TV Extended Warranty

[jem_bob]

My partner and I bought a new LCD TV yesterday from Comet. John Lewis and Argos were both doing the same television with a free 5 year and 3 year warranty (respectively). The John Lewis would have worked out just over �700 and the Argos at �685, however neither had them in stock. My partner was desperate to get it yesterday, so persuaded me to go into Comet. They had the TV's there to take away, but were offering no warranty incentives. My partner, being a typical man was just desperate to take one away with him and wouldn't listen to my reasoning over the warranty. He said he was prepared to not have it covered (I am not prepared to take this risk)! Comet's extended warranty is �175.00 for 2 years on top of the manufacturers warranty. The salesman told us he would take �40 off the TV if we took out the extended warranty. We decided to take out the warranty and save the money, and then research around for our own warranty policy (we can cancel the Comet warranty and pay nothing within 45 days). Basically I have had two quotes, �159 and �81 for 3-year's cover. I realised we had been right royally screwed over, so phoned Comet to see if we could return it (claiming it was too big for our living room). As my boyfriend was so desperate to get it up and running, we can't return it, as it has been switched on. To cut a long story shot, we're stuck with this TV with no warranty. Should we stick with the Comet �175 extended cover, go elsewhere or just not bother at all with an extended warranty? I realise that extended warranties are a bit of a con and are pushed because they bring in such a large profit for these companies. But I'm not sure if I'm prepared to take the risk of not having one. I wish to God we'd have just gone to John Lewis or Argos.

[philandlil]

can't you claim on the house insurance if it breaks?

[jem_bob]

That's another avenue I need to investigate. Need to find out what constitutes as 'broken' under our policy. Thanks!

[redman41]

It is doubtful if you would be able to claim off your home contents insurance as they normally only cover things like accidental damage or theft.
Was the cost of the TV from Comet (including Insurance) cheaper than John Lewis and Argos ?
If you have bought a reputable make of TV e.g Sony, Panasonic then you are unlikely to have any problems.
Breakdowns usually occur within first 12 months of purchase, and if I was you I would cancel the extra cover as they are usually a rip-off !!

[jem_bob]

That's what I thought, otherwise no one would ever fall for extended warranty! No, this is the problem! If we do go for the Comet warranty, we'll have paid �100 more than we could have got it elsewhere. Not impressed with the boyfriend right now! As I tried to persuade him to wait until one of the other stores had it in stock. Of course though, he had to walk away with one there and then. It's a Samsung; John Lewis told me the top 3 were Samsung, Sony and Panasonic, so one would hope we'd be okay. Saying that, I had a smaller Samsung that totally packed up after 13 months. If I hadn't had 2 year's manufacturers warranty, I'd have been shafted. This is why I'm not really prepared to risk it. Would probably cost as much as a new TV to repair it if anything did go wrong.

[jem_bob]

And I know you will all think I'm a fool for going for a Samsung again after what happened with my other, and also for knowingly paying more for a TV in the first place. I feel incredibly stupid now, but allowed myself to be persuaded by my boyfriend. He doesn't think we should bother with cover, he just sees the fact that we got the TV for �609 other than �685 elsewhere.

[redman41]

If John Lewis and Argos were willing to give you a 5 and 3 year warranty respectively then they have to be pretty sure that they are selling you a good product as they do not want the cost of repairs. Samsung is a reputable make, much better now than a few years ago, so hopefully you should be ok.

[jem_bob]

Thanks Redman, you've put my mind at ease a bit. We never really intended to take the Comet warranty, just took the �40 off the TV and ran! But I won't bother to go elsewhere a pay a similar amount, I think we'll take the risk. Thanks again.

[bantingm]

hiya, i had the same issue with my Boyfriend, i call him a "right now kind of mouse"...

Anyway...!!

We brought a Samsund LCD tele with no extended warranty, to be honest i really think it is a waste of money tp buy a warranty. we renewed our home insurance recently and added breakdown & damage cover to the television via our policy which didnt increase our monthly payments very much at all.

[joannie10]

a friend of my dads who was a tv repair man told me never to bother with these things - he said if there was something wrong with the tele it would go wrong within the first year, if there was no fault so to speak it would continue to last beyond what these warrantys were covering. Me and my family have stuck with this and touch wood always been fine.

[joannie10]

sorry I notice now that you had a problem after 13 months - that goes against what I have said.

[jem_bob]

Thanks. Yeah, that's the only thing that's bothering me. My Samsung screen just went Black after 13 months, you could hear the sound but see nothing. It wasn't the cables or anything, and when I phoned Samsung and told them the issue and model number, I got the impression that this was a common occurance! I'm just terrified that the same thing will happen and we'll be screwed with no warranty. Just depends whether lightning strikes in the same place twice. Not sure if I want to take the risk!