Before buying from Currys/Dixons....

cheghead

If you buy a product from them and it develops an intermittant fault beware:

If you call out a Mastercare engineer and he doesn't see the fault while he is there (which will probably be a max of 5 mins) Mastercare will not let the engineer send it to workshop. However they will charge you £50 for 'wasting their time' and will only refund it if the fault re-occurs. Mastercare are closing several workshops so imagine this gonna happen more and more.

If you buy a large TV like a plasma 42" and it does have to go to workshop even if you have 'coverplan' (or what ever happens) you will not get a loan tv during the manufacture guarentee. If you get a loan on coverplan it will more than likely be an old Matsui 21" although the usual excuse will be "you're next on the list".

My advise is 1. buy somewhere else 2. do not take out coverplan. Dixons make over £10 million profit alone from it. Why do you think their sales people push it so hard...it's not for your benefit?

Quasar

I couldn't agree more cheghead!

I have bought lots from Dixons : two laptops, printer, scanner, flat screen TV, Hi-Fi, VCR (the old days!), personal CD player, phone/fax machine and whatnot. I have always refused to take up their coverplan.

The assistants really do try to get you to sign up, but the important thing is to remember that if any fault is to develop it usually does so within the first year, when you are covered by the manufacturer's guarantee anyway.

Also, it's just worth taking the chance. I reckon that if I had fallen for the patter about dire consequences of not having an extended guarantee and "insured" the above items, I'd be £1200 poorer.

As cheghead says: don't.

cheghead

You are dead right....it is always worth taking the chance as electronic stuff is very reliable these days. The amount of stuff that goes wrong is very small so all the 'mugs' paying and never claiming are being taken for a ride. The majority of faults are usually minor and a good engineer can fix very quickly at a low cost. Take it from me Dixons (and others) coverplan is a rip-off!

cheghead

If you do buy something from Dixons/Currys/PC world etc try this next time the assistant pushes the coverplan spiel:

say "It's alright I work for Mastercare". See how quick they drop the subject!

-=Mr-J=-

Check what your Home Insurance covers wrt appliances, you may already be covered. If not, you could invest in a third party warranty company. You at least have time to find one that covers all your requirements and not just assume that some element is covered (because the SA thinks so :rolleyes: )

The Coverplan, and most other extended warranties, only serve to provide the SA with a commission in most cases.

I've only ever took two extended warranties out, one for the TV & DVD and one for the washer - and only because they were 'moneyback' ones.
I did not use the TV & DVD one, but had trouble getting the money back.
Was not going to use the Washer one, but the washer failed 2 days before expiry. - Thought, ah, good job we have the warranty - but no, the warranty company has gone bust.

june1970_2

I used to work for currys and you would not believe the pressure you get put under to sell the coverplan.

I must admit i only take mine out on my washing machine and dishwasher as they get used the most and i would be lost without them

denise38

My mum always has a warranty and on her 3 year old washing machine they were out about 5 times twice within 3 months of each other.
Each time she calls them out it takes at least 2 weeks for them to do anything as she lives in the Highlands it is always a Thursday. Breaks down on Saturday night phones on Monday if you are lucky they come on thursday. They never have the part so again if you are lucky they come back the following Thursday.
Last time it needed a new motor despite having had a repair 3 months before. Mastercare wouldn't write it off even although they had been out 5 times. Mother was left for 3 weeks without a machine so she went out bought one from a smaller retailer and made Mastercare come out and repair the washing machine which was sitting in her shed. She was feed up with lack of service and having to take days off from work for an all day call.She had no help from Currys and Mastercare were really rude. Problem with is as well as they are not specific for say Bosch or Zanussi or Indesit and repair all makes they never have parts even if it is only a belt.
Total waste of time and money and I will never buy a warranty from them again.

bbruce

One exception is if you buy it at an airport duty free Dixons. You have 90 days to return the item and/or the Coverplan to any Dixons store.
On a £1200 laptop 3 years cover was £650, both airport prices.
I was hoping that the computer would get cheaper in that time but it didn't so I kept it. The 90 days free insurance was great as I was taking it with me on holiday. Obviously the £650 was usurious!

peter_the_piper

It might be worth thinking about it for portable items. I had a CD player stolen from my car, (The insurance broker had messed up the insurance so I had no cover there,)and I was refunded the cost as it covered losses outside the home.

Johntea

I want to give people a punch in these stores sometimes!

First they head for the printer section. Then, they see the large range on offer and end up picking the Lexmark or HP printers 9 out of 10 times "Because they look nice" or something. Having done no research or shopping around up to this point, they then have the 'help' from an assistant who advises them a USB cable is required. They then pick one of these up thinking £12.99 is a great price (Pound shop...).

To add salt to the wound they then decide the cover needs to be taken out. By the time they leave the store I would predict they have spent at least an extra 50% on top of the printer cost.

Heard someone today asking for a full set of R200 ink too (At £10 a cartridge or similar). Makes me sad to see people being ripped off

Jarlawuk

cheghead wrote:

If you buy a product from them and it develops an intermittant fault beware:

If you call out a Mastercare engineer and he doesn't see the fault while he is there (which will probably be a max of 5 mins) Mastercare will not let the engineer send it to workshop. However they will charge you £50 for 'wasting their time' and will only refund it if the fault re-occurs. Mastercare are closing several workshops so imagine this gonna happen more and more.

If you buy a large TV like a plasma 42" and it does have to go to workshop even if you have 'coverplan' (or what ever happens) you will not get a loan tv during the manufacture guarentee. If you get a loan on coverplan it will more than likely be an old Matsui 21" although the usual excuse will be "you're next on the list".

My advise is 1. buy somewhere else 2. do not take out coverplan. Dixons make over £10 million profit alone from it. Why do you think their sales people push it so hard...it's not for your benefit?

Comet also do something similar but 'only' £35 ^^