Extended Warranties and the hard sell
I think I’m usually a pretty nice guy, but the other night I got snappy with a sales person. I’ve been doing laptop research for the past few weeks and I finally picked the HP Artists Edition Laptop which was on sale at Future Shop. I know, everything is always on sale there and if it’s not, you’re probably paying too much for it. That said, I was picking it up for someone else and we had pretty much settled on which one we wanted.
So the salesman saw us eyeing the one we wanted and I said to him, I think I want this one. I asked a few questions about the ports on it, asked about the weight and the processor and two of these questions he answered incorrectly, but maybe he just didn’t know.
So, the moment of reckoning, I decide we want the laptop and say yes I’d like to pick up this one. I know I am going to get the extended warranty speech and hear about how the horrors of not purchasing it could leave me in a bad situation. Future Shop is owned by Best Buy, and both these stores are a nightmare to deal with.
So I listen to the spiel and then I say no thank you I’m not interested, I’d just like the laptop. He goes into how much each part costs and how if one breaks this one will cost 60 dollars and this will cost 200 and if the keyboard breaks the whole thing has to be replaced yada yada. He tells me how often certain parts break and by now I’m thinking if this thing really is as much of a piece of junk as he’s claiming, maybe I shouldn’t buy it at all.
Again I say no thank you, I’ve heard of, and had bad experiences with extended warranties. He then asks me what happened and I tell him about manufacturing time to fix something verses the time Best Buy took to do the same thing. He starts trying to tell me something about it being after one year and by then I phased out. I should also add that I am very tired by now, it is after work, I haven’t had dinner yet and I just want to go home with this laptop. Again, I say no I’m really not interested, I would just like the laptop please.
This is where I am starting to get agitated, he stops, pauses and then points to the power plug and says, if this breaks, that’s 60 bucks. I finally interrupt him and say “What’s with the hard sell? Do you want me to buy this laptop or not? I just want the laptop, should I go somewhere else and get it?” He realizes he’s gone to far and says no sir and grabs the keys and unlocks the shelf with the boxed laptops. Once I’m at the cash I say to him, something like I’m sorry, I’m really tired and I haven’t eaten yet and we want to get out of here. I don’t even know if he deserved the apology, but I always feel bad when I do stuff like that.
Anyway, I guess the moral of the story and the tip to take away is to resist hard sells. The very first thing I found when searching the title of my own post was an article on the CBC website Should you buy an extended warranty? Basically what the extended Warranty covers is the 2nd and 3rd years. If an electronic product is defective it usually breaks long before the first year is up, otherwise it lasts 5 or more years. I have a TV from 10 years ago that is still going strong and a DVD that broke after 8 years. The extended warranty covers the time period where something is least likely to go wrong. I know Future Shop and Best Buy make a lot of money off of Extended warranties, but at what cost? After this experience I don’t know if I want to shop at these places anymore. On the bright side, the laptop is great and looks really cool.
Angela June 14, 2011 at 11:39 pm
How awful for that associate. The public should realize that when you go into a store you encounter salespeople. It is their job to sell and try to get past your objections. They probably have a supervisor and six managers breathing down their necks to do exactly what this guy did, if you don’t want a service plan, don’t buy it, but don’t yell at the poor kid who is just trying to do his job so he doesn’t lose it. He absolutely did deserve your apology. I hate when I see these things when I’m out shopping. I really just wonder, honestly what is wrong with you people? If you don’t want to deal with salespeople then order your products online.
Ian Hoar | Follow me on Twitter | June 15, 2011 at 12:20 am
Angela, first he was far from being a kid, second, I listened to his speech for about 5 minutes, to me that’s more than enough time for the average person to realize that this customer does not want an extended warranty, and 3rd, I never yelled at him, raised my voice or made a scene, I just calmly asked him what was with the hard sell and if he would like me to go elsewhere to buy the laptop, since I just wanted out of the store, who knows, I might have spent another 20 minutes standing there. Anyway, he is hardly scarred for life and I probably saved him some valuable time that could be used for pushing warranties on other people who might actually buy them.
As for extended warranties, most of them are a very profitable scam anyway. Tech items, as I mentioned, if defective usually break down within the first few months, usually a year is covered by the manufacturers warranty. After this point it may be many years before they succumb to time and wear and tear. The extended warranties cover a period of time that an item is least likely to break. These warranties are not out of the goodness of the corporations heart, they make a killing off of them, otherwise they wouldn’t bother to sell them. The worst part is, they protect themselves in pages legal jargon and when something actually does break it’s either not covered by your expensive extended warranty or it takes way longer to fix than the manufacturer would take. To me this is what’s really wrong, but that’s another story, and hey if you can sell an extended warranty to someone who really doesn’t need it, why not, I have no objections there.
