who has or has not used a warrenty?

My sony video camera worked fine the day I got it. about nine months later I tried an external microphone with it only to discover the jack was shorted and it wouldn't work. The camera was still under warranty, so I contacted Sony. They wouldn't send me the replacement part I needed directly, but instead referred me to an "authorized" service center. I simply picked up the part there, and then found out the replacement wouldn't plug in where the defective part had been pulled out. They had apparently changed the design a bit, and my camera was a pre-change version. I needed another part, and this time Sony agreed to send it to me directly. They'd been keeping a good record of all my calls, and decided after many that I knew what I was talking about and would be best satisfied that way.

So? I'm glad I had a warranty. It was still a pain using it but cost only calls, not money, to fix my product.

Of the dozens of other things I own with warrantees, I've never had a failure. That's why I don't buy extended warrantees. In my opinion any electronic product that fails after it's original warranty probably deserves replacing with a newer/better model anyway.

Dave

suspicious,

you decide!!

I agree with David B: components, if they require service, usually need it very shortly after purchase. If they die after the warranty period, especially with items like VCRs, it is usually financially more agreeable to get something new, with the latest bells. Sometimes the price you pay for extended warranties comes close to the repair cost anyway. All this bafflegab about "annual cleaning" is silly; anyone who isn't feeble is capable of doing that level of service.

Heck, my first DVD player... I waited until the video stores had lots of rentals. By that time, the price of the DVD player was down to $350, but the extended warranty was $100. So it would have cost $450! As it is, a year later I gave it to my son and bought a newer model that also plays MP3s... .

By the way, on big-ticket items like high-end TVs... I still have sets that are rockin' after 12, 13 years...

I have used the warranty on one speaker to replace a blown tweeter. Speaker warranties are long, no extended necessary.

For transports (CD, VCR), I like to get extended warranties if they include maintenance. Every year I take mine in and get them checked out for the first 3 or 5 years. A $30 extended warranty on my first Discman got me over $250 in repairs on a $180 machine after 2.5 years. Things with moving parts WILL have problems, it just depends on when. Although VCRs are now so cheap it probably doesn't matter. ($50 warranty on $80 VCR? NOT!!)

It also depends on the store. The above Discman was bought at BestBuy. It was a pain in the ass to get work done, even with documentation. Now I typically buy at Audio King, I know where their repair shop is and they are much better since they are authorized to repair almost everything they sell.

I have a 9 year old Sony Prologic amp that had to go back 3 times (In the 3 year waranty) for the same problem - terrible distortion & high pithed squeals in the centre channel.

Third time it was really fixed - has been working for 7 years now. First two times it returned after a month or two.

Also had a tweeter in my Cambride soundworks Ensemble II replaced after 6 years. internaltion shipping was a real pain. $45 Canadian to get it there and $70 to get it out of customs on the way back!

Jim Cruickshank

I have had to use a warranty for repair for the very
first time in my life. My RCA 61" PiP Projection TV
that I purchased about 7 months ago. I was watching
Unbreakable on DVD last week when about 3/4's of the
way through the DVD my screen went distorted. My color
guns went out of whack and when I went into the Color
Gun Alignment Utility it was missing from the list.

I called a TV shop who refered me to the group who does
Tompson Electronics repain work in this area. They
dispatched a repair person within a week. He came down
and tested the color guns which are working perfectly.

He surmised that I am having a software problem. He
said that it's a good thing I have an RCA TV as he has
seen them all, and RCA builds thier TV's modular. The
entire projection assembly removes from the cabinet via
2 brackets and it even has carry handles! He took the
entire guts to the shop (leaving me with a 61" hollow
box) I should have the guts back in next week.

He told me that from what he has seen in the field,
Projection TV units are outlasting CRT's these days.
He says and I quote "Years ago CRT's would last you
at least 10-13 years without a problem, but anymore
they are building the CRT so cheaply that you are
lucky to get 5 years out of all but the highest end
sets"

I am not happy that I had to have my Projection set
repaired but I am glad that I get to see how they are
made internaly. And now I can say that all the horror
stories you hear from sales slime about Projection sets
being "fragile" or needing "constant service" is PURE
B.S. These things are built rock solid and there are no
mirrors to break like I have been told...

They tell you
never to tild a Projection set... Explain why???? Other
than a liability issue if it falls and crushes you,
there are no parts that could be broken by tilting..

The mirror isn't even glass, rather it is a layer of
Mylar bonded to an aluminum stiffner plate!

Sincerely
Brett DiMichele

Used a warranty three times. Twice on a JVC VCR and once on my Rotel Receiver. There was a flaw with the desgin of a daughter board, i think, and it actually wasn't repaired, but replaced by Rotel.
I have never bought an extended warranty and have never had a need for one. The above repairs all occured within weeks of owning the equipment.

Doesn't everybody know that products are designed to fail immediately after the warranty expires?

Larry