LCD TVs - Extended Warranty

Mr_Mister

Is it worth going for extended warranty on LCD Tvs?
Its going to be my 1st purchase of a LCD TV about £600.
Thanks

Altarf

Unless you are planning on buying online, consider John Lewis. They will match the price of other bricks & mortar stores, but give a free 5 year warranty on all TVs including LCDs.

Mr_Mister

Altarf wrote: »

Unless you are planning on buying online, consider John Lewis. They will match the price of other bricks & mortar stores, but give a free 5 year warranty on all TVs including LCDs.

How does this work? Do you need to go in store with proof and will they price match and let you buy on the same day?

Altarf

It is all set out here -
http://www.johnlewis.com/Help/Help.aspx?HelpId=18#payment

The item may already be reduced to match the price, as unlike other retailers that have a price promise, in a lot of cases they will reduce their displayed price to the price that the competitor is charging. In fact they even pay their staff a reward if they find any cheaper prices in local stores.

That was my circumstance when I bought an LCD from them last year, they had already matched the price of Richer Sounds (and were still including the free stand that they were offering with the TV before they reduced the price, even though Richer Sounds were not).

If the price is higher than you have seen elsewhere you have two options. Phone them and give them the details. They have a pricematch team who will investigate and if everything is OK, will contact you and then you can go along and buy at that reduced price.

Alternatively you can buy at the higher price and then give them the details, which the pricematch team will investigate and if everything is OK, will arrange a refund for the difference.

Obviously option 1 is the safer option if they decide not to price match.

The points to watch for are -
They don't match against internet shops, only 'bricks & mortar shops'
They don't match against members clubs such as Makro or Costco.
They only match against shops that actually have a price on the item, unlike (for example) Tottenham Court Road shops or some of the shops that advertise in the HIFI magazines. i.e. if you went to the shop and have to ask the price they won't pricematch.

As for the warranty, I discovered a minor problem with my TV within a couple of weeks of owning it. It transpired that it was an issue that the manufacturer knew about and models after a certain serial number didn't have the problem. John Lewis were quite happy to arrange to get one of the new serial number models from their central stores and to swap the TV out, rather than repair the existing one. Also when my parents 4 year old TV's remote control failed, they phoned John Lewis who just arranged for a new one to be posted out.

Finally, at the JL store I used they delivered for free during the week, and only made a charge at weekends.

And no I don't work for them and don't know anybody that does work for them. I just find it pleasing to go into a store where the phrases "I dunno" and "If aint on the shelf we aint got it" are never heard and if you ask for advice on a product the assistant doesn't read the shelf-edge label to you.

Mr_Mister

When you say they will match local store prices, will they match say a price in an east london store if my nearest John Lewis is the West End of London?

M.A.

Someone posted a few months back about teleland.co.uk. They offer a 5 year warrenty with their TV's and seem quite competative as well. I'm pricing up a new TV at the moment. The cheapest seems to be around £470 with no warrenty , JL is £650 and teleland is £520. Think I'm going to give them a go.

Altarf

Mr_Mister wrote: »

When you say they will match local store prices, will they match say a price in an east london store if my nearest John Lewis is the West End of London?

They will match a price from any shop in the UK. So if you went in one of their stores in Cornwall (if they have one) and you said you saw it cheaper in Scotland, they would match the Scottish price (assuming you met all the other criteria).

When I referred to local store prices, what they aim to do is have the cheapest prices in that area (but still with the option to price match outside that area if necessary).

What this means in practice is that if 'Joe Bloggs small one and only shop Ltd' in Watford is selling a TV at £500 when the normal JL price is £600, then the JL store in Watford will have it on display at £500, but other JL stores in the UK will have it on at £600 (although if you went into another JL store and said 'Joe Bloggs small one and only shop Ltd' in Watford has it at £500, they would price match).

If 'Jim Smith nationwide outlets Ltd' is selling a TV all over the UK at £500, then all JL stores will have it at £500.

But if you went into your London store and said 'Unknown retailer Ltd' in Scotland has it for £450, they would price match to the £450 (again assuming you met all the other criteria).

i.e. their price should be the cheapest in the local area, but if it isn't they will still price match.

Altarf

M.A. wrote: »

Someone posted a few months back about teleland.co.uk. They offer a 5 year warrenty with their TV's and seem quite competative as well. I'm pricing up a new TV at the moment. The cheapest seems to be around £470 with no warrenty , JL is £650 and teleland is £520. Think I'm going to give them a go.

Well given that everywhere online seems to be selling that TV for between £470 and £650, I would be astonished if you could not find somewhere that JL would price match with.

In fact on another forum people have got the TV you are looking at for as low as £499 from JL and JL have had it on display in one of their stores for £529.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=262433&highlight=LE32R87BDX

frosty

Hi, if you find a cheap lcd tv you can take out an extended warranty with www.domesticandgeneral.co.uk they work out cheaper than taking out an extended warranty with a store.

deanos

Check out www.empiredirect.co.uk a 3 year warranty is free if you have an "Extra Card" if you dont its only £20 to get one and you can get it at time of purchace

deanos

frosty wrote: »

Hi, if you find a cheap lcd tv you can take out an extended warranty with www.domesticandgeneral.co.uk they work out cheaper than taking out an extended warranty with a store.

http://www.warrantyex.co.uk/ same as Dom Gen but generally cheaper