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extended-warranties
extended-warranties
Buying An Extended Warranty From Lowe's? Keep The Paperwork Very, Very Safe
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By Laura Northrup on January 26, 2012 8:01 AM
87 Comments
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 Ben Popken on November 1, 2011 12:00 PM
69 Comments
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 Chris Morran on October 7, 2011 1:30 PM
133 Comments
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 Laura Northrup on June 23, 2011 9:30 AM
26 Comments
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 Laura Northrup on June 10, 2011 10:15 AM
42 Comments
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 Ben Popken on February 24, 2011 1:00 PM
104 Comments
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 Laura Northrup on January 19, 2011 8:00 AM
78 Comments
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 Ben Popken on December 28, 2010 2:00 PM
102 Comments
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 Laura Northrup on December 9, 2010 11:30 AM
41 Comments
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 Ben Popken on October 5, 2010 5:00 PM
52 Comments
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 Meg Marco on April 25, 2010 1:26 PM
96 Comments
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 More »
Yes, You Can Still Make Claims On Your Circuit City Extended Warranty
By Laura Northrup on April 3, 2010 7:00 PM
10 Comments
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 Laura Northrup on April 1, 2010 4:55 PM
14 Comments
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 »
(Photo: Maulleigh)
Geek Squad Finally Replaces My Linux-Infested Laptop
By Phil Villarreal on January 15, 2010 8:00 AM
53 Comments
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 »
U.S. Fidelis Stops Selling Useless Car Warranties
By Laura Northrup on December 31, 2009 11:00 AM
15 Comments
Remember US Fidelis, one of the nation's leading companies in the useless auto warranty market? Since the company's anti-consumer practices were uncovered this spring in a Today Show exposé, they haven't been doing very well. The company has laid off over half of its employees, and now has stopped selling new service contracts altogether. More »
Man Gets Defective Mini Refunded With Awesome And Polite Letter
By Ben Popken on November 20, 2009 6:03 PM
44 Comments
—>At first he thought it was an earthquake, being in California and all. Then Eric realized, no, it was his Mini Cooper that was violently shaking. More »
Smoking Near Apple Computers Creates Biohazard, Voids Warranty
By Laura Northrup on November 20, 2009 6:00 PM
256 Comments
—>Unless you've just arrived in 2009 on a time machine, you know that smoking isn't good for you. Did you know, that smoking isn't good for your computer, either? It's true, at least according to Apple. Two readers in different parts of the country claim that their Applecare warranties were voided due to secondhand smoke. Both readers appealed their cases up to the office of God Steve Jobs himself. Both lost. More »
The Most Alarmingly Typical Best Buy TV Buying Experience Ever
By Meg Marco on November 19, 2009 9:55 PM
167 Comments
—>Reader David wrote in describing the level of customer service he got while spending $1,300 at Best Buy. It's about what you'd expect. But... shouldn't it be better? According to David, the salesperson didn't know basic information, like how many inputs the TV had, tried to harass him into buying a $150 Monster Cable, and then made up some nonsense about the percentage of that particular model TV that came back for repair. More »
Geek Squad Turns Your Laptop Into An XBOX 360?
By Meg Marco on November 17, 2009 6:47 PM
64 Comments
—>Reader Taylor is a little concerned about his laptop. It died on Halloween and he took it in to Best Buy the next day. Two weeks later, he typed his order number into the Geek Squad website and found that a little Halloween magic had taken place. His laptop was now an XBOX 360. More »
What To Consider Before Buying An Extended Warranty
By Chris Walters on November 9, 2009 9:43 PM
57 Comments
—>The New York Times has an article about why consumers buy extended warranties for electronic products and other appliances, especially since we rarely have enough information at the moment of sale to make an informed decision. Here are three things to watch out for the next time you're buying some fun electronic device. More »
