Sony to Focus on Extended Warranty Sales
Sony to Focus on Extended Warranty Sales
Posted 05/04/2010 at 7:14am
| by Paul Lilly
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You can't check out of a Best Buy or other retail electronics chain without a sales associate pushing for an extended warranty. Even Toys R Us will try to up sell you on additional coverage, but if Sony has its way, you'll go through them for longer warranties when shopping a PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Portable (PSP) console.
It appears Sony suddenly wants to cash in on all the the third-party extended warranties being sold at the retail level, and perhaps cut into those offered by services like SquareTrade. Helping to do that, Sony will offer additional accidental damage coverage, so should you fall down a flight of stairs and land on your PS3 to soften your blow, you're covered.
Of course it's all going to come down to pricing, and Sony's is fairly competitive. For a barebones extension, Sony will charge $50 to bump up warranty service on its PS3 console from one year to two years, or $60 for three years of coverage. The PSP console will run $30 for two years or $40 for three years. And the accidental damage insurance? That's another $40.
What do you think about Sony's pricing? Do you usually buy an extended warranty when purchasing electronics? Tell us in the comments section below.
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flipicaneze
May 07, 2010 at 12:29pm
I thought Sony offered service plans, especially on their Laptops. I think I remember a little flyer in the box when I bought my VAIO.
$60 sounds like a bargain for 3 year coverage. Best Buy wants $80 for two years on a PS3. And as a COD player my controllers are constantly getting beat-up and replaced every 6 months; those I have replacement plans on. I have had a YLOD that costed me $150 for the refurbished replacement, so a plan would've saved me quite a few $$.
All in all I would say that for me it depends on what product I would by a plan for. Anything I know that will get messed up I would get a plan for such as a PS3 or a XBOX 360. I used to be a Best Buy tech and I have seen and know what needs a plan and what doesn't.
Laptops and Computers, I would say if you have a good geek friend around, then no. Parts are usually cheap and as long as you take care of your computer by blowing out the dust and careful not to drop it, you will probrably go through a HDD or two.
Everything else, just make sure to get a good surge protector and things should be hakuna matada.
JohnP
May 04, 2010 at 12:16pm
Consumer Reports pretty much say "don't buy extended warranties...ever!" With their extensive survey database from readers (members), they never pay for themselves. It's just extra money to the store/company/ online folks/etc.
Danthrax66
May 04, 2010 at 4:00pm
Consumer reports can say whatever they want they have been useful many times for me. Right speaker in my headset went out a year after I bought my headphones the warranty was like $15 and they replaced them right away if not it would have cost $80. Mic in my phone broke took it back to sprint and it was replaced. What I didn;t get a warranty on: 2 ps2's that broke, an Xbox (original) that broke, a few gameboys, an lcd monitor the screen was outputting black as a dark red, I had to pay a lot for shipping it back to the company should have just got a warranty from the store so I could just drive it back myself and get a new one or in store credit. So the bottom line is to get a warranty on anything that you plan on using a lot for a long time. The ps2 had a 10 year lifetime do you think sony planned on it working flawlessly for 10 years? Do you think the ps3 will last for 10 years? Sure some of them will but the gpu is made by nvidia it will probably melt from the dust in your house clogging the vents.
Live, Learn, and Shut the Fuck Up.
Caboose
May 04, 2010 at 2:12pm
I find extended warranties a double edged sword (if that's the right analogy).
If you don't get one, and your device shits itself OOW, you're hooped and end up paying a lot of money to get said device repaired (some opt to repair instead of replace).
On the other hand, you could end up paying for the extra coverage, and... nothing happens. You've just handed over $x.xx to a company and you never cashed in on it.
Now, if you get the extended warranty on say, a laptop, and the screen cracks, I know from experience (having to rebuild and replace LCD"s at work), that they are very expensive to replace. So, you get a shiny new LCD+Labour for, $60. You win, company losses. Either way, someone's going to win, and someone's going to lose!
The only time I ever get an extended warranty, is on an HD LCD TV, laptop or a device that will get heavy use and will be expensive to repair/replace. I've used an extended warranty a few times. On my DS Lite when the hinges broke. GameStop replace it. Toshiba repaired and ended up replacing altogether a laptop.
And I'm just talking in circles now... I'm dizzy, so I'm going to sit down!
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
violian
May 04, 2010 at 10:56am
If I remember correclty, the pricing is the same as Target's. So I'd rather choose Target because I don't have to worry about shipping and stuff. I've never heard of problems with the PS3 failing - so I probably wouldn't tackle on another $60 to the console. And accidental damage for the PS3 would be minimal as it's probably going to be sitting on the shelf 99% of the time.
Tenhawk
May 04, 2010 at 11:22am
Yeah, for myself I would probably be willing to pop for the accidental policy on a PSP, but the other stuff is in the realm of what I consider useless. I've rarely lost a piece of electronics that was working when I unboxed it until well after the device was obsolete. Heck, I think I still have a working C64 kicking around here somewhere.
On the flip side, I have encountered the crushing pain of buying a new PDA and cracking the LCD the same week. Accidental coverage on portable stuff could well be worth it, depending on the person and the intended usage.
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