New LED tv and extended warranties

Looking to make my first major TV purchase and was wondering what everyone thought of extended warranties on a 55 inch LED tv.
Amazon has the TV I want and it`s $500 less than any brick and mortar store.
If I purchase it with my Amex it gives me an additional year on top of the manufacturers warranty taking it to 2 years.
My question is this...With a $2k TV and all the issues they have being LED and all, would an extended warranty, say like 3 or 4 years more be a `sound investment`?
I know there are a few that think extended warranties are a scam and I agree to an extent on say, like a pair of $20 earbuds (lol), but on a $2K tv?
Any insight would be appreciated

As with any warranty/insurance policy, the question is how much risk you feel comfortable assuming. It is not a question of whether it's a good investment or not; the simple math of the matter says it's a great investment for the seller of said warranty... otherwise they'd go out of business.

There are some problems (of varying price tags) with the product being warranted (insured), or there would be no market for the warranty. In the long run, the warranty (insurance) company makes more money than they pay out, or they would go out of business.

If, at the end of the extended warranty, you have had no issues with your purchase, and have therefore filed no claim, will you feel cheated? If so, then I would advise you not to buy the warranty, because then you're hoping that the first product in question is one of the inevitable lemons, and the second one you get is one of the more likely good-quality items. This does not sound to me like a wise strategy; how do you know that the second item will be of any better quality than the first?

If, at the end of the extended warranty, you have had no issues with your purchase, and have therefore filed no claim, will you feel that the peace of mind you obtained through having the extended warranty was worth the money? Then I would advise you to go ahead and buy the warranty. Sometimes the certainty of knowing the risk was avoided/transferred is worth the price.

If you have sufficient cash saved up to replace the item if there is a major problem with it, then I would advise you not to purchase the warranty, but to put that money aside in case it is needed.

I was talked into an extended warranty when I bought a ~$3000 Samsung LCD from Abes of Maine. It was to be an extended warranty on top of the samsung 1 year warranty, for a total of 4 years. When the paperwork came through, it was a 3 year warranty starting on the day of sale. I pushed an pushed until I got a letter from the warranty company that the policy will start AFTER the manufacturer's warranty.

Thank goodness! I started having sound problems and by the time I decided to do something about it it was past 3 years. By then, my warranty company went out of business and transferred the warranty service to a new company. Without that letter I would have been SOL.

However, I'm still trying to get my TV fixed 4 1/2 months later. The first time they were out I was not home and my wife handled it. They replaced the speakers, but the sound distortion returned a few weeks after the repair. So I had to start the process all over again. Meanwhile, I lifted the edge of the TV to clean under it and the front bezel was completely loose, started separating from the screen. Also, I started noticing vertical green lines near that edge of the TV. So I called and added these two things to my service needs. Meanwhile, I figured out it was the case making the vibration noise, not the speakers. I suggested the case might be the problem.

When the second set of service technicians (barely worthy of that name) came out, they had all sorts of strange boards to replace. No speakers, no case. When they took the TV apart, they found most of the studs were broken from the last repair. Most of the screws were not engaging anything. They replaced the boards, found the TV was no better, so they had to put the old boards back in. Then the video didn't work, so they had to take the TV apart a third time. Needless to say, I was entertaining two people screwing my TV all evening.

That was a couple months ago. I've been calling every week and they told me somebody from a different company will be visiting to review my TV's problems. No matter what I said over the phone, nobody understood what the problem was... the reason for sending out strange PCB's.

Just today, when I called I was informed when I called that they determined the TV will be too expensive to fix and a replacement will be issued. I'm to wait 2 days for somebody to call me with the details. I have no idea if it will be a new TV, refurbished unit, and if it will have all the bells and whistles my current TV does.

I'm not sure how it will end up, but I can tell you at this point I've spent enough of my time and resources trying to get this warranty coverage done that I wish I had never bought the plan. What leverage do I have to get my TV repaired in a respectable amount of time?

What happens if the warranty service goes bankrupt? I've seen enough scammers on TV who close up shop after selling policies and live in mansions on other people's dime.

The only possible way I will buy an extended warranty is to get it directly from a long-established retail chain who will allow you to bring back the item to the store and take care of everything, including a guarantee of replacement. I don't know if anyone does this anymore. I think just about all electronics warranties are handled by a third party.

One problem I can see is that "television repair" might not be a real profession anymore.

If I were to ever buy an extended warranty for electronics (which I haven't yet), I would want automatic replacement rather than dealing with the back-and-forth of possibly unsuccessful repairs.

It all depends how much the warranty costs. I usually do not buy the extended warranty, but I make sure i buy a brand that I feel is well made. When I bought my car new the dealer asked if I wanted to get the extended warranty which they highly recommended. I asked them are you saying your cars are no good? I told them I know this brand is good, and I don't need the extended warranty. 11 years later it is still running strong. My TV's have also proven reliable.

My take on this is electronics generally either die within a few weeks/months (i.e. infant mortality), in which case they're covered under the normal manufacturer's warranty, or they last for far longer than any extended warranty will cover them. I've never had anything die during the period where an extended warranty would have been in effect. I consider extended warranties a waste of money for that reason. You're basically taking a gamble that the device will be need a repair outside the manufacturer's warranty period which costs more than the extended warranty. Another issue is actually getting the extended warranty provider to honor their contract. From what I've seen, that's a mixed bag.

manufacturers warranty covers you if its defective when new.

after that expires read engrpauls post a few times.

if you have a 3 year old TV and it fails who are you going to take it too to get it repaired ? there is no such service anymore. not for you and not for an insurance company. and if you do push and shove and they have to replace your model will no longer be manufactured, so you will get a refurbished or other unsatisfactory solution. and you might be without a tv for months.


there is a reason salesmen and insurance companies are so very keen to sell extended warranties.

by the the time the salesman has been paid and the insurance companies costs are paid there is only a tiny scrap of premium left to go into the pool for paying claims, meaning that either the odds of you needing to make a claim are very small (way smaller than indicated by the premium paid) or that the odds of getting a legitimate claim paid are very small.

My daughters 45" Sony LCD panel (standard back light model) failed 6 months out of warranty, Sony came to the party and replaced the panel without charge, the second panel failed after another year or so, once again Sony Australia proved they do care about their customers.

Norm

Wow, Norm, that is definitely well above par. Sony gets accolades for that!

They are pretty expensive at certain places like PC Richards.
Amazon has one called Square Trade and from what I`ve read they`re garbage.
A friend of mine had told me that Costco actually has a great extended warranty that they won`t even try to fix the TV. They give you a new one and sell the one they get back from you as a refurb once it`s fixed.
I have to see if BJ`s is the same

Though we don't have a Costco near us, there is a BJ's just down the road. Please let us know about their warranty policy. It would make a useful addition to the thread. Thanks!

Costco also extends the warranty out a year. So you get 1 year manufacture warranty and an additional year through Costco.