Warranty Question(s)

[notjosh]

Hi, not sure if this is the right forum, but it's the forum that I've been watching for a while now.

I'm in the market for a Panasonic 32" LCD at the moment, and whilst getting quotes on them, I've asked about warranties. Most of them seem to react like 'oh yeah, our warranty is $x'. The Good Guys took a different approach, and said 'our warranty is $y, but it's super awesome!!!' or some such.

I was saying to them that I can get a cheaper warranty (er, and TV) from, say, JB HiFi, and he went on to say stuff about 'well, our warranty is better and therefore you should buy from us'. He didn't give much information about it, though.

So, am I being scammed by paying more for a "premium" Good Guys warranty? Are they all (relatively) the same thing (JB, DSE, HN, TGG giving me the same kind of warranty)? Does anywhere know if warranties from certain places are worth more than from other place (i.e. say, HN not repairing goods - or taking six weeks as opposed to two weeks from DSE)?

And as an aside, I officially hate sales people. A guy from TGG had the nerve to give me his "best" price, which he claimed was 'what we buy them for!! here, check out my computer screen'. I told him I could do better elsewhere, and he then turned around and offered a price $50 cheaper, saying 'okay, we're prepared to wear the cost on this one'. What the hell? I wish they would just genuinely give their best price, because I *know* what price they can do from reading this forum!

Thanks,

Josh.

[pacyfa]

Hi,

I dont quite understand to tell you the truth how does this warranty works. I always thought that the warranty comes from a manufacturer and not the supplier and thus if you buy Sony you are stuck with Sony normal 1yr warranty or you can purchase extended 5 yr warranty.

It seems I am wrong as I was reading somewhere here about 3yr Sony warranty...

Totally confused...

Edited February 22, 2007 by pacyfa

[Black Dawg Down]

I always thought that the warranty comes from a manufacturer and not the supplier and thus if you buy Sony you are stuck with Sony normal 1yr warranty or you can purchase extended 5 yr warranty.

Most of the time extended warranties are provided by the retailer, thus they are different from store to store.

Manufacturer's extended warranty are a lot more expensive than the retailer's.

I've only had a chance to experience manufacturer's warranty within 12 months of the purchase. While it was horrific to say the least, retailer's extended warranty are supposedly much worse and I pray to god I'll never have to deal with it.

[50mxe20]

Warranty thread links.

Warranties thread links.

The bottom line is that a store warranty isn't much good if the store goes bust and is only good at that store, whereas a manufacturers warranty is better, hence more expensive.

[CoNFooZeD]

And as an aside, I officially hate sales people. A guy from TGG had the nerve to give me his "best" price, which he claimed was 'what we buy them for!! here, check out my computer screen'. I told him I could do better elsewhere, and he then turned around and offered a price $50 cheaper, saying 'okay, we're prepared to wear the cost on this one'. What the hell? I wish they would just genuinely give their best price, because I *know* what price they can do from reading this forum!

That's an old trick. TGG most likely get volume rebates or other incentives from the manufacturer that are not shown in that price. They may have also built in an allowance for store overheads into their cost price (so it shows average cost rather than a marginal cost).

[dlpnut1503560389]

I was saying to them that I can get a cheaper warranty (er, and TV) from, say, JB HiFi, and he went on to say stuff about 'well, our warranty is better and therefore you should buy from us'. He didn't give much information about it, though.

So, am I being scammed by paying more for a "premium" Good Guys warranty? Are they all (relatively) the same thing (JB, DSE, HN, TGG giving me the same kind of warranty)? Does anywhere know if warranties from certain places are worth more than from other place (i.e. say, HN not repairing goods - or taking six weeks as opposed to two weeks from DSE)?

Thanks,

Josh.

I'll add my 2cents.

Unfortunately it is hard to compare in detail any of these store warranties as they don't make the policy available to read. Having said that I think most of the Big stores would have a similar warranty. It is not that much dependant on what you pay is what you get, they will try to get as much on the warranty premium of you as possible.

[nis200979]

I'll add my 2cents.

Unfortunately it is hard to compare in detail any of these store warranties as they don't make the policy available to read. Having said that I think most of the Big stores would have a similar warranty. It is not that much dependant on what you pay is what you get, they will try to get as much on the warranty premium of you as possible.

Most are the same, they will repair your product throughout the term of the extended warranty.

Most will be onsite (29" + TVs)

Some will have lemon policies built-in. (Myer 3 repairs then a replacement)

I thought most retailers would legally have to have an information sheet/booklet about their warranty. Legally it should advise who is underwriting the policy. If they aren't a major underwriter then they may not be there when you ask for a repair.

I sold my old laptop which had 2yrs left of extended warranty. It was a transferable warranty which the new owner loved. My new warranty is now onsite, the last one I took to the repairer.

My new laptop warranty was $189, (Myer) would have been the same for a MacBook (I bought Win not Mac). However the Mac warranty (from Apple) was close to $300.