COSTCO WARRANTY?

Does anyone know if Costco is still giving a lifetime or 1 year
warranty on their portale dvd players? Any that has purchased one in the
last couple of months will probably know. I cannot get any info via
phone and am not a member.
TIA

AL

ALMINS1@webtv.net

On Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:33:37 -0500, Gave us:

>Does anyone know if Costco is still giving a lifetime or 1 year
>warranty on their portale dvd players? Any that has purchased one in the
>last couple of months will probably know. I cannot get any info via
>phone and am not a member.



Who did you go in the store with as a guest to buy it?

THAT person would have to return it, and they will take it back from
a member no matter what. It has to have been bought by their card
though.

MassiveProng

Thanks MP for reply. I didn't quite state my question correctly. I just
got thru to the Costco return desk and was told that the portable dvd
players are warranted for one year by the Mfg, not by Costco. I asked
her if that meant i could not bring it back to Costco after one year?
She was evasive and said "I did not say that". So my question still is:
Does Costco refund,exchange or give a credit toward another unit after
one year if you have a legit problem? If they do, wouldn't it be foolish
to purchase the Mfg. extended warranty?

AL

ALMINS1@webtv.net

On Wed, 31 Jan 2007 14:38:19 -0500, wrote:

>Thanks MP for reply. I didn't quite state my question correctly. I just
>got thru to the Costco return desk and was told that the portable dvd
>players are warranted for one year by the Mfg, not by Costco. I asked
>her if that meant i could not bring it back to Costco after one year?
>She was evasive and said "I did not say that". So my question still is:
>Does Costco refund,exchange or give a credit toward another unit after
>one year if you have a legit problem? If they do, wouldn't it be foolish
>to purchase the Mfg. extended warranty?
>
>AL
>
>
I looked at a portabe DVD player at Costco and it said it played
DVD-R. I'm not sure if it will play DVD+R so I didn't get it. I
would think all the stuff manufactured today would play both. Then
again maybe they ment DVD+-R and not DVD-RW.

snapper

On Wed, 31 Jan 2007 14:38:19 -0500, Gave us:

>Thanks MP for reply. I didn't quite state my question correctly. I just
>got thru to the Costco return desk and was told that the portable dvd
>players are warranted for one year by the Mfg, not by Costco. I asked
>her if that meant i could not bring it back to Costco after one year?
>She was evasive and said "I did not say that". So my question still is:
>Does Costco refund,exchange or give a credit toward another unit after
>one year if you have a legit problem? If they do, wouldn't it be foolish
>to purchase the Mfg. extended warranty?
>

Again, I have never done it, but AFAIK they will allow you to return
anything, even years later.

I have never needed to do this, and it sounded TGTBT when I was told
it, but the guy that told me (former boss) shopped there a lot more
than I did, and I trusted his words.

So I dunno.

MassiveProng

wrote in news:17240-45C0F02B-1279@storefull-
3278.bay.webtv.net:

> Thanks MP for reply. I didn't quite state my question correctly. I just
> got thru to the Costco return desk and was told that the portable dvd
> players are warranted for one year by the Mfg, not by Costco. I asked
> her if that meant i could not bring it back to Costco after one year?
> She was evasive and said "I did not say that". So my question still is:
> Does Costco refund,exchange or give a credit toward another unit after
> one year if you have a legit problem? If they do, wouldn't it be foolish
> to purchase the Mfg. extended warranty?

Costco has a history of having a very lenient return/exhange policy. I've
heard of people bringing back stuff three years after they bought it and
getting exchanges. While it's very nice of them to extend such a courtesy,
they are under no obligation to and their policy could change at any time.
That's why the CSR didn't get specific about it-- they follow guidelines,
not rules.

The manufacturer's extended warranty, on the other hand, is a legally
binding contract entitling you to certian satisfaction should the product
fail under normal circumstances. It's worth the money in that you have
an absolute guarantee that your product will be repaired/replaced. Weigh
the idea of a binding document vs. a flexible return policy, and compare
that to what the extended warranty or Costco membership costs.

As always, read the fine print.

--

Aaron J. Bossig

http://www.GodsLabRat.com
http://www.dvdverdict.com

Aaron J. Bossig

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:00:47 -0600 from Aaron J. Bossig <linkvb06
@SpammersWillBeExecuted.ptd.net>:
> The manufacturer's extended warranty, on the other hand, is a legally
> binding contract entitling you to certian satisfaction should the product
> fail under normal circumstances. It's worth the money in that you have
> an absolute guarantee that your product will be repaired/replaced.

It *may* be worth the money, but probably isn't.

