BS: Never Pay Cash

Subject: RE: BS: Never Pay Cash
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Apr 05 - 03:08 AM

The extended warranties generally are pushed hard at places like Sears simply because they are nearly 100% profit. Almost nobody ever actually needs one. I've had at least three friends who tried working at Sears, and did a great job on selling the merchandise; but all got "shut out" by being given unworkable hours and erratic schedules when they failed to sell enough extended warranties. Apparently at Sears the guy who assigns your schedule gets a kickback from them?

But the other side of that is that they make ANY SERVICE that's not covered by warranty (extended or otherwise) so difficult and expensive that if you happen to be the one who needs something fixed, you're S.O.L. without the warranty.

Sears is the worst I've done business with. I've resorted to telling them at the point of purchase - and writing it on the bill of sale: "If anyone calls me about an extended warranty this product comes back and I will expect a full refund." And make them initial it.

Without doing that, any Sears appliance over about $75 will get you called by the beggars at least every other month for the next 3 or 4 years. Since I began annotating the sales receipts, I've only had ONE such call. I think I was more than polite with my explanation on that one... They might disagree; but they didn't call again.

Of course, since their quality has gone downhill so much, I don't buy nearly as much stuff from them as I once did. If it's going to be throw-away stuff, you might as well get it from the discounters for throw-away prices.

I suspect a lot of other places may actually be about as bad; but I avoid "consumer grade" whenever possible, and most major purchases are more or less direct from the manufacturers - where possible. If I can't fix it myself, I'll think seriously about arranging to not need it. (Being perpetually broke helps a lot there.)

John

Subject: RE: BS: Never Pay Cash
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 10:54 PM

I will never buy anything of any size at Best Buy. I made the mistake of buying a laptop computer from them. When the floppy drive died, I wanted to take it in and have them replace it in the store, but they insisted they would have to ship it off somewhere. This was back in 1998 or 1999. A coworker at the library where I work told me never to let them have a piece of equipment--that literally they have a crew of pimply-faced 19-year-old boys who just throw stuff into a truck to send it off. Bring in something that looks great but needs work and you're liable to get back a scratched and dented piece of equipment. So I insisted they couldn't have it, but I wanted it fixed. After making a big stink I finally got the prorated part of the service plan (this was back before I knew how to take my computers apart and fix them myself). I took it to CompUSA and they fixed it there in the store. My MA thesis, as yet incomplete, was in that computer on the hard drive. I had backups that I'd emailed to myself at work to keep current copies of my writing, but with all of the other associated stuff, the bibliography software and such, I couldn't risk their formatting my drive or something.

And those warranties--they are a ripoff. Sears pushes them really hard also. I ask them if they so distrust the quality of their own merchandise that they must sell them? It usually stops the pitch right there. You'll lose the sale if you head down that path. The only one I've paid for recently was when I bought a CD player for a 12-year-old for Christmas. That piece of equipment is liable to be put to some severe paces in the next couple of years.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Never Pay Cash
From: GUEST,Skipy
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 06:52 PM

Don't want to "speak ill of the dead" but there is no way that I would have paid "Cash" unless it was to perform somewhere else!
Skipy.

Subject: RE: BS: Never Pay Cash
From: kendall
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 06:58 AM

Jacqui and I bought a combo washer/dryer at Best Buy. The clerk went to great lenghts to sell us an extended warrantee, but forgot to tell us we need a new cord.(the cord is extra, even on a $1000.00 machine) When the machine was delivered, the installer told me that because I had a used cord, the warrantee was void!

How many of you think they are going to get away with this?

Subject: RE: BS: Never Pay Cash
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 02:18 AM

I had a friend who would walk into a 7-11 store and ask the cashier, "Do you take American money here?" At least one got visibly flustered and said, "Uh...I'll have to check with the manager."

It's true that "the post-9/11 world" has become a handy excuse for turning the country into a police state. Isn't it about time for a "post-Abu Ghraib world"?

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Never Pay Cash
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 12:04 AM

They do tell me that over in the next state there's places where you can get change for a $13 bill - no questions asked.

Usually comes as two 3's and a 7.

Seems like last time I was there, Baltimore was located quite close to Washington D.C.


Might have something to do with it?? (as in a center of low literacy?)

John

Subject: RE: BS: Never Pay Cash
From: Peace
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 11:40 PM

If it had been $3 bills, he'd only have needed 38 of 'em.

Subject: RE: BS: Never Pay Cash
From: open mike
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 11:31 PM

whoa! scary...
he is definately owed an apology or two!
is "post 9-11" excuse for every stupid thing??!!
now if they were $3 dollar bills that would be a different story.

Subject: BS: Never Pay Cash
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 11:11 PM

At Best Buy

?????

John