CompUSA warranty vs. Toshiba warranty

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

What you are missing is that they only cover ACCIDENTAL damage one time a
year. Normal warranty items are not limited at all.
The manufacturers warranty is ALWAYS superior to a store bought warranty.
After all, they buit it and they can fix it.
"Kamal" <kamald2002@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:63f50435.0404200740.2c2b1534@posting.google.com...
> I am planning on getting a Toshiba laptop through CompUSA. I checked
> the warranty prices.
>
> CompUSA charges $500 for 3 years. They claim they will cover the
> accidental screen damage (twice during entire warranty), hard drive
> damage and other accidental damage INCLUDING batteries (batteries also
> covered twice during the entire warranty). When asked to compare their
> warranty against Toshiba warranty, they claimed that Toshiba only
> covers one repair per year i.e. if the keyboard has a problem, Toshiba
> will fix it. Now, if during the same year, keyboard has some problem
> again or the screen has a problem, I will have to wait till the second
> year of warranty for Toshiba to cover the repair !!!! If this is true,
> then people would be crazy to buy Toshiba plan. CompUSA will cover
> repairs any number of times per year. That makes the CompUSA warranty
> look GREAT.
>
> I called up Toshiba too. They charge $300 for 3 years (their
> systemguard warranty). They claim they cover all accidental damage
> EXCEPT batteries. And yes, they did confirm that they will cover only
> one accidental incident per year. The rep didn't seem to be too
> knowledgeable, so I am not sure if I have all the information.
>
> Am I missing out some fine print in the CompUSA warranty ? or missing
> out on some great features being offered by Toshiba warranty ??

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Bruce, thats a very good point. I need to call Toshiba to figure out
what is their definition of standard warranty.

Also, I did some calculations and it seems to make more sense to buy
the Toshiba warranty for $300. Plus use credit card to buy the laptop
as someone suggested. That would double the manufacturer's warranty.
So any standard thing is covered for two years. Anything going wrong
with the screen will be covered once a year, which, based on what I am
hearing, should be fine. Hopefully if I am careful enough I won't
damage the screen twice. If the battery dies in the first two years it
will be covered by manufacturer's warranty (my guess. Battery is a
component of the laptop and is reasonably expected to last 1 to 2
years at least). Even if it is not covered, I will shell out $150 and
still the cost would be lower than CompUSA's $500 for 3 years.

An interesting point that I read in one of the postings is that
software is not covered by warranty (not just Toshiba but any
manufacturer or retailer). If the hard drive goes under, they will
replace it but will not load the OS. How the hell is the user supposed
to run the computer unless they load the OS as well (unless the
laptops come with the OS disks that the user can use to load the OS)

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Try www.laptopspares.com they are very helpful and if you quote my
name: Hamish, they will definatly look after you. You can e-mail them
on sales@laptopspares.com or go to their site and call them.
> > then people would be crazy to buy Toshiba plan. CompUSA will cover
> > repairs any number of times per year. That makes the CompUSA warranty
> > look GREAT.
> >
> > I called up Toshiba too. They charge $300 for 3 years (their
> > systemguard warranty). They claim they cover all accidental damage
> > EXCEPT batteries. And yes, they did confirm that they will cover only
> > one accidental incident per year. The rep didn't seem to be too
> > knowledgeable, so I am not sure if I have all the information.
> >
> > Am I missing out some fine print in the CompUSA warranty ? or missing
> > out on some great features being offered by Toshiba warranty ??

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Thanks everyone for your advice. I just wanted to post my experience
with CompUSA warranty purchase.

I recently bought a Toshiba laptop at CompUSA and as expected, the
salesperson was all over me trying to make me buy the warranty. One of
the major advantages he touted was that accidental screen damage/hard
drive damage etc. was covered. I bought the warranty for $350 for 2
years. Since I have heard about the sleazy sales tactics of CompUSA,
BestBuy, CircuitCity folks, I decided not to open the warranty package
and check up more on this online, in case I need to return it.

What I found was very vague language that could be twisted anyway that
the store wanted and NO SPECIFIC MENTION of accidental damage
coverage. Here is an excerpt from the 2 year laptop repair plan +
screen protection plan from the link (the CAPS used are mine. Theirs
is written in regular case)
http://www.compusa.com/products/mi [...] ode=296934

"Purchase of this kit includes protection for your laptop's most
fragile part, the screen. IF IT SHOULD FAIL, bring it to a CompUSA
service center near you and we'll repair it."

Details of this plan at http://www.compusa.com/media/tap_terms.pdf
says-

"The Laptop Screen Upgrade will pay for labor and replacement parts
necessary to replace your laptop computer screen SHOULD IT BECOME
INOPERABLE"


Note the words "should it fail" and "should it become inoperable".
Generally these would refer to the failure due to inherent screen
problems and not due to accidental damage. This can of course be
twisted to mean accidental damage as well. But this type of vague
language made me uneasy.

I looked up Toshiba SystemGuard warranty and to my relief, it
specifically mentions "Accidental Damage Coverage provides a repair or
replacement service in the event of accidental screen breakage or
other damage caused by accidents such as drops or liquid spills."

Guess how much it costs- $199 for 3 years. Beats CompUSA for sure.
That being said, there are couple of limitations. Toshiba will cover
extend warranty for 3 years for standard failures or problems. The
additional accidental coverage will only cover one accidental damage
per year. Note that the standard failures or problems are covered
unlimited number of times. Only accidental damage is covered once a
year. Secondly, Toshiba does not cover the battery after the first
year. That was easily remedied by buying the computer using the credit
card. The credit card company automatically doubles the standard
warranty, for FREE. So Toshiba will cover the battery for the first
year and my credit card company will cover it the next year.

