Is extended warranty required above 1yr manufacturer warranty

[cmarella]

Guys, though there are threads related to warranty, i posted here again to get fresh reviews..

I am in dilemma to go for extended warranty (AMC for LG) or not ..

Reliance Digital has store warranty and as per sales person, it covers everything from pin to panel . For two years they charge 5500Rs on plasmas.

How is Reliance Digital service now a days? Any bitter experiences recently?
Looks like they have remodeled their services for customer satisfaction?

I called up Samsung and LG customer care today, they will provide information about extended warranty tomorrow(cost, whats included in warranty..).

If company provides extnd warranty, is it better to buy from them or from store?
From a local retailer i get almost 5K discount on what i get from Reliance Digital or Bajaj electronics..

In short, I want to have peace of mind for at least 3yrs, and i don't mind after that as i would have paisa vasool with the TV

 

[haisaikat]

always go with the manufacturer warranty over store warranty. Yes I would say it is better to have extended warranty. However remeber to review the terms and conditions, on a flat screen tv the costliest part is the panel, so better confirm that extended warranty covers panel. Sometimes warranty says depreciation to be considered so if in the unfortunare case someone's tv does go bad and the manufacturer cannot find a replacement part they might offer you a trade in for your old tv and get you a new one if you pay the difference.

 

[viper08]

From a local retailer i get almost 5K discount on what i get from Reliance Digital or Bajaj electronics..

You have answered yourself. Use the same discount to get manufacturer's extended warranty.

 

[cmarella]

Update on customer care call
LG AMC looks junk to me. Guy said it is 4500Rs per year and does not cover glass,rubber,fibre ... Don't know what it covers, and only repair and services are free. Any part that needs to be replaced, has to be purchased.
I don't see any value in AMC.

SAMSUNG guy will call me tomorrow.

 

[asliarun]

Neither the manufacturer or the retailer is selling the extended warranty at a loss. In fact, extended warranty is a huge money maker for them. Hence, it is logical to presume that on average, they expect to spend significantly less than 5k over 3 years in parts and labor. Including profit margin, this will probably be 2-3k.

In other words, extended warranty is like insurance - there are two ways to look at it. You can either look at it as money you are paying for peace of mind.

The other way to look at it is that if the insurer or warranty company is confident that they will spend less than 5k on your TV over 3 years, you can be confident about the same too. Plus, cash in hand is always better than a promise of future service. You can always buy the service at a later date, and it will be on your terms, not theirs.

Just my two cents.

 

[haisaikat]

Neither the manufacturer or the retailer is selling the extended warranty at a loss. In fact, extended warranty is a huge money maker for them. Hence, it is logical to presume that on average, they expect to spend significantly less than 5k over 3 years in parts and labor. Including profit margin, this will probably be 2-3k.

In other words, extended warranty is like insurance - there are two ways to look at it. You can either look at it as money you are paying for peace of mind.

The other way to look at it is that if the insurer or warranty company is confident that they will spend less than 5k on your TV over 3 years, you can be confident about the same too. Plus, cash in hand is always better than a promise of future service. You can always buy the service at a later date, and it will be on your terms, not theirs.

Just my two cents.

Arun, this is the way how stores would look at it, but companies / manufacturers give warranty based on statistical assumption similar to health insurance companies. If they offer extended warranty on 5000 purchases then they expect as per their quality standards at x % ( say 5 %) only to end up claiming the warranty repairs. Also note that warranty terms does not imply that you will get a new replacement, it is similar to RMA items like in HDDs where you can very well get a factory reconditioned replacement parts that works like new.

Also cmeralla, I am not sure with whom did you check the LG warranty however as per LG site, AMC is comprehensive LG Annual Maintenance Contract
Check with LG service centers as well. As per my earlier experiance, LG is the only company that offers the longest AMC renewal periods. Also there used to be discounts if you purchase AMC for more thana year. Please recheck again. However if the panel (get it verfied if they are categorizing it under glass) is covered you should be good.

 

[rjames123]

I have taken Extended Warranty from Reliance digital for 5500 for 2 years (Not sure if its 3) . They said everything is covered and instead of buying a Surge protector or Stabilizer , i felt this is good

 

[Saket]

Save your money and go only for the manufacturer's warranty. I agree that its probable for a set to fail but IMO, its fairly UNLIKELY to happen in the initial years. In case you even face some trouble, you will have a cushion on 5500/- that you spend here. Plus you know that this 5500/- will not cover many components of your TV. Read the fine prints and you will discover that probably you will the person spending MORE in the event of a failure than the guys who are minting money in name of extended warranty.
On the contrary, just make sure that you get a new, unused set. Its not unusual for these guys to sell demo pieces to people.

Just my 2 cents.

Regards,
Saket