Also you are right, they are told to push these, but it’s also a sales persons duty to make a customers visit pleasant and to be helpful. This sales person did neither, and if I was his boss I would have reprimanded him for being such a dork. It was obvious there was no extra sale going to happen, so give it up already. A bit of common sense would go a long way in these scenarios.
For the record this post is 3 years old and to my knowledge the laptop is still working just fine.
fred July 31, 2011 at 7:30 am
I am usually under lots of pressure to sell a warranty, but i don’t believe in them, they do however work but what if the additional two year period expires and the product fails in the 3rd year? suggestions: you still should have taken that extended warranty for your laptop computer, it would have given you a peace of mind, trying putting yourself in the shoes of that poor salesperson?
Ian Hoar | Follow me on Twitter | July 31, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Fred, since when did it become the customers job to make the sales persons feel good? I thought it was supposed to be the other way around. As I mentioned above, all I asked was if I had to take my business elsewhere. This is hardly traumatizing.
I’ve already argued the merits of extended warranties, if people want to waste their money they are entitled too, my peace of mind does not come from wasting my money. Also, if my product fails in the 3rd year it’s probably obsolete by then anyway or I could by a new one for less than the price of the warranty. We are talking tech here, how much does a laptop from 3 years ago cost today? Anyway you look at it, it’s win win for the store and not the consumer.
Kevin August 12, 2011 at 9:29 pm
I don’t actually believe you have any idea what your talking about. I personally get a lot of customers like you at the store where I work that just don’t want to hear it. Granted I do not and will not badger a customer about a plan that doesn’t want anything to do with you. That’s like trying to make a little kid eat their broccoli. What you failed to take in perspective is that a lot of these manufacturers do offer a one year. However, most of them only cover limited manufacturers defects which is another word for pretty much nothing at all, as well as charge you for shipping a lot of the times.These warranties or service plans allow you to be backed up and fully protected by another company. The fact that you even pondered about whether you should buy the product or not after he pitched his plan is an absolute joke. What you don’t understand is that it is standard that laptops and computers are made with cheaper parts regardless of what make or brand you go with. Manufacturers are trying to limit costs and therefore decreasing life and overall durability of the product.You claim that most computers last 5 years, well that is not always the case. Not only that but most companies also offer you to extend the plan even more.
You make it seem like its an absolute scheme, when on the contrary it simply is not. A store is not just taking your money. They are offering protection for the product as well as customer service for that particular product for a given amount of time in EXCHANGE for your money. Understand the difference? Have you ever tried calling a manufacturer for service on your technology. Have fun holding! If you would have honestly gone in there with an open mind and actually listened to the salesperson you may have learned these things. However, you utterly failed in being respectful and keeping an open mind to save yourself a bit of money. I’ve witnessed multiple customers come back within a couple of months time to say that their pc is broken and they can’t get in touch with the manufacturer in East Guam and ask to get their money back without a service plan. Well that is certainly tough luck at that point. Those that have actually purchased the plan will feel at ease when they know that their computer is being taken care of by being fixed, replaced, or that they are given a cash card for the amount paid at date of purchase. You claim that you would just purchase another computer if anything ever happens to it. Well I’d like to see how you really feel if it ever happens to you. Enjoy the dent in your wallet!
Point is, in that situation you should listen to someone who is giving you information and not completely block them out. Ask questions and get involved in what your purchasing, then make your decision then. Sales people become annoying only when you let them become annoying by giving them the cold shoulder. If you really aren’t interested they will get the picture….and guess what….you can achieve this without behaving like a total jerk =]
Ian Hoar | Follow me on Twitter | August 13, 2011 at 12:45 am
Kevin, it seems like the only people defending these things are the ones selling it. Do you seriously think that a company like Best Buy would sell extended warranties out of the goodness of their hearts and make no profit what so ever? These things are big money, because contrary to what you say, electronics don’t just randomly break all the time. If it wasn’t big money they would not push their sales people so aggressively to try and sell them. It’s not rocket science here. As I mentioned this sales person was particularly aggressive, I actually was at Best Buy this week and we declined the extended warranty and it went down without a hitch, the guy did his speech, we listened and then he let us buy out camera.
As to your claim on contacting the manufacturer, I have a story for you. The original Xbox 360 was notorious for breaking down. A friend of mine had a best buy extended warranty and it took 6 weeks to get it back. I did not have an extended warranty and dealt directly with Microsoft. They express shipped me a box, I sent it back and I had my new Xbox back in less than a week, which a year later broke again and I went through the whole process one more time. If you don’t buy junky brands, they are usually pretty good to deal with, they have a reputation to hold up. Apple is also another very good company to deal with although they push Apple care, because again, it’s a big win for them.
