AT my store, we do not offer extended warranties for electronic gear, factory warranty is the warranty. In todays world, the failure rate on 99.5% of the products is very, very minimal, imo. If something break and it's a current product,I'll just send it back and get the customer a new one.. easy.. BUT !

How does everyone feel about extended
warranty's ?
What about in Europe, are consumers buying extended warranty's ??


I just feel they are not necessary. Yamaha offers a full 2 year warranty when you buy the "value pak"... but the GC up the street is selling warranty on top of warranty.

Thanks ... Dan O'

------------------
Ketron, Yamaha, Casio,Roland arranger keyboards.
http://www.keyboardcity.net

1-866-348-8876

Dano,

Last car dealer I dealt with won't try that on me again. They spend so much time telling me what a fine car it is and then at sale close time they try to convince me that it is poorly made, I must watch a video expaining it and that I need the extended warranty. Salesman, manager, Finance manager all felt like idiots when I was done with my speil. They said they had never dealt with a person that used such "logic" on them before. Cost them a 32K sale. I Feel the same about everything I buy.

Regards,

Danny

[This message has been edited by pianodano (edited 10-23-2005).]

They accually showed a video... ??

Here in the US ? Lame

Generally speaking . . . a rip off. I heard that dealers make their BIGGEST PROFIT selling extended warranties. Amortized over the extended warranty coverage period, most extended warranties don't pay for themselves. Just my opinion.

Scott

Dan,

You have brought up a very important issue for all prospective buyers of electronic gear. I agree with you 100%, buying extended warranty is a rip-off. It is an extra source of revenue for places like Guitar Center where they coax you into getting the extended warranty right after the sale is completed.

Electronic instruments rarely fail if they operate successfully for the first 90 days. Most problems show up during this initial period. This is adequately covered by the original factory warranty. Good dealers like yourself do a swap on the device if something goes wrong saving the customer all the hassle.

Personally, I have never bought any warranty on any gear. Not a single device from Yamaha, Korg, Roland, Technics or Casio has ever failed me requiring warranty service. I take great care of all my toys in my smoke free, child free, pet free home studio and never take them out to gigs. I think if the user does not abuse the instrument, they will last a long time.

The key is to keep them in a dust free air-conditioned environment, use a good power surge like Brickwall, turn them off after use or during a thunderstorm, make sure they have proper ventilation, check for faults in the house wiring, house them in vibration free stable cabinets, and keep them away from liquids, food and sharp objects and use clean hands while operating them.

Thanks for your candid advise Dan.

Tapas

Scott,

The idea of any kind of warranty (or insurance) to give one a supposed "peace of mind", rather than be a cost-effective tangible investment. Any time one buys insurance (e.g. term life) he secretly hopes that it is a waste of money. The warranties are of slightly more value (since most things do occasionally break), but the if the manufacturer/dealer estimates that something will on average cost a certain amount to fix, the price they will quote you will be a rip-off (after all they are in the business of making money). When it comes to car warranties, to me a longer warranty is simply a measure of expected reliability.

Having said that, I will get an extended warranty when it is offered for free (e.g. buying a car, you don't have a choice of a shorter warranty for less money), or when GC throws it in for free. However, normally I will go with the basic warranty, plus the warranty extension offered by my credit card (most cards offer it today). This makes paying extra for an extended warranty a really bad investment.

I have a different issue with musical instrument warranties. At least when you take your car for repairs, most of the time it will get fixed within a day or two. My experience with keyboard repairs is totally different - when I had a problem with a keyboard, I called a local dealer with a repair shop - they said I had to bring the keyboard in and leave it in the shop, even though they did not expect the one technician to get to it for over two weeks. Then it had to stay in their shop until the required parts arrived. When I complained, they said they could offer same-day inspection for extra $40. My problem resolved itself before I had to subject myself to this nonsence, but I understand that other people's experience with service is quite similar.

Regards,
Alex

Of course, who wouldn't.



This stresses the importance of developing an on-going relationship with a LOCAL factory authorized keyboard repair center. Lucky for me, one of the head technicians at my local autthorized Yamaha repair shops just happened to attend one of my shows, and came up to me after the show, offering to help me with his services whenever I needed it. That was among the luckiest music business connections I ever made.

Scott

This is an interesting topic.

I have read in the non-profit Consumer Reports that extended warranties for consumer electronics are, generally, a rip-off.

On the other hand, most people do not use their camcorder as much as I use my keyboard or amplifier - which is hours a day.

When you use stuff so heavily, it breaks. I had a problem with my PSR3000 after just over a year. It was turning off and on unexpectedly. Since it wasn't covered by warranty, I brought it to a techie friend who soldered something and charged me $20.

I have had little problems with my PSR2000 and PSR2100 that needed attention as well.

I would purchase an extended warranty for a keyboard or amplifier that I use every single day for hours on end. On the other hand, I would not purchase at a store just because they sold extended warranties.

Now I have seen small print with my credit card that you can get the warranty doubled up to one year. Has anyone ever taken advantage of this?

Is Yamaha offering the Valu Pak again on the PSR3000 or on the Tyros 2? When I purchased my PSR3000 when it first came out, they didn't offer that.

Beakybird

That's pretty much the way I heard it, too. I was told that by flogging an extended warranty on electronics, commissions salespeople make more than what they earn on the actual product being sold.

The way I figure it is that if the original warranty isn't good enough in the first place, then the product isn't worth buying anyway.

When you purchase a yamaha keyboard the dealer has a supply of what is called "Survival Kits". They include a A.c. adaptor, foot pedal, cd with software for downloading styles and Yamaha midi's and an extended warranty for two years. I beleive they run about $39.00. Dano has them along with G.C and other dealers. Tyros, PSr 3000, Tyros 2, etc are some of the keyboards that you can purchase the kit for. Bob L.