BB Extended Warranty?

I was contemplating picking up the 6860FX from BB. Should I buy the extended warranty?

Thanks

 

Not from BB...it is a rip off. See if you can extend it via Gateway, if not then consider the BB one as a just in case thing.

 

Thanks for the quick response. Your first statement and last seem contradictory. First its a rip-off and then something to consider. What would you do??

Take chances with no warranty?

 

They are not contradictory. GW's warranty, if available, is a much better value. However, if that isn't an option...the "rip-off" BB warranty is much better than no warranty at all.

Usually a warranty pays off the moment the LCD stops working or the motherboard dies. BB warranty is three years, and while you might have to argue with them during a service event (which I why I said avoid unless you have no choice), they'll own up and fix it.

Sorry for the confusion...I was having difficultly wording that first post correctly.

 

Just got off a live chat with Gateway sales. They said they offer a 2 year extended warranty for $189.00. This is in addition to the 1 year on the product. Seems pretty reasonable. The warranty is available for even retail sale products.

 

can you get the warranty whenever you want to?

 

i was told you could upgrade warranty uptil your inital 1 year was over...but i didnt buy retail i bought direct.

 

i got the extended warranty through best buy because it covers accidental damage. knowing how clumsy i am i'll probably drop my computer before the year is up.

 

Also can try http://www.safeware.com/

Not sure how they are, but i believe their pricing is competitive. Anyone has any experience with these guys?

 

i didn't get any extended warranty, but the guy at best buy said that in three years if i wanted a new laptop, i could just throw it in a pool, the only thing it doesn't cover is fire damage.he was probably just trying to sell it though.

 

Mostly true.

Again, I am a Geek Squad agent that works in store. I'll be perfectly honest because if you buy the service plan, I don't get commission NOR any recognition, so hear me out. Service Plans on Laptops, especially Accidental, are 100% worth it. You have no idea how many laptops I have come in to our precinct that are broken (motherboard is shot, LCD is burnt out [or in accidental case, cracked], hard-drive is gone, or other major problems). Many of time times, they pay off with the first thing that goes wrong such as a motherboard or accidental damage. Alot of the times though when they DON'T have the service plans, I have to give people the bad news as parts are very expensive, so is the labor, so they are going to have to shell out a LOT of money regardless of where they go. A service plan on a Desktop? I wouldn't. Laptop? Hell yes. There are three things I reccommend service plans on: MP3 players, Cameras (countless ones), and Laptops.

Accidental is basically what it says - if you spill water on it [don't know about submersion, I -really- don't think that's covered], or drop it down a flight of stairs, or do something accidental to it, they DO and WILL cover it. It's a VERY rare case of which BBY does not cover it because it was intentionally damaged.

My $.02.

 

Yeah, it's called fraud too.

 

i did that with my psp. when the slim came out i just bricked my psp and used the replacement plan, got a gift card for the same price + tax (i think) and then spent $40 for the daxter pack.

but i didn't have enough money for the extended warranty at the time.and if something ever goes wrong i will replace the part, money for the part isn't much of an issue because i get annuity checks every three months for $875 ($1750 but other half in bank til 18) from the seneca nation of indians, it has helped me out a lot. with out it i wouldn't have been able to buy a 6860.

i also have good luck with a lot of electronic stuff, and i don't find it hard to fix things.

 

No BBY warranty accidental or not covers Full liquid submersion, I work for the dork squad. In fact it found that the unit was fully submerged they would send it back unrepaired and you would then pay us shipping and handling fees of 34.95$. When in doubt go in the store and talk to a Geek Squad agent, not a blue shirt.

 

Agent - heh - that what they call themselves?

Funny - most of the "agents" around here look barely old enough to be past the Power Rangers phase...

To be quite honest, in *MY* neck of the woods, from what I've overheard while waiting in line at the CS desk, I wouldn't let them change the battery in my cell phone. much less work on my PC or lappie...


T

 

Well, for me, I've never actually had to purchase an accidental warranty.

I don't know, maybe I'm super-human... or maybe I just handle my high-dollar electronics with care.


Either one.

 

Yeah but now you cant throw it down a flight of stairs and get a new one just about the time your warrenty expires

 

It would seem to me that BB would not give a new product for something that has been purposely involved in an accident. Aren't they losing money if a decent amount of people did this type of activity? I've even heard the employees tell me that (psp warranty) they would replace it if they couldn't fix it. Why would BB promote something this way? I say promote because I have personally heard the extended warranty spoken about in this type of fashion. Why not just offer a trade in program, instead of telling people that if they break it, they get a new one?

So does the accidental coverage mean a person could get a new laptop in three years equivalent to the purchase price of the laptop or do they get a similar spec laptop?

 

Well, I was told at Best Buy that they will not replace it immediately. They will try and repair it up to 3 times, then if all else fails, give you a refund in store credit. (Minus the Warranty cost)

 

I was actually making a joke about the tossing of the notebook down the stairs... internet humor is so hard to pull off

No they make the money off the warrentys because most people are for the most part decent humans and wouldnt purposfully throw a laptop down stairs just to get a new one. I'll have too much fun taking this one apart and screwing with its insides in 3 years to want to try to get it replaced with the warrenty.

Plus theres no telling what kinds of great tech we'll have in laptops 3 years from now the 6860 will probably look like a POS dell business notebook that far in the future.

They also make the money because as soon as you have ANYTHING done to the notebook under warrenty the warrenty is expired and you have to purchase a new one to continue the coverage. So if someone brings them the laptop because a optical drive dies then after the manufacturers warrenty goes out then the Geek Squad replaces it (you know about 30 bucks) and the 379 dollar warrenty is now fufilled and you would have to actually purchase another one to continue the coverage... thats like 350 bucks in profit off of one warrenty sale.

 

Kamin makes a good point. A lot of people feel pressured by sales tactics, and after dropping $1300, and some sales guy giving you all the terrible scenerios, they buy it "just in case."

 

lol, Im not a geek squad agent and I dont even live in the states and I feel like I know the PSP better than all of you guys do.

Ive been buying laptops from best buy since 1999 and Ive always gotten the extended warranty.

The no lemon policy states that they will repair your laptop up to 3 times, by the fourth time you get to choose a new one of the original value of your laptop.

With my first laptop, thanks to that warranty I got 2 new ones, in the course of 3 years. First one was a compaq......broke down like crazy, second one was a vaio which had a cd drive that broke within a couple of months, for some reason when they saw that it wouldn't even open they told me to pick a new laptop......last one was an HP which I later sold.

2003, I get one of those new vaios with centrino, again I get the warranty, over the course of 2 years hard drive broke 2 times, and the last one there was a hair that got behind the screen, very annoying...they took it in and I got another vaio which I eventually sold...

2006 I get a new macbook, Again I get the psp and this time it covers accidental damage, previously it was only covered on cameras and other small devices... My macbook didnt break (good quality?) and I sold it. But I have a digital rebel XT camera that literally broke in half when a Flight attendant decided to place it behind heavy luggage. They took it in, no questions asked... they told me they had to analyze it or something, in 2 weeks I got a call telling me that I would get a new one, and I did.

A few months ago I got my new 6860FX and I decided to buy the PSP without hesitating.

So I don't know about you guys, but in my opinion and experience with best buy, the extended warranty is worth every single penny... and even better now that it covers accidental damage.

PS: I would post all my repair tickets...I have a dozen of them, however they are all faded so I won't even bother.

 

Well, that's good, but I don't mind saving a few bucks and just keeping my Gateway warranty. I don't overclock, (why would I need to?!), and I've never really had problems with laptops. (Knock on wood)

 

they also make good money off of those because a lot of people probably lose the pamphlet with the receipt in it, or they forget that they even have it.

 

Thats why you become a best buy awards card member and you can always have them pull up the information for you. Its creepy that they can pull up ANYTHING i have ever purchased at bestbuy.

Plus you get nice little 5 dollar vouchers every time you spend so much. My wife just emailed me and said we just got 565 dollars worth of 5 dollar off vouchers in the mail a week ago.

 

Yeah, those vouchers are awesome. When I bought my Vaio, I ended up getting a little over $100 in vouchers. Can't wait to see what I get for buying this baby!

 

how the hell did you get so much?it is only $5 for every $250 spent.

but even still people won't remember about that, or think that they can bring it up and allow it.

 

I purchased the 6860 last night from BB. I also got the accidental 3 year for $329.00.

Funny story...was looking at the Gateway and then walked down to the 24" IMac. An employee there asked me if I needed any help. I told him I was looking at the Gateway. He asked if I would consider a Mac. (I now notice on his name badge that he is the Mac expert) I told him that the Gateway seemed to be a great buy for everything that it could do. He then stated 'what if I could get you into a similiarly priced Mac with equivalent components do you think you could make the switch?' I said show me what you've got. He then proceeds to show me the iMac Pro, which is around $1800.00. I immediately asked him if there was a sale on them because it didn't look similiarly priced to me. He then goes on to state that the Gateway is a piece of crap and will not last and the iMac will be working for a solid ten years and that they depreciate very little. (like anyone wants to use a 10 yr old computer) I then asked him if I forego the extended warranty on the apple since they are 'rock solid.' This would bring the two computers closer in overall price. He then said...'oh no...you should get the warranty.'

I was nice to the guy and he then proceded to help someone else. Went over to the Gateway, talked to another person who was not an Apple Nazi and purchased the last 6860 in inventory. When I was checking out the Geek Boy told me (without me asking anything) to uninstall everything that Gateway puts on it.

Got everything home, uninstalled everything (trialware, norton), and this thing just rocks. Fast, smooth as silk.

As long as its not a reliability nightmare, I think I made a good choice.