Just thought I'd let you in on this one.. may work for someone else...

A few yeras ago,., I bought a plasma telly for £2,500, and decided to go £300 worth of surround sound and an Xbox and games at same time.. Totalled about £3K. My partner asked for a discount as we were spending so much money in their store.. Got told no.. so he insisted.. it was a lot of money to spend and we should get some sort of discount. We had already refused insurance.. so blokie goes to speak to manager. Came back with - we can get the surround sound for 1p if we take out the insurance - it was £1300 for 5 years, but after his talk of expensive repair costs.. I agreed. Only realised when I got out of the shop that I can cancel the insurance at any time. SO I did, before the first payment.. and I had already paid my 1p for the surround sound - so it was mine.

The Plasma went wrong about 18mnths later - after searching round many places refusing to fix it - my partner went to the currys repair centre - where the woman quite honestly explained the situation (miricle I know). She said that although most warrenties were vaild for 12mths, theoritically you are covered fr 7 years, as you would expect an item to last for this long. Obviously it doen't apply to all faults, but you don't expect the on/off switch to blow on a 2.5k TV after 18mths so you? if you did, you wouldn't have bought it? So glad I am aware of this now.. as I have battled with a few customer servcies people to get replacements... at the end of the day.. if you thought something would break within the first couple of years, you would have bought the cheapest version, and just replaced it when it broke.. if you know what I mean...

Yes, forget these expensive warranties (neat discount trick though), the Sale of Goods Act protects consumers - us - against this sort of thing by law.

Hey,

Just wanted to throw in my 2 pence, as I've seen this discount trick being advocated many times on other forums.

I used to work for Currys.digital as a salesperson. Any discount that you get directly affects the sales guys commission. "So what?" Usually they're on minimum wage. Sometimes, they can work something out where they'll give you a deal on the goods without loosing them too much in the way of wages; usually this is by selling coverplan in return for a discount on the goods.

If they're doing their job properly, they should be writing this discount down on the form that you sign, and when you come back to cancel the coverplan the store can very legitimately ask for the discount that was applied to be returned.

99% of salespeople don't complete that form, and so the store has no leg to stand on.

If you cancel your coverplan within 14 days, you can do so in-store. The commission for that coverplan gets taken back from the salesperson, he has a very poor week and gets shouted at.

If you cancel outside 14 days (you can cancel up to 45 days after purchase and recieve a full refund), you can only do so over the phone. This doesn't affect the salesperson's commission.

So, in summary:

1. If you're going to do this, for the sake of the minimum-wage-earning salespeople, cancel the coverplan after 14 days, and before 45 days. Then neither you nor they loose any money.

2. Legally, if the salesperson writes down that you've been given a discount on the goods because you bought the coverplan, the company can claim back that discount when you cancel the coverplan. If the "notes/comments" space is blank before you sign it, I suggest you put a score through it so nothing can be added later.

Maybe the salespeople will learn not to be so pushy with the coverplans when this starts to happen. They shouldn't think oh the person can cancel on the phone and I keep my comission - sorry but thats wrong and then who suffers - oh the shareholders which isn't right either, in the end someone has to pay for it. I've walked out of a dixons and bought a minidisk player elsewhere because the guy kept going on and on about the coverplan.

The only time I accepted a coverplan was when I got it for £5 on a telly and I thought that was fair enough.

Yep... People who are commission based on this should complain to their managers, if they are not happy about conning the general public. I think it's wrong to scare people into getting cover... I really do! I am happy to pay insurance for something, but not when it's already covered, or is overpriced.

Why bother anyway? Most items are covered by the Sale of Goods act for a "reasonable" period. Extended warranties just aren't worth the money. Additionally if you really must have it your home insureres probably provide additional cover for a fraction of the cost. Extended warranties have to be one of the biggest cons on the High Street today.

I'm always very abrupt with them, I say "no" as soon as they start touting it and if they continue to try and persuade me I just say again, "thank you but I already said NO"

well said

Yep... People who are commission based on this should complain to their managers, if they are not happy about conning the general public.

Great idea in principle, but I don't think your average salesperson would be in a job much longer if they complained about selling the 2nd highest margin product in the store... and, as I'll explain I'd disagree with the word "con"...

Why bother anyway? Most items are covered by the Sale of Goods act for a "reasonable" period. Extended warranties just aren't worth the money. Additionally if you really must have it your home insureres probably provide additional cover for a fraction of the cost. Extended warranties have to be one of the biggest cons on the High Street today.