To be fair, I should mention that CompUSA promises to cover 2 screen
failures and 2 battery replacements through the life of the 3-year
warranty. Do the math and it still doesn't make sense to buy through
CompUSA.

End result: I bought the warranty from Toshiba. When I went to CompUSA
to return their warranty, 2-3 salesperson and the manager converged on
me, trying to convince me how their warranty was sooo much superior.
When I asked them about the accidental coverage they said it was
covered. I asked them to show me in writing and they could not produce
any document that specifically mentioned the accidental damage
coverage. I flatly told them that I had decided and I didn't want the
warranty. I think the store guys were pretty upset and someone even
remarked "ouch" when the manager walked away ;-)

I have heard good things about Toshiba warranty and I hope they are
true.

p.s. If some of you do decide to buy the CompUSA warranty, make sure
you ask them to give you some free stuff. They will generally give you
something worth $40-50. Why would they do that ? Because warranties
are pure profit center and overpriced warranties are more so. I don't
know for sure but I think BestBuy or CircuitCity would probably do the
same.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

The System Guard warranty from Toshiba covers any accidental damage to
the laptop for a period of 3 years. However, Toshiba covers only one
incident per year. If System Guard has been used once, then it can be
used again only after one year from the date the last time system
guard was used.

This should not be confused with the standard warranty. System Guard
is taken as an additional warranty. Standard warranty comes as default
of one year. (some systems may have upto 3 years). Under standard
warranty any failure of the laptop or its components under normal use
is covered. If a laptop has both System Guard and Standard Warranty,
then System Guard is used only when there is an accidental damage. In
all other cases standard warranty should cover it.

Here's what you need to remember though:
1. All system come with the standard warranty. If you need to purchase
system guard, you'll need to purchase it within 30 days from the date
of purchase.
2. System guard can be used only once per year. After once incident of
System guard use, it can be used again after one year.
3. Standard warranties can be extended for a year or two. But it
should be purchased before the expiry of the standard warranty.

Regards,
Nott

C

"BigJIm" <woody10277@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<%vfhc.35246$ru4.34575@attbi_s52>...
> you will be missing 200 dollars if you go with CompUSA extended warranty
>
> "Kamal" <kamald2002@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:63f50435.0404200740.2c2b1534@posting.google.com...
> > I am planning on getting a Toshiba laptop through CompUSA. I checked
> > the warranty prices.
> >
> > CompUSA charges $500 for 3 years. They claim they will cover the
> > accidental screen damage (twice during entire warranty), hard drive
> > damage and other accidental damage INCLUDING batteries (batteries also
> > covered twice during the entire warranty). When asked to compare their
> > warranty against Toshiba warranty, they claimed that Toshiba only
> > covers one repair per year i.e. if the keyboard has a problem, Toshiba
> > will fix it. Now, if during the same year, keyboard has some problem
> > again or the screen has a problem, I will have to wait till the second
> > year of warranty for Toshiba to cover the repair !!!! If this is true,
> > then people would be crazy to buy Toshiba plan. CompUSA will cover
> > repairs any number of times per year. That makes the CompUSA warranty
> > look GREAT.
> >
> > I called up Toshiba too. They charge $300 for 3 years (their
> > systemguard warranty). They claim they cover all accidental damage
> > EXCEPT batteries. And yes, they did confirm that they will cover only
> > one accidental incident per year. The rep didn't seem to be too
> > knowledgeable, so I am not sure if I have all the information.
> >
> > Am I missing out some fine print in the CompUSA warranty ? or missing
> > out on some great features being offered by Toshiba warranty ??

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

In article <63f50435.0404202049.2fcab57@posting.google.com>,
Kamal <kamald2002@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Bruce, thats a very good point. I need to call Toshiba to figure out
>what is their definition of standard warranty.
>
>Also, I did some calculations and it seems to make more sense to buy
>the Toshiba warranty for $300. Plus use credit card to buy the laptop
>as someone suggested. That would double the manufacturer's warranty.
>So any standard thing is covered for two years. Anything going wrong
>with the screen will be covered once a year, which, based on what I am
>hearing, should be fine. Hopefully if I am careful enough I won't
>damage the screen twice. If the battery dies in the first two years it
>will be covered by manufacturer's warranty (my guess. Battery is a
>component of the laptop and is reasonably expected to last 1 to 2
>years at least). Even if it is not covered, I will shell out $150 and
>still the cost would be lower than CompUSA's $500 for 3 years.
>
>An interesting point that I read in one of the postings is that
>software is not covered by warranty (not just Toshiba but any
>manufacturer or retailer). If the hard drive goes under, they will
>replace it but will not load the OS. How the hell is the user supposed
>to run the computer unless they load the OS as well (unless the
>laptops come with the OS disks that the user can use to load the OS)

There's a difference between the software warranry, and installing the
software. All laptop I've seen come with CDs that will restore the
machine's software to as-shipped, easily. That's the limit of the
warranty for the software.

If you use an imaging backup you don't need the manufacturer's CDs to
reimage. (You might need them for other things, and if you have to
call for tech suppport they might expect you to have the CDs at hand.)

I recommend an image backup to non-technical users because otherwise
they forget all their registration keys and whatever passwords are
stored in their applications.

The "software not covered" is accurate, but misleading, I guess,
because the software is covered under other warranties, possibly the
EULA. (not that the software warranry means alot).

If you buy a laptop with OEM windows and MSOFFICE, you'll find that
the fine print says you get no support from Microsoft, you have to go
to teh manufacturer. In some cases MS will require you to go to the
manufacturer for OS patches, although it's been years since I've seen
MS enforce this.



--
Al Dykes
-----------
adykes at p a n i x . c o m