Howdy mcvic-ga,
You have to understand that extended warranties are big business, in
that the profit margin is up to 60% for the store. This Digital Home
Canada article has more on this subject.
http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=110&Itemid=34
"In a Business Week article published earlier this year the magazine,
using numbers from company reports and industry sources, estimated that
extended warranties, accounted for all of Circuit City's profits and 45%
of Best Buy's income."
This explains why they "strongly suggest" buying it. You should read the
above article in detail for some good tips.
What has to be taken into consideration are the "odds" of your television
failing in the first year and beyond ("repair rate") and the replacement
cost of the television in the years after the warranty runs out.
The initial year (and actually less than that amount of time) is the
period in which one would expect a defect to appear. That is covered
by Samsung's warranty.
After 3 or so years, the replacement cost of the television will be down
to $1000, give or take a few bucks, so getting anything over a 2 year
extended warranty doesn't make much sense.
There are several things you could do. You could negotiate a better
price for a 2 year extended warranty from Best Buy. If you are buying
the set with a credit card, check the ones you have to see if any of
them have an automatic warranty extension, which some provide.
You could also look at getting an extended warranty through a company
such as RepairMaster/Warrantech.
http://www.warrantech.com/consumer/cps.asp
"The company has placed itself firmly in the forefront of the industry,
offering consumers coverage for their purchases from consumer electronics,
to computers and major appliances."
You can buy a RepairMaster extended warranty through many places, so if
you go that route, you will want to shop around. For instance, the
SavingLots.com website has the 2 Year RepairMaster extended protection
plan for television equipment under $5000 for less than most places.
http://www.savinglots.com/lotprod.asp?item=RMT25000
"Retail Price: $249.00
Your SavingLots Price: $209.95"
If you want some peace of mind, you could consider this second route.
When I purchased my Samsung DLP television, Samsung had a deal wherein
they extended the warranty 3 months beyond the 1 year standard warranty.
I did not buy the extended warranty offered by the store.
Before or if you consider going to a "deep discount" online site to buy
your set, you might want to read the following, and typical, story when
it comes to such places. The following is a posting on the View Online
website.
http://www.cbc.ca/streetcents/archives/guide/2002/06/s05_01.html
"After a few heated comments from both parties, and a threat on his part
that he could sue me for claiming their service was a scam (which he can?t),
he cancelled my order and hung up on me.
I reported USA Photo Nation.com to the BBB."
If you need any clarification, please feel free to ask.
Search strategy:
Personal experience.
Google search on: "extended warranty"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22extended+warranty%22
Google search on: "extended warranty" "Best Buy"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22extended+warranty%22+%22Best+Buy%22
Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher |
