Was the Circuit City guy lying?

yeah, I bought a new VAIO FZ340, and I was pretty satisfied by its looks and specs. Somehow, the CC guy convinced me into buying the 2 year service plan for $199.99. He said something about the battery only lasting about 15 months before dying. Now I actually didn't know this, but is it true?

 

You might want to read the Battery Guide.

In short though, he lied in the sense that he has NO way of predicting battery life at all.

 

if you are a normal user, then your battery probably will start losing noticeable capacity after 15 months of use.

if you bought the plan simply for the purpose of replacing the battery in 2 years, then you have to ask yourself if it's cheaper to buy a $199 service plan now or an aftermarket replacement battery in 2 years for whatever they may cost? If the cost of a replacement battery in 2 years is less than $199 (taking into account present value of cash if you want to get super anal and trust me, some dorkface is gonna reply to this post about it), then you made a smart purchase.

if, however, you bought the plan with more than the just replacing the battery in mind, then you have to ask yourself if the peace of mind is worth the difference between the cost of the plan now and the replacement battery cost.

 

Service plans are not always a good idea, therefore sometimes they are. I don't know anything about the service plan from Circuit City but hopefully it covers more than just the battery. If it does, what I would ask my self is, can I make the payment and still have money to feed the kids. If the service plan is a good plan and the payment is not going to hurt you then you made a good purchase. You will be able to sleep for the next two years and not worry about your expensive toy falling apart.

But then you also have to hope that Circuit City doesn't follow in the footsteps of CompUSA before your plan ends.

Sleep easy, if you were able to eat today.

Pat

 

199$ for a replacement battery warranty is rather expensive considering I scored a new genuine battery on Ebay for 100$

 

You didn't get ripped off. If they'll replace the battery and cover any other issues you may have, it's a valid warranty at a valid price. It's about the same as SonyStyle. There is a good chance your battery will not hold charge very well at 15 months. Whether or not that's replaceable, that's the question. I've had one completely die at 11 months and I know others have had the same.

 

Was that a SONY battery??? If not, the comparison is pointless. Sony batteries are typically more expensive than most others, for whatever reason.

Gary

 

The annual battery replacement program part of the Circuit City Advantage program (regular and accidental), is very benificial for individuals who decide to use their laptops on battery power almost every day - meaning they charge/discharge their battery on a daily basis - maybe even more than once.

CCA covers a lot more than the batteries and will pay for all shipping, parts, labor that maybe required to repair your computer if something does go wrong (even accidentally with CCA Plus+) when compared with manufacterurs who require you to pay for most anything. Also the turnaround time is much faster than sony. I guess the best part of it is...if they cannot fix it, they'll give you a gift card. Under some circumstances they will even give you a prorated amount of your warranty back.

You may have gotten a little bit of a sour deal with the sales associate did not give you a CCA booklet which is filled with details of the service, along with a ton of coupons. Including a free checkup/tuneup via Firedog within one year of purchase. So after 9 months or so when your computer begins to run sluggishly, because most people do not know how to maintain their computers properly, you can bring it into any CCity in the nation, and setup a free tuneup with their firedog services (approx $89 value).
There are other various coupons in there too for networking, accessories...and other firedog installation services.

I currently work at CCity in case anyone is wondering how the heck I know this.

So the associate, who should have asked you questions such as, how do you plan on using your notebook? and do you use your notebook on the road often? Could have reasonably determined that your battery will have a noticible drain within 15 months. For the most part, as a college student, I notice a decrease in about a year.

 

extended warranties are usually a waste of money, unless you're a clumsy person. if you save up all the money you would have spent by NEVER buying an extended warranty, you surely can afford to pay for a few repairs on your own when you need them, and YOU come out ahead in the long run. the reason they push extended warranties so hard is because they make a buttload of money on them.

 

More expensive, but more explosive as well. $100 for a battery is good. $200 is not, regardless of how you try and cut it.