Extended Service Plan

1238 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Slip Jigs, Oct 26, 2006

Slip Jigs

Discussion Starter · Oct 25, 2006

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with or without the plan, and if you incurred (or didn't incurr) extra charges for equipment or service.

CS told me that without the plan, I would be responsible for shipping and handling for sending equipment back as well as the cost of service calls if needed. Does that sound accurate?

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litzdog911

· #2 · Oct 25, 2006

Yep, that's accurate. You don't pay anything if you have DirecTV's Equipment Protection Plan.

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noneroy

· #3 · Oct 25, 2006

However, the service plan is something like 7 bucks a month. So, if you go 11 months and don't need a service call, you've lost money. If you go 3 months and don't need to ship something back to D*, you've lost money.

I believe D* gives you a certain time frame where the install and equipment is to be free from defect. It's been my expierence that if something electronic is going to fail, it's going to fail very soon...with normal useage. The exception is hard drives, e.g. DVRs....but if you keep the DVR in the same place, you're probably pretty safe. Unless the hard drive was bad to start out with....but then that would be covered under a sort of 'lemon policy.'

I just save the money up each month so if I were to need a service call, I have the cash. Personally, I think it's a big waste of time. I installed E* back in the day so if I have problems, i'd probably just try to fix it myself. but to each their own.

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mikhu

· #4 · Oct 25, 2006

I'm a firm believer that extended warranties in general are total bogus.

However, with how flaky the R15's have been (I have two now) and the potential for the HR20's to be as well since they are built on the same technology, I think the $6/month is worth it. In fact, with all the resets I have to do on my old R15 and the one reformat I had to do on it, the protection plan might be paying for itself sooner than later. I'm holding out for the updated software release hoping that's all the problem is, but I wouldn't be suprised if the one R15 of mine is also having hardware problems. If it is it will get replaced.

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Slip Jigs

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 25, 2006

All very good points and I"m still on the fence. There have been several posts where a describing folluw-up service calls for both dishes and boxes - and it seemed like there were no charges for this.

I may spring for the plan, but I'm also trying to decide if I want to get the extended warranty on the new TV as well.

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jpurkey

· #6 · Oct 25, 2006

For equipment alone the protection plan is probably not worth the $$, unless you have high-valued (owned, not leased) receivers. But if you are unable to do the work yourself (health reasons, disabilities, etc.) then it can be worth it.

We didn't get the protection plan until the first time we needed service. At that time (2 years ago?) the rule was agree to sign up with the protection plan and even though it is a pre-existing problem it would be only $30 for that service call (vs. $70+) After that future service calls would be free as long as you have the plan. By waiting you are saving money until you need service. However, I'm not sure what the rules are now.

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AnonomissX

· #7 · Oct 26, 2006

jpurkey said:
For equipment alone the protection plan is probably not worth the $$, unless you have high-valued (owned, not leased) receivers. But if you are unable to do the work yourself (health reasons, disabilities, etc.) then it can be worth it.

We didn't get the protection plan until the first time we needed service. At that time (2 years ago?) the rule was agree to sign up with the protection plan and even though it is a pre-existing problem it would be only $30 for that service call (vs. $70+) After that future service calls would be free as long as you have the plan. By waiting you are saving money until you need service. However, I'm not sure what the rules are now.

Rules are the same. The plan is 5.99 a month by the way, and I recommend it highly.

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noneroy

· #8 · Oct 26, 2006

Slip Jigs said:
I may spring for the plan, but I'm also trying to decide if I want to get the extended warranty on the new TV as well.

That can be a little different. See what the mfg warranty is. Also ask if the extended warranty includes maintenance. I have a rear projection HD TV and with my service plan, they come out and clean the mirrors and align everything once a year. That was worth the money to me.

If you don't get the plan, I'd turn the TV on when I get it and leave it on for a few days straight (if it is the kind of TV that can burn in, make sure you turn it to a channel that doesn't have a bug in the corner/ticker). Try to make it fail under the default warranty.

Either way, congrats on your new purchases! Can't beat that new TV smell

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Slip Jigs

Discussion Starter · #9 · Oct 26, 2006

noneroy said:
That can be a little different. See what the mfg warranty is. Also ask if the extended warranty includes maintenance. I have a rear projection HD TV and with my service plan, they come out and clean the mirrors and align everything once a year. That was worth the money to me.

If you don't get the plan, I'd turn the TV on when I get it and leave it on for a few days straight (if it is the kind of TV that can burn in, make sure you turn it to a channel that doesn't have a bug in the corner/ticker). Try to make it fail under the default warranty.

Either way, congrats on your new purchases! Can't beat that new TV smell

Thanks - I am leaning toward the plan - on both counts. While cable doesn't charge up front for whatever box they give you, you do pay for an indefinate lease - which amounts to pretty much the same thing as a service plan.

As far as the TV goes, it's a Sharp Aquos 42in LCD 1080p. I've heard that rather than burn in, dead pixels can be the issue.

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