Very fair points.. but I honestly think the service is worthwhile. The number of times people have come in and we've been able to do absolutely nothing for them 12 months and 1 day after they bought the thing is unbelieveable.

Probably the number 1 example is an ipod. 3 year cover costs 39 pounds.

Customer without coverplan finds their battery life is rubbish after 18 months, but not quite down to 7 hours. We can't do anything in store because no coverplan. Customer can send it off to Apple, who say it's within the specification and charge an inspection fee. You can of course pursue the store via the sale of goods act, and probably get a resolution.

Customer with coverplan doesn't even need to go near the store. Mastercare send them a freepost pack, ipod will have about a 98% chance of getting replaced within 7 days.

Or I could give the example of the 100s of people who came in having cracked the screen a month after buying their ipod... those without coverplan are left with an expensive paperweight, those with get a new one on the spot (usually, there are some exceptions).

Worth 39 quid? I think so. There are also loads of other benefits... product support helplines, etc.

Oh, and the number 1 added value in my opinion - minimum spec replacements. I've seen people who bought a crappy 8 megapixel camera worth about 100 quid get it replaced with a 300 quid Sony, just because it was the only 8 megapixel camera they currently sell.

Incidentally, despite getting no discount on the product, I took coverplan on my videocamera.

I'm always very abrupt with them, I say "no" as soon as they start touting it and if they continue to try and persuade me I just say again, "thank you but I already said NO"

Fair enough. Very few salespeople would push past that. But the one thing I'd reccommend is this: every store will keep a folder of sample repair costs from genuine repairs that have been done under coverplan. Ask to see it, and have a look at what it costs to fix your product. Then decide.

PS I don't work for DSGi so I have nothing to gain here, I just want to let you know what you're missing! The service is simply for convenience, to stop you being without a product, and to avoid you having to go to court.

The service is simply for convenience, to stop you being without a product, and to avoid you having to go to court.

and that shows how good the DSG is - those who buy our unnecessary product we treat ok, those without have to try everything including court to get their fair and lawful treatment

and that shows how good the DSG is - those who buy our unnecessary product we treat ok, those without have to try everything including court to get their fair and lawful treatment

Fair enough, but it's no different than you'll find in any other store - retailers will always use the manufacturer's warranties to get a product repaired, which often takes weeks or months.

Furthermore, it's not just a repair service.. they protect it against accidental damage and value-add by providing product support (e.g. free software support helpline if you buy a PC/laptop), 20% discount on any product if you haven't used the coverplan after 5 years, 10% if you have used it, free collection/delivery (most manufacturers require return postage), worldwide cover (many manufacturers only provide service in the EU), and protection for businesses (many manufacturers won't provide warranties to commercial organisations).

And finally, I can only speak for the store I worked in, but the sales staff will bend over backwards to help you in any way they can. Myself and my colleauges would regularly spend hours on the phone to manufacturers, backup photos from memory cards, restore laptops to defaults etc etc... all this while we should be making money for ourselves... whether the customer has coverplan or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by seylectric

Why bother anyway? Most items are covered by the Sale of Goods act for a "reasonable" period. Extended warranties just aren't worth the money. Additionally if you really must have it your home insureres probably provide additional cover for a fraction of the cost. Extended warranties have to be one of the biggest cons on the High Street today.

 

Very fair points.. but I honestly think the service is worthwhile. The number of times people have come in and we've been able to do absolutely nothing for them 12 months and 1 day after they bought the thing is unbelieveable.

Well you could always TELL customers their rights by mentioning the Sale of Goods Act and tell them they may have a valid claim under that system - but of course that's never going to happen.

Or I could give the example of the 100s of people who came in having cracked the screen a month after buying their ipod... those without coverplan are left with an expensive paperweight, those with get a new one on the spot (usually, there are some exceptions).

As mentioned many of these are covered by their home insurance, which may even provide some cover when not at home or the item may be covered by travel insurance.

Oh, and the number 1 added value in my opinion - minimum spec replacements. I've seen people who bought a crappy 8 megapixel camera worth about 100 quid get it replaced with a 300 quid Sony, just because it was the only 8 megapixel camera they currently sell.

