futureshop product service plan(psp) ****ing sucks

[GOOGLE001]

do u still remember how enthusiast when fs sales promote their psp? my compaq laptop had 5 times repair, and they still refuse to replace it ( replaced in the end, after they know i ll file a case in the court) , these repairs are: 1, line cross the screen 2 hard drive failure 3 does not charging battery and smoke come from dvd ,4 charging failure( 2time in 60 days) 5 dvd does not read ( 2time in 60 days).

the store manager said 4 and 5 are rework , and rework does not count in their lemon policy, i think that s really ********, all of these repair took almost half a year.
bty, their repair center does not use new parts.

the computer i purchased before worth $1300 before tax and psp, $1800 leaving store, the new one they replaced me is $1099, we look at it this way, before my old computer breaks down( after 2 years use) sell is in used computer market, i can get arount 500 for it, use the $5oo + $400( price for psp) is $900, it s very close to the value of the replacement. futureshop is really really blood sucker.

[MkmBandit]

see the problem with swearing on your title, or attempting to at least, is that you lose credibility right off the bat. Forget about the fact that half your post makes no sense.. you'll get nowhere with that attitude.

[kwokinator]

You failed to mention how old your computer is before the replacement. A $200 depreciation isn't ridiculous after a year or two, and I don't even know why you quoted the $1800, it includes a PSP and tax on both PSP and laptop, doesn't have anything to do with your Compaq laptop price.

[lip]

He is right though...FS and Bestbuy PSP or replacement plans basically suck you dry...they are a waste and bordering on a scam.

Buy a dell...you can get a 3 year extended plan usually for as little as 40 bucks and they do take care of you from my experience.
I ended up paying 250 bucks for a complete care plan from dell but that covers dropping it, spilling coffee on it, etc...with a laptop, that is what most likely will happen...try to take a laptop back for fixing to fs or bestbuy if you drop it down the stairs!

I feel for you buddy...I really do...

LIP

[Sharp]

I don't think the PSP covers battery related issues. Anyways I had a 3 year old compaq X1000 X1010CA Paid $2299 for it.
-1.4ghz centrino, 2x256 DDR PC3200, 60gb 4200rpm, ati 9200 32mb, 24xcdrw/dvdrom, 15.4wxga.
After a long story, I ended up getting a Toshiba A-100 SK9 Costed $1499 (Toshiba Sale $200 off Reg Price, $1699)
-2.0 Ghz Centrino Duo Core, 2x512 DDR2, 120gb 5400rpm SATA, nvidia geforce 7600 go 256mb, 16xdvdrw, 15.4wga with glossy finish.

You need to have 4 major repairs (they have to replace something not fix it)
My list went like this: HDD died, Video Card Died, Network Card Died, DVD player not burning properly.
The kicker was the store manager told me that they cleaned my cdrw/dvd and when I called their hotline, the guy said they replaced it. So I left on the last day of my 3 year warranty and got a new one. Of course it took some arguing to get the Duo Core, the offered me an one laptop with intergrated video ati 128(shared) laptop, I was like no way I want dedicated graphics, so then they showed me an AMD Turion 64, I laughed at them, and I said firmly I want Centrino. It was a sure victory over FS, I hate them and I know they hate me Also the actual store manager was off that day, so I'm sure I would've gotten a lesser laptop if he was there.

And of course this time I got extended warranty it was over a 100.00 cheaper since the laptop was a lot less value, but by far faster.

[cincin128]

amazingly i just bought an open box refurbished demo laptop from Bestbuy for 599. I added the 2 year service plan for only 59.99. (and 3 year is only 79) I think they might be having a promotion or sth... Coz when I check the plan online it says the service plan are all around $200. It's important to buy such plan if you happen to have a open box, refurbished, demo laptop, the crappiest combination. its a HP with Intel Centrino Duo 2.0 GHz!

[Frankie3s]

The replacement warranties are crap. No one will dispute this but when you are dealing with these soda jerkers you have to remember to remain civil and not swear. Raising your voice, swearing, crying will not often help your case. I usually find reasoning helps get the problem resolved and ask for someone who is in charge (the sales guys are usually powerless).

[lhsonic]

As a former seasonal employee of Future Shop, I can see where you're coming from. We're put under tremendous pressure to sell these things and we make a lot for ourselves if we do. Getting a plan really depends if you want to spend the money on the it... What is always a good investment is a PRP, product replacement plan, available on a few products under $200 such as headphones, speakers, keyboards. If anything goes wrong with it, you just come in and replace it... Things such as speakers and headphones occasionally do blow out and a PRP saves you the hassle of going through the manufacturer and also extending the warranty as well. The PSP however, I didn't really push it THAT hard because I didn't really believe in it myself... It's really just a gamble, IF something were to go wrong in the duration of your plan, saves you from sending it to the manufacturer as FS does it for you. Depending on the store, we even lend you loaner cameras for temporary use (the people/managers at the Coquitlam store are great) when you give us your camera for repair. Not to mention you get a new camera if they fail to fix it within 60 days. Then again, if you expect to replace your camera within a year... it's not worth the extra money...

Yup, that's just my 2 cents... totally unbiased too... just opinion from someone who once sold these plans.

[Tijuana]

BB PSP worked good for my laptop, I think in general BB is better, they just say stuff like I advise you to get the psp because... FS says stuff like your going to buy the psp because...

