Buying an HDTV from Circuit City Instead Amazon: Oops!

[George Tyndall]

Because I imagined the shipping cost to be in the stratosphere, I never considered buying an HDTV from out-of-state. I felt certain that the shipping would cost more than the sales tax I would pay when buying locally.

Wrong!

My wife and I paid about $2450 for our 52" Samsung at the local Circuit City PLUS $69 for delivery (only, no setup) PLUS about $200 in sales tax.

Here is the current price on Amazon INCLUDING "white glove delivery": $2179.*



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*If there is any damage when they open it or while setting it up, they take it back, no questions asked.

[Chuck Engels]

You can almost always find it cheaper, or better, or newer, or something. Just wait 6 months when the same TV is under $1500 and the newer, bigger, better models come out.

If you are happy with it, and you supported a local business, then that is a good thing George

[Bob]

And, don't forget. While California residents won't be charged Sales Tax by Amazon, California has a use tax (the rate is the same as the sales tax rate) on goods purchased out of state or on the Internet where the merchant did not collect California sales tax.

The last TV I purchased developed a problem one week after installation and, because I purchased locally, I was able to exchange the defective set for a new one easily and quickly.

[George Tyndall]

Just wait 6 months...

If the October issue of PC World, which I just looked at, is any guide (see "LCD Glut Could Mean Holiday Bargains," p. 44), then the wait may be a lot less than 6 months.

But the fact is, as you suggested, we are VERY happy with the unit and, as Bob states, there are definite advantages to purchasing locally. In our particular case we did purchase the 5-year extended warranty, which stipulates that the unit will be replaced in the event of any defect, including even a single pixel burning out.

I am aware that Consumer Reports magazine advises readers to NEVER buy such warranties for electronics, however, my experience is that I have used each and every extended warranty that I've ever bought, including for monitors. (The hub in my 24-inch Gateway HD monitor burned out just after the regular warranty had expired, but it was replaced with a new unit under the inexpensive "performance guarantee" that I had purchased from Fry's.)

The 52-inch Samsung gets VERY hot, so I would not be the least bit surprised if, some time over the next 5 years, it needs replacement--in which case I will, indeed, be happy that I had purchased it locally.

Now that I've convinced myself, I'll let you know if I'm also able to convince my Filipina (read: bargainer extraordinaire, except in the case of shoes, for which no price is too much) wife.

[Dave McElderry]

George, I've never been one for purchasing extended warranties either, but lately I've changed my mind on some items. A year and a half ago we bought a Samsung 56 inch DLP TV. Because it was a new technology, and because I had read that replacing the light engine could cost upward of $1500, I had some jitters about the standard warranty and we decided to purchase ABC Warehouse's 5 year extended. We like the TV, but it's been worked on twice, both times having to do with the lamp and the lamp power supply. I asked the repair guy what kind of expense would have been involved had we paid for these repairs ourselves. Already we would have had over $500 wrapped up! So with 3.5 years remaining on the warranty it has already paid for itself.

Recently we purchased new fridge, range, washer and dryer. We got 23 years out of our last fridge and range, and longer than that out of our washer and dryer, and they were getting pretty beat up and ugly but they were still working. They don't make them like that anymore. After reading the horror stories with repairs on the new appliances, especially with all the electronic controls that they have now, I decided to purchase 5 year extended warranties on all four of them. Maybe I'm a chump, but I'm sleeping better for having done so.

For me the bottom line is that they used to build quality and longevity into appliances. Now they charge more than ever and expect them to last only a short life span. The additional money put into an extended warranty won't make the quality any better, but at least we know that we won't be faced with huge repair bills, or appliance replacement, 2 or 3 years down the road.