Extended Warranties: What You See Is Often Not What You Get ̶ An HD GURU Investigative Report

A great article by the HDGuru gang, and unfortunately it’s not a clean cut yes or no as I’m sure many of you would love to see. The truth is stated in every Extended Warranty article there is–it really depends. I used to work at Best Buy as a technician (before Geek Squad–yes I’m that old), and I can say that there were certainly times when the Service Plan saved the customer a lot of money. However, there were also times where they had a problem that wasn’t covered, and then they received nothing. So as with everything in life, buyer beware! When I bought a used LCD off of somebody a few years back, I was big on making sure it had the service plan from Best Buy, since I knew it covered in-house replacement if anything went wrong. Of course 2 years later nothing has ever been wrong with the set, but it’s piece of mind for me on that particular purchase.

HDGuru

Best Buy’s four years from purchase date “Black Tie Protection service contract (including the manufacturer’s standard one-year warranty) is $229.99 for a $1299.99 HDTV. In other words you’re paying 17.5% of the set’s total cost for the three additional years of coverage. After reading all of the contract’s terms and conditions, is that a worthwhile investment? That your decision!