[IoannI]

There warranties are all bs. I never buy them. So you can say I take my chances. So what I have a 1 year warranty anyways. They just try to sell as much psp and prp, you should have bought prp, as they can. Thats really the only way the store makes money. What they do is they send it back as a defective item, the manufacture fixes it and sends it back and they give it back to the consumer.

[craftsman]

There warranties are all bs. I never buy them. So you can say I take my chances. So what I have a 1 year warranty anyways. They just try to sell as much psp and prp, you should have bought prp, as they can. Thats really the only way the store makes money. What they do is they send it back as a defective item, the manufacture fixes it and sends it back and they give it back to the consumer.

Actually that's not quite true. I've worked in electronics/photographic retail for 12 years in a previous life and there are a couple of simple truths:

1. Buying a warranty is like buying anything else. Trust the people who built the thing over the category. Some warranties have better conditions than others. And others are just worthless. Understand the conditions and buy only the ones offered by people/companies you trust.

2. Generally, everything sold in a retail outlet is sold at a profit. In electronics retailing, the main driver of boosting profits is accessories. The more space a retailer puts aside for a product line, the more money that product line makes. You might notice that when looking for something like vacuum cleaners that the bags and accessories for them take up as much shelf space as the vacuums themselves. Why? While the company may make 10%-20% on a vacuum (even on sale), they will make 50% on an accessory. So, on a $100 vacuum, they will make $10-$20. If you buy some bags and that all important HEPPA filter for $50, they will make $25 from you.

3. Retailers like extended warranties. Why? Not because they are pure profit - the profit margins on them are only 50% or so (the same as most other accessories). It's because they don't need to carry any inventory and they can't run out of inventory on them. It cost them nothing to carry the product because no one counts it until it is sold. While normal inventory will cost them a couple of percent a month in interest and other cost. Also, if a warranty is returned, they don't have to worry about returning it to inventory or what condition it is in.

[IoannI]

I used to work for Future Shop 2 years ago.

Depending on the product they do not make much money off them. A product of their own brand that they sell, always brings in more profit.

[lhsonic]

I used to work for Future Shop 2 years ago.

Depending on the product they do not make much money off them. A product of their own brand that they sell, always brings in more profit.

Of course, have you seen the cost price of all house branded products? And yeah, FS and BB do make some margin off PSP and lots off accessories. Understand that FS and BB make very little off the bigger items, eg, cameras, computers, laptops... it's alll in the accessories.

[nite4evr]

I used to work for FS too, we tried our best to sell customers PSP/PRP and those bell/rogers contract packages too. The more of those you sell the higher you move up the ladder in store. It all depends on the product on the profit margin. And from what I could remember the best margin item was cable/accessories. Anyways, back on topic PSP/PRP is a scam unless you're a VERY rough user on the product.

[fried_dood]

I was also a seasonal employee of Futureshop and I can tell you, after 3 months in the company you get a feeling as to how deceitful the company is. The markups on things like cables and other accessories is ridiculous and if you buy on eBay or through smaller retailers like Canada Computers you will be saving a TON. In addition, I have to say that even during my three months there the associate is expected to sell Futureshop's garbage service plan. You have to guess that something is fishy if YOU don't see the value in the plan but the salesman is trying to push it on you anyways. Even though I wasn't allowed to sell computers because I would be taking commission from the Product Experts (Sales Associates don't make commission on anything but PSP) I was expected to sell warranty on things like network cards, routers, printers, and monitors. I can safely say that buying warranty on anything but a computer is a joke and is only a way for the company to make money. JUST REMEMBER that no matter what the salesperson says, THE WARRANTY DOES NOT COVER ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE. As such if the company deems that you have caused the damage to the system (whether you did or didn't) your warranty is void.

Even if you wanted to buy warranty on a system, I'd rather buy it through the manufacturer of the system (provided its economical as even they charge a bit) as their warranty covers everything. At Futureshop, your warranty only covers the item that you buy it for. Thus for example, if you buy a desktop with a monitor, your warranty won't cover the monitor unless you buy a separate warranty for that monitor. It's also worth noting that the warranty on most monitors is 3 years through the manufacturer and you are wasting your money by buying Futureshop's junk plan. It's also worth noting that with most manufacturers (Dell for example) you have the option of Next Business Day Onsite service which is much better than Futureshop's junk service. Their warranty doesn't cover software related issues either and only hardware related ones so good luck trying to solve a problem with windows. You are told to call the System Manufacturer or Microsoft. One of the advantages of manufacturer warranty is that it ALSO covers software related issues and you don't have to bring it in to the store to do a diagnosis. I should mention that should you bring your system in the store to perform a paid software related service and they can't solve the issue, they are fully within their rights to reformat your entire hard drive and do a clean install of windows (its in the contract that you should back up all your personal data). Not to mention the fact that technicians aren't the most honest people on earth and really nothing is stopping them from stealing all the data on your computer anyways.

Chances are you will never have to replace something like a Router, Network Card or Printer because they simply don't break often. Instead the entry level associate is often told to recommend the plan by using a story (either factual or made up, mostly the latter) that praises the value of the warranty.

All in all I can safely say that the LAST major retail outlet I would buy from would be Futureshop. Trash TigerDirect comes in at a close second and the chances that you will see a rebate from them are about as likely as winning in Vegas. In fact the only one plus point I can think of is that Futureshop actually has a 14/30 day return policy (14 for actual electronics, 30 for accessories and service plans etc.)