Multiply the probability the unit will need replacement, times the
cost of replacing it, and compare that to the cost of the warranty.

For most durable goods the extended warranty is a horribly bad deal
for consumers because it's a hugely profitable item for sellers.
That's especially true with electronics, where you know prices are
going to continue to fall.

If you buy a DVD player today for $150 (fairly high end for a plain
player), you know within a couple years the same player (or one more
capable) will cost about $50. If there's less than a 20% chance the
player will fail within that time -- almost certainly true -- then
the value of the extended warranty is not $150 but $50 times 20%,
which is $10.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
DVD FAQ: http://dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html
other FAQs: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/faqget.htm

Stan Brown

Stan Brown wrote:
> Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:00:47 -0600 from Aaron J. Bossig <linkvb06
> @SpammersWillBeExecuted.ptd.net>:
>> The manufacturer's extended warranty, on the other hand, is a legally
>> binding contract entitling you to certian satisfaction should the product
>> fail under normal circumstances. It's worth the money in that you have
>> an absolute guarantee that your product will be repaired/replaced.
>
> It *may* be worth the money, but probably isn't.
>
> Multiply the probability the unit will need replacement, times the
> cost of replacing it, and compare that to the cost of the warranty.
>
> For most durable goods the extended warranty is a horribly bad deal
> for consumers because it's a hugely profitable item for sellers.
> That's especially true with electronics, where you know prices are
> going to continue to fall.
>
> If you buy a DVD player today for $150 (fairly high end for a plain
> player), you know within a couple years the same player (or one more
> capable) will cost about $50. If there's less than a 20% chance the
> player will fail within that time -- almost certainly true -- then
> the value of the extended warranty is not $150 but $50 times 20%,
> which is $10.

You're absolutely correct, Stan. Unfortunately, as I've learned, trying
to educate people about this issue is an uphill battle, and electronics
stores rake in HUGE profits on the sales of what are basically pieces of
paper (hell, I'd probably RUN a Best Buy by now if I had displayed any
willingness whatsoever to push that junk on people).


--
--
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Geena Phillips

Stan Brown <> wrote in
news: t:

> Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:00:47 -0600 from Aaron J. Bossig <linkvb06
> @SpammersWillBeExecuted.ptd.net>:
>> The manufacturer's extended warranty, on the other hand, is a legally
>> binding contract entitling you to certian satisfaction should the
>> product fail under normal circumstances. It's worth the money in
>> that you have an absolute guarantee that your product will be
>> repaired/replaced.
>
> It *may* be worth the money, but probably isn't.
>
> Multiply the probability the unit will need replacement, times the
> cost of replacing it, and compare that to the cost of the warranty.

This is the question you should ask yourself any time you're offered
an extended warranty.

> For most durable goods the extended warranty is a horribly bad deal
> for consumers because it's a hugely profitable item for sellers.

I'm sorry, but I just don't understand this logic. Why is an item a
bad deal simply because the seller makes money off of it? That's what
sellers are supposed to do. The real question is, does the service
sold provide enough value for what the customer paid for it?

There are some items for which an extended warranty is a given: Laptop
computers and high-end TVs. The chances of something going wrong are
fairly high, and the cost of repair/replacement makes the initial
warranty purchase a more practical alternative. Other items, such as
desktop PCs, mp3 players, and yes, DVD players, are less likely to be
serviced, and usually I'd advise getting the warranty only if the price
is exceptionally cheap.

Extended warranties are neither good nor bad, it's just a matter of
what you get out of the deal.



--

Aaron J. Bossig

http://www.GodsLabRat.com
http://www.dvdverdict.com

Aaron J. Bossig

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 12:15:17 -0600 from Aaron J. Bossig <linkvb06
@SpammersWillBeExecuted.ptd.net>:
> I'm sorry, but I just don't understand this logic. Why is an item a
> bad deal simply because the seller makes money off of it?

If they gain financially, you lose financially. This is basic
statistics. Sellers establish reserves for how much they expect to
have to pay off on their extended warranties; those reserves are
always less and usually much less than the amount taken in. In other
words, the sellers' own figures show that the warranties aren't worth
what they cost.

Sure, it's worth it to *you* if your appliance dies and you get a new
one free. But over the long haul, if you buy other extended
warranties, on average you'll lay out more for the warranties than
you have to replace the products that actually fail.

Perhaps your confusion is because you're looking at what *might* go
wrong. But that's only half the picture: you must also consider the
probability of that scenario. The less likely it is, the less
valuable the warranty, which is really just a form of insurance.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
DVD FAQ: http://dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html
other FAQs: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/faqget.htm

Stan Brown