Yesterday I replaced my old, big and noisy Sony PCG-FRV26 laptop with a new, fast and slim Toshiba Satellite A105-S361 and I didn’t pay a penny. Thanks to the BestBuy extended warranty!
Here is the story. It started about 4 years ago when I bough my first laptop from BestBuy. It was Toshiba Satellite 1800 and I paid for it $1099. It was a good computer for that particular time. The sales man offered me to buy an extended 3 years warranty to “protect my investment” for $249. It was a tough call for me because I was kind of short on money but I bought it anyway. I am so glad that I did it. Toshiba Satellite 1800 was not a very reliable laptop and during first 2 years it was repaired 3 times. After it broke the fourth time I took it to BestBuy and politely mentioned about “No Lemon” policy and they granted me a laptop exchange. They applied $1099 toward my new laptop. I bought Sony PCG-FRV26 and paid only the difference $1349-$1099=$250. They offered again to buy an extended warranty and this time I didn’t think a lot and paid $249 right away. Sony laptop worked fine for a year but then it started to break. First the CD-ROM drive stopped spinning, then the AC adapter stopped working and finally the laptop didn’t boot at all. I took it to BestBuy for repair and left it there. After that I was calling on status every 2 weeks trying to get my laptop back. Every time they were telling a different story why it is not repaired. Finally, after 2 months they called me and explained that my laptop would be replaced. The same evening I went to BestBuy and picked up my new baby Toshiba Satellite A105-S361 for $1199. It was cheaper then Sony laptop, so they just exchanged it and I didn’t have to pay anything. I love it! They tried to give me a cheaper laptop, but after I explained them how much I suffered during these months without my laptop they gave up.
Do you know where I go tonight? You are right; I’m going to buy an extended warranty again!
UPDATE: This article was written almost 4 years ago. Times are changing. Laptops are getting cheaper and cheaper every day. Now it doesn’t make sense to get the extended warranty unless you are buying a very expensive laptop.
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February 6th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I think Best Buy’s protection plan is great, I have purchased many and never had a problem if I needed to use them. Circuit City on the other hand is terrible. I will never buy another thing from them that I want a protection plan for. Not only does it not start until the manufacturers warranty ends, but it doesn’t cover damage from regular use. And they were rude about it! The only good thing about it is that you can cancel it for a refund.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:26 am
I found that getting the extended warrenty directly from the manufacturer is the best deal. it only cost $130 from toshiba website and you can wait for up to a year after you buy the computer to buy the extended warranty. It extends one year to 3 years. a hinge broke on my A45 probably from by abuse and hard use of the computer. it was only out for 2 days for repair at the local service center. always use local service center and don’t send it in. i found the service was excellent. what ever brand of computer I buy next must have a service center near where i live. if you have to send it somewhere for work you might not see it for a while and you can’t talk to the technician.
i agree with the author, ALWAYS get the extended warrenty. the best is to buy the cheapest computer and get the 3 year plan. then after 3 or 4 years trash the computer and get a new one. they are disposable like cell phones and better to use the rest of your money on other things like the latest ipod and fast internet service.
April 11th, 2007 at 9:47 am
DON’T BUY EXTENDED WARRANTY (OR ANYTHING) FROM BESTBUY.
I also bought the extended warranty from BestBuy, but when I had problems with my laptop was told they would try to fix it instore for a charge – the extended warranty wouldn’t cover it (even though no one knew why it wouldn’t boot). There was no damage to the computer, it had never been dropped, not even the smallest of scratches – the laptop was pristine.
When I purchased this laptop the salesman told me I’d go through 3 batteries during the lifetime of the extended warranty and the free replacement of the battereies would more than cover the price of extended warranty. Guess what? They wouldn’t replace the battery.
Also when I was still driving big truck over the road I went there and paid $80 to have my personal radio installed in my truck. After the guy worked on it for 45 minutes he gave up and wouldn’t give me my money back!! So no radio and out $80.