And how many times have these crappy products been touted in the sales literature as "Amazing deal - 8 megapizel camera now only £99.99!" thus inferring to the public that they are getting something decent. I wonder how many cheap crappy items the public have thrown away when it packed up six months later because the product was so naff anyway they couldn't be bothered to get it repaired? How much money have these outlets made on things like that?

every store will keep a folder of sample repair costs from genuine repairs that have been done under coverplan. Ask to see it, and have a look at what it costs to fix your product. Then decide.

 

PS I don't work for DSGi so I have nothing to gain here, I just want to let you know what you're missing! The service is simply for convenience, to stop you being without a product, and to avoid you having to go to court.

The reason for the folder is as a sales aid, nothing more, nothing less. I doubt it will tell you the percentage that are returned for repair, i.e. that you may be paying for something that on percentage terms you will never need. The service is there for one reason and one reason only - to make a profit. Take it from me, nobody dreamt up these schemes for the convenience of the public!

You can for example, get £150 insurance elsewhere for an ipod for £2.49 a month which also covers theft, international cover and accidental and water damage.

Oh it's been a while!!

Well you could always TELL customers their rights by mentioning the Sale of Goods Act and tell them they may have a valid claim under that system - but of course that's never going to happen.

Yes it is going to happen... actually, DSGi implement training in the Sale of Goods Act as a matter of course.

As mentioned many of these are covered by their home insurance, which may even provide some cover when not at home or the item may be covered by travel insurance.

Coverplan always covers you when away from your home (or even your home country) when the item in question is a portable item. disclaimer: don't take your fridge/freezer on holiday to Iceland!

And how many times have these crappy products been touted in the sales literature as "Amazing deal - 8 megapizel camera now only £99.99!"

I assume you're referring to that Advennt P.O.S. that was on sale before Christmas? Yep. The sales literature did indeed tout it as an amazing deal! Do you think the salespeople concentrated on selling that for 1p comission (believe me, I'm not joking... if this was not a star deal it'd be 0.5p comission!) when people were coming in asking for £350 Sony cameras, "oh and I'll take the memory card and a bag too please... oh what's this coverplan thing?"

The reason for the folder is as a sales aid, nothing more, nothing less. I doubt it will tell you the percentage that are returned for repair, i.e. that you may be paying for something that on percentage terms you will never need.

Walk into any DSGi store and pickup a coverplan leaflet. There is a clear indication of what percentage of each product group get claimed for.

You can for example, get £150 insurance elsewhere for an ipod for £2.49 a month which also covers theft, international cover and accidental and water damage.

Cool. Get it there then! But don't be one of those folk who don't take *anything* out and then come back to the shop complaining that it didn't survive a trip round the U-bend! (and I'd never claim that you are one of them!)

I think you'll also find that the coverplan leaflet transparently says that cover is available from other sources, and the salespeople have a legal obligation to do the same. You will, however, find a list of benefits of DSGi's coverplan vs other people's - somewhat to be expected since it's their sales literature, though!

The reality of coverplan is much different to waht you're touting. My girlfriends experience with them has been dreadful.

1. Training staff awareness of the S.O.G act and telling customers their rights are two completely different things! I'm betting that they will tout the coverplan long before - if ever - they mention the customer's rights under the act.

2. Decent home insurance cover will cover you when aw2ay from home too, as will travel insurance.

3. No, I'm not referring to any specific deal, just hundreds, probably thousands of items that fall into this criteria.

4. A percentage of a product GROUP is completely different from a percentage of an actual product.

5. There are many private insurance plans which offer better and cheaper cover than typical store plans (and i mean in general, not just DSG). But again I wouldn't buy something I didn't need which would probably be covered elsewhere anyway. The simple fact is that many stores sell the stuff cheap and make it up on the insurance plans. I don't doubt that in most cases these plans "do what they say on the tin" but in many cases I just don't believe they're neccessary.

Each to his own of course, but I believe the vast majority of people could do better simply by buying a decent home insurance policy with extra cover and/or buying cover elsewhere.

Where can you get this ipod cover then??

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/cag.php

....just a little rant about extended warranties.

Totally agree there Dave..

One of the worst outfits for this has to be DRG group.. Had a run in with them this week when I bought 19" Sony Flatscreen Monitor..I dont know how many times I told the assistant..No I dont need your 3 yr Cover..I dont Need it..Im covered by the Sale Of Goods Act anyway..lol

She then went on ..Of course our cover will cover for Accidental Damage..mmm So does my Home Insurance..

Turns out when I went to Register the Product with sony ..It already has 3 Yr Warranty..

When will these Muppets Learn..

Ian