2/5

posted Jul-03-2007

I recently shopped for a Pioneer A/V Receiver. I aggressively price shop and after some searching, discovered that LCDPLASMADEALS.COM had the best price by about $50. I placed the order online and got an email the next day asking that I call to confirm the order.

When I called, the sales rep correctly and appropriately explained that since they are not an authorized Pioneer dealer, the product doesn’t come with a manufacturer’s warranty. However, he said that they will sell a third-party warranty that covers the product for 3 years, and throw in an HDMI cable for $150. He also explained that in the past they had experienced trouble with customers who purchased equipment without the warranty and didn’t understand the circumstances. I was disappointed to learn this, but I said that I wanted to know which warranty company it was so I could check them out to see if I felt comfortable with them, and confirm that their warranty was valid even though there was no manufacturer’s warranty (this is not always the case). He provided the name of the company and I checked them out for myself.

I was satisfied with the warranty company and confirmed that the warranty is valid in this case. However, I wasn’t happy about spending an additional $150 for the receiver. I researched the warranty resellers and found that I could order the same warranty from another vendor after the fact for $55. Granted there was no HDMI cable, but I can order those for less than $10 elsewhere.

My experience with the vendor up until this point was satisfactory, but when I called back and told the guy that I wanted to order the receiver without the warranty, he became very abrupt and said that they wouldn’t sell it to me that way and I should order the product from someone else. He talked very fast and I couldn’t get in a word of explanation that I wanted to buy the warranty elsewhere. He actually said “it doesn’t matter what you say; it doesn’t matter what you do; we won’t sell you the machine.”; and then he hung up on me! I was stunned, but decided to call back. I got in one sentence explaining that I could buy the warranty elsewhere for less money, but he was just as abrupt and hung up on me a second time.

This was a strange and unpleasant experience. However, I wanted to pass it on because it seems to me now that their price was probably the lowest because they insist on selling you the warranty at a significant markup. If you’re OK with the final price (factoring that in), then I can’t tell you any specific reason not to go ahead and order from them, other than they were unpleasant and left a bad taste in my mouth.

For my part, I ordered the receiver from another vendor and plan to buy the warranty elsewhere for $55. I’ll still come out ahead.

By the way, the other vendor called me and offered me a third party warranty as well, but they were fine with my buying it elsewhere.

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