You always get what you paid for, it’s just that a lot of consumers have incredibly unrealistic expectations of what they should get for that money. Consumers ask for discount after discount, and when there’s no more profit, they ask for more. On the other end of things, that same consumer expects you to bend over backwards whenever they call because they ‘Want what they paid for.’

It’s been a decade in consumer electronics for me, and I’m in my final two weeks of this industry, but in all of those years the people who complained the loudest weren’t my $10k, $20k, $50k, or $100k customers, they were the guys who came in and bought the TV, haggled me to death on the price of the TV, knew better than I did when it came to cables, surge protection and installation, and laughed in my face when I offered them an extended service plan.

That same guy calls up 10 months later because a surge fried his TV (happens more often than the service department guy eludes to, considering my company has an in house service department that is CONSTANTLY dealing with the effects of power fluctuations.) and tries to tell me that I’m responsible for his purchase, even though he declined all of my offered services.

When I offer products and services to a customer, I know that I’m offering them the experience that they expect. The one that doesn’t come inside the TV box. If the customer tells me no on what I’m offering them, then I have nothing against that decision. Just don’t come back to me feeling angry and entitled to something that you opted out of when you purchased the item originally. It’s ok to be mad at yourself for making those decisions, but don’t take them out on the person on the other side of the counter.

I think the main thing to take from the comments here is that if you buy a protection plan and you don’t get the service you want, call corporate and complain until the retailer doesn’t have the patience to jerk you around any more. And if you’re lucky you will get what you payed for.

Taxes increasing on business and property because foolish and unwise powermongering Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barack Obama, AL FRANKEN, and ……… all beleive that the way to make the economy strong is to keep increasing the taxes on business and PEOPLE THAT WORK for business’.

LOWER TAXES, INCREASE BUSINESS PROFITS, and you will see companies hiring MORE PEOPLE at HIGHER WAGES. Instead the only job growth we’ve seen is in the government sector, which pays their employees with PROFITS FROM BUSINESS!!!!!!! and nothing more.

GIZ READERS, if you want more super awesome REDICULOUS “avataresque, IPHONE like, I7 core type, NETBOOKage, and all the other sweet junk GIZMODO shows you, then VOTE FOR PEOPLE who will help AMERICAN companies by getting rid of the corporate taxes, HALVE the federal income tax, and open up the private sector to drill for our own oil, take care of our people, and incentivise PROGRESS instead of stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid climate change cap and trade taxation and health care THEFT.

And that means DONT vote for republicans OR democrats, instead vote for PEOPLE that have proven their ability to EXECUTE on their PRINCIPLES.

and BOOM more toys, better housing, more efficient cars, faster computers, and the ability to GIVE freely to the charity and cause or church of your choice at a deeper and more impactful level.

Warranties are bogus, service plans or contracts are more legit. A “Warranty” covers defects in manufacturers handiwork. MANUFACTURERS handiwork means that they fix it only if you have something magically go out.

I Deal mainly with computers, and with laptops outselling desktops almost 10-1, I would like you to sit with people bringing in their laptops for repairs. The #1 repair that I personally see is where the power cord plugs into the laptop, it wiggles around and gets jarred as people use it, and it usually ruins the coupler on the motherboard which then usually merits a motherboard replacement (in order to ensure that there has been no other damages). how much is a motherboard for a laptop? and what consumer will ever know how to replace one? write an article on that please.

IPODS: break em, you eat it, and if you could see the number of ipod breaks we see, you would BEG consumers to buy a Geek Squad Black Tie protection plan. This also applies to DSLR’s all of which now are covered from accidents under Geek Squad Black Tie.

I would personally prefer if Best Buy would simply sell EXCLUSIVELY 4 year protected products, increase the efficiency and quality of repair/replacements, and charge 30% more for their products. This would weed out resellers which eat our margins. also I would get rid of fricken return policies, 3 days of use, and ITS YOURS, then if it breaks, WE TAKE CARE OF IT! (people seriously RENT electronics from stores, THAT is why we have a restocking fee that we reserve the right to enforce)

(talk to anyone in sales from tractors to electronics, and they will tell you stories of Joe BIBIBImbo from timbuctoo who wants to buy all your $299 laptops every week so he can charge $800 after sneaking them over to Africa, or from jill HAJUYAHU in bangledesh who walks into a Caterpillar dealership and wants to write a check for a $290,000 dozer and have you ship it to her moms house in the native land)

If Best Buy would have a standard 4 year protection plan, and then the option to upgrade to accidental coverage, BB would also start to really do its homework HARDCORE on what products they choose to carry. The relationship between the vendors and BB would grow, and consumers would benefit from top notch quality and peace of mind.

I would like to ask GIZ, why dont any writers for GIZMODO write about the tax cheating online buyers? You realize that when someone buys something online and tax is not applied, that it is the LEGAL OBLIGATION of that buyer to report and give the tax to your state? We would have a much more competitive market if online stores, and all the other culprits had to charge the sales tax upfront. The playing fields are FAR from fair between brick and mortar, and online electronics vendors tax shelter is forcing all retail to make up for it in ways that DO NOT help consumers (i.e. charge more for HDMI cables)

one would wish that policies of the support centers do not include the word “no,” but that is not the case.

i’m waiting for the day that a retailer steps up and says, “that’s enough, we’re not offering plans that do not benefit our customer.” No service contract, no heightened expectations.

extended service plans are sold solely for the retailer and 3rd party to make “x%” profit margin. the actuarial value of the service contract has built in some consumer use, but very little percentage wise. as posted above, Consumer Reports statistically accurate surveys generally report a 2-5% first 3-4 year defective rate for lcd & plasma tvs. yes, Sony being 2%. there’s no lump sum service contract, for a regular consumer (as opposed to a business use copier per say) that justifies it’s purchase based on probability of failure. now, though, some retailers take much less profit margin (Target, Walmart) selling them.
let’s differentiate between lump sum and monthly plans that are closer to “insurance.”

imagine a retail world without the sales speak of extended warranties! wow, a much more pleasant shopping experience! manufacturers competing on quality and performance alone! there’s enough disingenuous salespeople to start a new chain. best buy lives for their service plans, as does several other retailers. how ridiculous and insulting is it to be offered the exhorbitantly priced master protection agreements at Sears. shop to look – but buy on Amazon. no hassles. great product reviews.

if you have to review the fine print to uncover significant details of the service plan, it’s not worth the paper it was printed on.

although hyped, product failure due to a power surge is rare.

over the years, one observation of buying patterns was very interesting. People of Asian ethnicities rarely purchase service contracts. Why – the same reason they score the highest on the SATs – bad financial decision probability wise – trust in the reputable brands (Sony, Panasonic, etc) – and the ability to navigate the “sales speak.”

btw, the third party servicers don’t always give you the best service option. service companies whose labor costs are lower get priority, not necessarily the closest in proximity to you or the best.

Your going to find a few but not all glowing.

I worked for Future Shop (Purchased by Best Buy a few years back). I Think that extended service packages are a good investment but you have to see what is the % of it to the price of the item, If it’s too high then don’t get it use your common sense, ask the retailer if you can ad the warranty later on(after the purchase) if you can then research it before you purchase.