Up To The Sales Pitch
By 10.22.08
A reader signing off as “Sucker” wants to let the world know that Circuit City’s extended warranties/replacement plans aren’t living up to the sales pitch. When he bought his XBOX 360, the salesperson assured “Sucker” that if the XBOX broke (as they tend to) that instead of having to wait around for a replacement — he could get a refund in the form of a gift card. He accepted. Guess what didn’t happen?
Ex-Best Buy Employee Regrets Selling Warranties Now That He's A Customer
By 9.15.08
We just got an email from reader Mike, who claims to be a former Best Buy employee who regrets selling all those extended warranties now that he’s actually trying to use the one that he purchased.
Personal Finance Roundup
By 8.14.08
When should you spend to save? [MSN Money] “Are warehouse store memberships a good deal? How about extended warranties? It all depends on the products — and on you, the shopper.”
CompUSA Says They'll Make Sure Your TAP Service Is Honored
By 7.23.08
Lonny Paul, the director of e-commerce for the rebooted CompUSA, contacted us today regarding a reader’s tale of TAP woe. Lonny writes,
