CPS or Mack - does it matter? - Page 30

^They definitely took care of you. My Mack warranty expires in about a year. I'm half-hoping for something to go wrong.

Warranties like Mack scare me. They say for refund they will refund current market value. For a 3-5 old TV that could be very little. Better warranties state..." the Covered Product will be replaced as determined by Us with a product of similar quality and features". I pays to call these companies and have them clarify their coverage

I was wondering if anyone here could give me a good idea of what the current market value is for a Samsung 52 LN52A850S TV.

I purchased my TV back in Jan 2009 and the panel recently went out, or is going out i should say. CPS sent a tech out and that's what they determined. I just got an email today asking me to call for an update on my claim. WHen i called, they stated that i have two options:

1) They find me a 2010 refurbished Samsung that will come with a 90 day warranty and i will have to ship my TV to them. OR,

2) THey will cut me a check for $500. I just thought $500 was a little low being that i paid like $1200 for the TV in 2009 and spent i think like $200 on the warranty. So basically with a check of $500, i'm only netting $300 to go towards a new tv.

CPS is a crappy warranty company. A refurbished (aka rebuilt with salvaged parts from other defective TVs) 2010 Samsung would be risky and that 90 day warranty is a joke (insult?). Are you supposed to pay the shipping cost to return the defective TV to them? I'm wondering why they'd want it back, especially considering that it's been determined to be not worth repairing. Maybe they want to harvest the parts for use on more refurbished TVs. If they're requiring you to pay the shipping then maybe it's a scare tactic to get you to accept their lowball settlement offer instead. Are you sure you can't get them to increase the settlement amount?

But truth be told, 2-3 year old used TVs go for a small percentage of their original purchase price so i'd probably take their insultingly low offer and cut my losses. At least you're $300 ahead in the end - had you not bought any extended warranty the TV still would have failed and you would have been left with nothing so at least it's not a total loss.

You might be able to find a used 2010 or 2011 model on Craigslist for like $500 and that would be better than a junky refurb. But if you apply it to a new TV even a cheap one will be better than your old 2010 model and you'll have a one year warranty. And if you can buy it with a good credit card most of those add another year to the factory warranty. You can also buy a Square Trade extended warranty from Costco for like $99.

Hi, Randy!

Thank you for the response and feedback. Yes, i would be required to pay to ship the TV back to them, and yes i do believe they use that as a deterent and motivation for you to accept their cash offer. I'm going to do some more research and see if i can find proof of what the true market value is for a 2009 Samsung. I think you're right though, $500 might be all i can get at this point. With the price of TVs being so low $550-$800 for a new 42-50in, $500 isnt so bad.

I had never heard of the warranty from Costco's, so i'll check them out. Thanks again!

I've seen people saying you can buy the warranty from Costco even if you buy the TV elsewhere....

http://www.costco.com/CatalogSearch?storeId=10301&catalogId=10701&langId=-1&keyword=SQUARE+TRADE

Another pretty good warranty company is MACK, they've been around for like 80 years and generally get good reviews.

From the item page of the >$1000 warranty page:

"Costco members may also purchase a SquareTrade Service plan to cover a new TV purchased outside of Costco from an authorized retailer in the US. Service Plan must be bought within 60 days of purchasing the TV. "

This will give you 4 years of coverage from the date of purcahse, rather than 5 if you had purchased the TV from Costco

CPS is rating really bad, I would avoid them. I didn't see that in my first post. I am going with xpresserv. I hear nothing but great things about them. $140 for 5 years on my PN60e7000. No way I would not have a warranty on a TV. Similar warranty just paid for my new plasma