Never again will I buy even a cd at BestBuy! The guy at the service desk even told me the salesman wouldn’t have told me what he absolutely DID tell me. I strongly suggest going somewhere else to spend your money.
February 4th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Hugo Sanchez,
The screen got cracked by itself?
You purchased a regular warranty and this warranty doesn’t cover an accidental damage. I think it’s fair.
If you want complete protection, buy a warranty that covers an accidental damage. Yes, it’s more expensive but it will cover a cracked screen.
January 26th, 2007 at 11:07 am
DON’T BUY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY AT BEST BUY.
I year and a half ago I bought a Toshiba notebook on sale for $400 and also bought the “Extended Warranty” for $200. I was sold on the warranty’s great merits by the attentive extra salesman that came after my purchase. A month ago the screen cracked. Guess what? they considered this a customer caused problem and not warranted. I paid 50% of the value of the computer for this garbage warranty. I had to pay to have it checked by them, I had to pay for shipping it back. The warranty by BEST BUY is garbage, it pays for the things that the manufacturer covers anyway. Also it took over a month to get my computer back and broken returned. By the way, their estimated cost of repair: $950, more than twice the original value?
July 5th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
Agreed with the fella above. I am a pc tech at Circuit City and the not buying a service plan on a laptop is like playing russian roulette. A computer is just like any other man-made device. It is going to screw up at some point or another. The question is when. The prices for the replacement parts are very expensive along with the labor. Do you go without health insurance? Probably not because if you have to go to the doctor you will be paying out the nose for your prescription. Same thing with warranties.
June 29th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
I work at Best Buy and I agree that the Service Plans are a good idea, ESPECIALLY on laptops.
Notebook computers tend to have a higher than normal failure rate (compared to desktops, tvs, etc). Thats not Best Buys fault. We sell the most popular brands… HP, Toshiba, Sony, Compaq… but we don’t build them, and its not BBYs fault if the manufacturers have lame warranties.
$250-$300 is a lot for “insurance”, but its better than paying full price if something happens to it.
Sure, he may have shelled out 750$ in warrantys, but thats better than paying over 3000$ if he had to replace 3 broken laptops out of his own pocket.
I probably wouldnt get the service plans on a desktop, because I can normally fix those myself at a low cost, but buying a consumer laptop without a service plan is crazy.
May 23rd, 2006 at 5:17 pm
I think extended warranties are an insult. If a company manufactures a product that is worth a damn, they shouldn’t have to sell extended repair contracts. They should stand behind their workmanship. Anyone who offers extended warranties are businesses I avoid at all costs. I make the same statement to any car dealer who’s trying to make a buck off of an extended warranty – my response has always been “if you have that little faith in your product’s quality, then maybe I should look for a better model elsewhere”.
If you want my opinion, I believe Best Buy purchases substandard equipment or equipment with known defects, they sell the extended warranty and give you another piece of crap to replace the piece of crap you just returned. It’s all a major scam. The lead post in this thread pretty much is in lockstep with this allegation.
So what did your extended warranty buy you? A replacement computer that was valued at less than what you paid for the original….and you have just shelled out $750 in warranty coverage for three pieces of crap – tell me again why extended warranties are such a great idea?
PT Barnum had it right – there’s a sucker born every minute.
May 15th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
I can agree, that it is always better to be fullly covered. It is also very wise to read all terms and agreements. Keeping in mind for expiration dates. The manufacter company wont remind you that your coverage will be ending. So its best to be informed
May 1st, 2006 at 10:10 pm
Rodney,
I think it is not very fair to blame BestBuy that they refused to replace the screen. When they say abuse, it doesn’t mean that the laptop looks like it was dropped from a skyscraper. Even if you forget a pen on the keyboard and close the laptop lid you can damage the screen – it is already abuse. The screen cannot just crack by itself. The hard drive can stop working, the memory can fail, the system board can go down, but the screen cannot just crack itself.
Buy the way; you can buy an extended warranty that covers everything even a cracked screen. It is $100 more then a regular warranty, but in some cases it pays off.