You should Google Consumer Reports and extended warranties, they have written a lot about it and say it’s a gamble at best. Don’t get angry at people because they don’t want to throw their money away. I had a camera break after the 1 year warranty, yes it sucked and I didn’t have an overpriced protection plan, but guess what, cameras are about half the price from when I bought that one, so we just got a new one. I highly doubt any warranty would have protected it since it was kind of my fault it broke, and the newest camera was 130 dollars, about a 3rd of the old one. Does a 130 dollar camera really need a 45 dollar extended warranty? I mean come on, that same camera will probably be half that price in 6 months. If I were to add up all the times I could have bought an extended warranty on televisions, computers, laptops, cameras and video game consoles, I could have easily paid for replacements for the occasional breakdown that may happen once in 15 years and have.
Being rude to sales people is wrong, I realize it’s their job to sell these, but it’s also their job not to be an aggressive jerk when the customer says no.
Kevin August 13, 2011 at 10:51 pm
You should honestly know that most Best Buy staffs primarily consist of incompetent morons that will try to sell you anything because they work on something called commission. Their extended warranty sucks and their overall knowledge and customer service is so under par its preposterous. The only reason they get a lot of business is because of their stock. I personally however work at Staples where we receive no type of commission whatsoever. The point is I get a lot of customers that don’t want anything to do with you and that go in and say I’m not listening to this guy because…cough cough… I KNOW IT ALL…..and then there’s the customer who takes the time to actually listen and engage with the associate and then may or may not get protection…I personally enjoy dealing with the customer that tends to listen and take part in conversation and asks questions even if they don’t end up purchasing the plan, rather than completely ignore you. It honestly feels like your wasting your time at these stores because the whole part of the process is customer service. If you don’t want to hear it, ORDER ONLINE! Is it really that big of a deal to wait a whole business day to receive some of your products? Most of the time you can find it cheaper than in store. Point is, you don’t wanna deal with associates, so in all honesty, there isn’t going to be one associate that wants to deal with you. So stop wasting everyone’s time! =]
Thea December 2, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Kevin, being an employee from Best Buy, I’d just like to let you know that we’re also a non-commissioned based store. The sales people trying to sell warranties are in the same position as you have been in. There will be those customers where they’ll be completely rude, shoo you away at your register, and then stay at your register after paying and just talking to their friends while the line grows. There are also the customers as you said, that you build a strong connection with because they aren’t in a hurry to go somewhere and they aren’t afraid to talk to you on a level where they don’t feel like they’re just another dollar sign to you. It’s all the same wherever you go.
Ian, I’m sorry to hear that you had such a horrible experience, and I know exactly the type of person you’re talking about, because I see them here and there at my work too, I work with them! There are those people where the warranties will come in handy, particularly accidental plan ones if you’re the clumsy type. My roommate spilled a cocktail on her laptop on accident and they replaced her mac with a brand new one in about a week when she went to Best Buy. However, if people are certain that they won’t need it because they know they can actually take care of their things, then I don’t try to push the sale past two or three no’s. Being an employee that works there, my personal goal is to make sure you do know that it’s offered and the advantages it has over the manufacture warranty, etc. Whether or not you go for it and get it, it’s your choice. But if something happens to it later on I just would want you to know that it was offered to you, and hope that it stays fine.
Unfortunately my PS3 just died from a power failure so I’m going to have to take it to get repaired. Hopefully I won’t have to buy a new one. But because of how long it lasted (4-5 years without being faulty until now), I probably wouldn’t get an extended warranty. I think the warranties stand for certain people under certain circumstances, but so long as that was offered to you, can’t say I didn’t try! Hopefully your future experiences will have more understanding sales people that don’t try to pry at you.
As for them trying to not get fired, it is true. A lot of the times my supervisors tell me to push sales on customers until they get mad at me, which astonished me that that would even be insisted. Here’s just another employee that wants to make sure you have a good experience so you keep coming back.
Ian Hoar | Follow me on Twitter | December 2, 2011 at 7:14 pm
I think it’s all about body language too. A lot of people will be receptive and a lot won’t, it should be easy to spot the people who just want to buy it and go. Work on the ones that are unsure, but if someone doesn’t want it, just let it be.
I never buy them because I buy a lot of tech stuff and I’m careful with it. Even if a gadget does break and it’s not covered I’m still ahead of the game because every warranty extension fee that I have turned down more than compensates for the cost of a new gadget.
Lowes Employee February 6, 2012 at 10:56 am
I work for Lowes in the appliance department and here at my company we have a new standard that if we don’t sell 30% of our appliances with an extended warranty attached to them we will be moved from our department to someplace else in the building. It has caused much stress with the employees. Our dept is the dept that makes commission so moving somebody from appliances to say lumber or paint would be a massive pay cut. Thus the reason you may get a hard sell on an extended warranty with Lowes appliances.
Ian Hoar | Follow me on Twitter | February 6, 2012 at 11:50 am
Well that seems to be bad business sense to me, but what do I know. At the end of the day, an angry customer is bad for business, period. I don’t shop at Lowes, but I’ll be sure to avoid it in the future too. It’s bad on two levels, it’s not a nice work place environment for the employees and if employees are stressed out, it will lead to bad experiences for customers.