rant-TV repairs under service contract

[mark page]

I have a Magnavox tv the LOML bought for our daughter as a present. A tube type 30 inch tv. Not an expensive one, probably less than $400.00 when purchased. She bought an extended warranty for it (which probably I would not have done on this cheap a model). The thing has problems of shutting itself down by itself plus another problem of a "blue screen" when placed in an aux mode like a playstation or dvd hooked up. Here is where the interesting question at hand comes. For two weeks, the service policy company (General Electric if anyone questions) has had several repair companies scheduled to come out and do a service call. They have all cancelled their appointments with many different excuses. They either all do not work on Magnavox tv's, too busy to make the appt, etc etc etc. My major rant is that they have wasted our time by keeping someone at home during the scheduled repair times and called at the last minute to cancel. My LOML and myself could be doing something productive. At least 30 man hours have been wasted waiting on them. I know and they (the service policy company) know that they will "total out" the tv. They can't fix it for the replacement cost. I can understand that GE needs to verify the repairs as I have delt with warranty companies all my life. Well the repair guy this time cancelled with GE and they called a little while ago again to cancel. I told them that they are going to total this thing out and can they please just send a check, and they can come pick up the set if needed and haul it away, I would gladly hold it for them for an ample amount of time if needed. My daughter actually used the tv for college courses. I have since replaced the tv but they do not know this. Tube tv's sell for a dime a dozen now. Some of my questions are: Is Magnavox a big POS that no one services now, or is it the repair company knows that it will be totalled out and only make money on a standard service call (which is probably minimal under contract) and will not make extra money on repairs & parts. I have to admit that GE has been good with their followups, but I have to somehow try to understand how they can let this go on for weeks at a time with their contracted companies. My personal time is more valuable to me. I would not have thought twice about the whole thing, but since LOML bought the policy, I feel I have a repair or replacement cost coming in a timely fashion. I do NOT like wasting time, even if it is a day off, I can be doing something else productive to me. Am I out of line in my way of thinking???

[Matt Meiser]

What I would do (which may or may not be a good think) is call and ask for a supervisor. Go through the history and ask them what they are going to do in order to get it resolved by the close of business TODAY. If they start in on blah, blah, blah, get names and contact your state's attorney general.

I know you are in retail and might take offense to this, but based on what I've seen and read, the norm is to try to get out of the claim and that's why I will not buy an extended warranty. I made the mistake of getting one from Dell, despite my usual avoidance, and so far it has cost me far more time and money than if I had just fixed the issues myself.

[Tim Morton]

shutting itself off when? Could it be someone changed a setting so that it is now programed to shut off? Same with the blue screen.... maybe unplug it for a day or 2 to try and clear the memory?

[mark page]

Nope Tim, its broke. At least two circuits are bad in it. They both happened at different intervals. Sometimes the shutting off will be ok for hours and then she finds it hard to watch 10 minutes of a 30 minute show. It may click itself on and off 3-4 times in succession within seconds without touching the remote and then picture stays off even though the power light is still lit. I think either a crt power supply problem or main power supply is flakey.

[Chris Padilla]

GE is okay to deal with. I bought a camcorder back in 2002 when my daughter was born. Earlier this year, in May, the warranty was due to expire. The camera had a pixel out in the flip-out screen which, unfortunately, shows up in all recordings but it isn't that bad. Then then the zoom started not working.

It took several calls to GE to even find the right phone number and department where I could get the camcorder taken care of. The first couple of times I was sent to Best Buy but my contract warranty number would not come up in their computer and they didn't know what to do about it. Finally, I got a hold of the right people at GE and got a warranty submittal number and promptly shipped it off to some Camera Repair shop out in NJ...they turned it around in a week and my camcorder is as good as new...but now out of warranty.

I tell you, it can sure take some effort and they seem to want to make you "pay" for being smart enough to spend the money on an extended warranty...sigh....

[Curt Harms]

I've had similar experience with two notebook computers. In both cases the claim was denied due to "liquid damage". In the first case, that may have been possible; I did spill some coffee on the keyboard some months before it failed. In the second case, there was nothing spilled on it, I'm certain. Mack Camera in North Jersey was the extended warranty vendor in the second case. I sent it to a guy who advertised on Ebay and got it repaired very reasonably and both notebooks work fine. I thought about pushing the issue with the second outfit but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. There's one thing certain, however. There is not a chance in Hades I will spend 50 cents on extended warranties. These were both through 3rd parties, I've heard of better success through manufacturers.

Curt

[Bob Childress]

Hmmm. Extended warranties. Did you know?

Last year, [2004 for this article] profits from warranties accounted for all of Circuit City's operating income and almost half of Best Buy's, say analysts. They figure that profit margins on contracts are between 50% and 60%. That's nearly 18 times the margin on the goods themselves. For example, a four-year contract on a $3,000 flat-panel TV costs about $400. Best Buy gives its insurers $160 and keeps $240 for itself.


Source: Business Week

:eek: