Rant - Extended warantee - Future Shop

[Cysmama]

Ok... I am peed off!

We have a 50" Flat screen Sony HDTV. Its 2 years old and all of a sudden its busted.

We call FS since we have an extended warantee and GUESS what! The bulb is defective and its the ONLY THING thats not covered by the warantee.

I'm sorry but this is bull. If something is defective it should be replaced. Period. Plus why would I spend extra money on a warantee if I can't even use it! I don't usually buy warantees but I thought this was one item I should get it for...

So, buyer beware, Sony HDTVs have defective bulbs. DON'T bother with the Future Shop extended warantee cause if you buy this tv it won't help you.

L

[alajen]

Thanks for the warning.

To add to your comments,

There was a story on "La facture" about extended warranty. It warns that you have to be very careful - extended warranties are not worth the paper they are printed on, and the associates that sell them to you do not have the correct knowledge (or don't care).

The stores make a HUGE commission on the warranties - the fine print usually has some statement that excludes "wear-and-tear" items. For the HDTV and other projection TV, DLP's, etc, that usually means that the super-expensive bulb is NOT covered.

[SavingKarina]

That's ridiculous! The only warranty I bought was for my camera, and I actually used it. The lens cover got stuck half way and Henry's took it back to the manufacturer and I got it back fixed with no additional cost.

[alajen]

La Facture is a French consumer protection program aired on CBC.

I did a quick search and found the relevant links from the TV program:

The main story
http://www.radio-canada.ca/actualite...u2_17085.shtml

The follow-up story
http://www.radio-canada.ca/actualite...au2_1433.shtml

Both stories are in French. They basically compare different products, the warranties at different stores. They also discuss legal recourse (e.g. Small Claims), and there are other external links for Consumer Reports, for example.

The extended warranty is like any other product. The important thing is to read the fine print and you can ask for a refund if you have buyer's remorse (I think there is a deadline for how much time you have to decide, but I can't remember how long, off hand)

[travelgeek]

The stores make a HUGE commission on the warranties -

Indeed, which is why they relentlessly push them.... even to the point of lying about what is/isn't covered. In most cases, retailers make more on the sale of service plans than on the product itself.

Credit card companies usually provide an additional year of warranty when an item is charged using their card (subject to exclusions/limitations). I always suggest to purchasers of store service plans that instead of buying the warranty, they should set aside an amount of what the warranty would have cost and move it to an savings account (ie. ING). If an item should break outside of the warranty provided by the mfr and the credit card company, they can tap into the account to pay of the repair or replace the item themselves. Chances are, there will always be surplus funds left over.

the fine print usually has some statement that excludes "wear-and-tear" items.

OP, did you have a look at the fine print to see if the item is excluded?

[Sally888]

I briefly touched upon this on my the source doesnt price comp thread in this section.
It will be a cold day in hell before I ever purchase an extended warranty.
Sorry about your situation

[Cysmama]

Trust me, I never ever buy the extended warantee but this tv was over $3000 (at the time).

I'm happy I don't have the extended warantee on my laptop and other stuff. Often times I feel things are so cheap these days that if my item really breaks down I will just go buy a new one!

I am going to call Sony today to see if they can help at all. Its stupid, you have a warantee on cars (if something breaks thats defective they fix it for free) and even things like car seats (they send you free replacement parts) so if something is DEFECTIVE with the tv shouldn't they also fix it??

L

[Wiseman]

The bulb is not covered under any warranty and rightfully so.

The bulb is a wear and tear item with limited life span. It's like tires on a car. If you buy extended warranty on a car, the tires are excluded because tires wear out with use. Same as the bulb in your tv. They are destined to fail at one point in the future, not because of a defect but because of normal wear.

[dawnikus]

What I have been told is you are not buying a warranty you are paying for a "service contract" and unless you read everything including the fine print then they can do or say whatever they want.

Here is a link that I think all consumers should read and understand before buying these so called "warranties" that these companies push on us. It is called FIVE REASON TO NOT BUY AN EXTENDED WARRANTY!

[william_2354]

Future Shop waranty are not very good!!

[momg]

thanks dawinkus that link was very useful and i'm glad i never bought into that however when purchasing our van the finace company told us they would only give us the money if we purchased and extended warrenty. which when we had a problem they told us it was fine and now the drivers side window gets stuck down the piece to fix this is $500.

The bulb is not covered under any warranty and rightfully so.

The bulb is a wear and tear item with limited life span. It's like tires on a car. If you buy extended warranty on a car, the tires are excluded because tires wear out with use. Same as the bulb in your tv. They are destined to fail at one point in the future, not because of a defect but because of normal wear.

i disagree with this because the tv should last about 10 years and have the best color and picture for at least 5 years before it starts to fade.

[dawnikus]

The lamp on our projector lasts for up to 2000Watt Hours. So if we leave it on all the time of course that will deplete the watt hours. However, we use it sparingly and the lamp died anyway. We contacted Panasonic because they are the ones that manufactured this product and they sent us a free lamp. They did not ask for the old lamp back or anything.

A lamp for the projector is roughly $300-400. I am not sure how much a bulb for your TV would cost but I estimate it to be a lot less. My suggestion is to tell FS to piss up a tree and contact the manufacturer of this TV and see where it gets you.

As I stated earlier... Warranties are just service contracts and nothing more. No matter how hard you want it to be something else. Do not get suckered into buying an extended warranty!