Bestbuy accidental damage warranty

J

jflail2

Gawd
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
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646
Hi all:

I am seriously contemplating pulling the trigger on the Gateway P-6860FX at BB, since it's 1249 and you get a free game with it.

My main question is, does anyone have any experience with BB's accidental damage warranty? Is it worth the extra 350? Are they a hassle to deal with after the fact?

I don't plan on doing much to this laptop in regards to mods if that helps to sway the decision.....

Also, this comes with vista 64bit OS. Would the install disc for vista also have a 32bit version? I've heard of driver issues with the 64bit OS, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to pick this machine up if am guaranteeing myself future headaches with the OS.

I plan on using this for gaming in the living room, and for watching dvds, burning music, etc.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
64 bit on vista is fine. I am running it and have been just fine. I have only had one software incompatibility with a temp monitoring tool.
 
jflail2 said:
Hi all:

I am seriously contemplating pulling the trigger on the Gateway P-6860FX at BB, since it's 1249 and you get a free game with it.

My main question is, does anyone have any experience with BB's accidental damage warranty? Is it worth the extra 350? Are they a hassle to deal with after the fact?

I don't plan on doing much to this laptop in regards to mods if that helps to sway the decision.....

Also, this comes with vista 64bit OS. Would the install disc for vista also have a 32bit version? I've heard of driver issues with the 64bit OS, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to pick this machine up if am guaranteeing myself future headaches with the OS.

I plan on using this for gaming in the living room, and for watching dvds, burning music, etc.

Any help would be appreciated.
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BB uses an external warranty company that does all the work, and frankly BB just sucks at that. I have heard of people who actually lost their stuff and BB refused to to even pay them back, so they are a major hassle to deal with. Warranties through BB should never be taken, only through the manufacturer.

By the specs on this you want this as a desktop replacement, right? Personally I believe that all the extended warranties are just a marketing ploy to get more cash. However, if you really want to have a better "peace of mind" get an extended warranty from Gateway. They offer them.

To answer your 64-bit question, since you laptop has 4GB of RAM it is not a good idea to go back to a 32-bit OS b/c the system can only utilize up to 4GB in a 32-bit environment and in a 64-bit environment, it can address 128GB. It is also supposed to have better security and better performance. I don't think that Gateway would put the disks on the box, only the recovery disks that reinstall that OS. Just leave 64-bit on there.

Nice PC, BTW. Gongratz, you lucky dog you. ;) :p
 
Thx Grim and Cpt. I had concerns with gaming on the 64bit OS, but it sounds like it would be fine.

I was more intrigued by BB's "drop it/break it/spill water on it" warranty. I'm afraid I'll get this thing home and spill a coke on it/drop it 2wks later. I have never owned a personal laptop so that's what had me curious.

So after I buy it from BB I can get the same type of warranty with Gateway??
 
I have never had any problems with BB's extended warranty, I dropped my previous vaio laptop and the monitor cracked, they took it in, no questions asked... after 3 repairs they offered me a new laptop, and of course I accepted :D
 
jflail2 said:
Thx Grim and Cpt. I had concerns with gaming on the 64bit OS, but it sounds like it would be fine.

I was more intrigued by BB's "drop it/break it/spill water on it" warranty. I'm afraid I'll get this thing home and spill a coke on it/drop it 2wks later. I have never owned a personal laptop so that's what had me curious.

So after I buy it from BB I can get the same type of warranty with Gateway??
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Yes, they do. Go to the Gateway Support page, on the bottom right corner it will say "Upgrade your warranty."

You technically have the same warranty that you'd get with WorstBuy but at least it goes straight to the manufacturer and not some third-party warehouse. That way you can track it and its unlikely that they can lose it.
 
In my experience with Besbuys warranty is that if you are still in the 1 year MFG warranty they will send it to the MFG. If you are outside of the 1 year they will send it to there "Geeksquad City" for them to do the repairs.

As far as the accidental damage goes is that if you damage it and the repair is more than the cost of the item they will replace it. If the repair costs less than the item they will repair it. This is only good for 1 time... so for example if you spill some beer on your keyboard and take it in to get it replaced and they repair the problem, the next time you accidentaly damage it, it wont be covered.

So bottom line is if you damange it make sure you damage it good so it can be replaced.
 
I have a Gateway tablet and I have the 3-year accidental damage on it, so they do have them. Only cost me $199, too :)
 
icthus13 said:
I have a Gateway tablet and I have the 3-year accidental damage on it, so they do have them. Only cost me $199, too :)
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Good stuff icthus, obviously cheaper than BB, and I wouldn't be putting more coin in their pocket either.....

And thx for the link cpt, much appreciated.

Sounds like I might be making a trip to BB after work today :D

edit: Unless of course anyone else has any valuable input!
 
I just bought a vaio sz at bb in feb and I got the accidental damage warranty 1) cause it has a super thin lcd and 2) my gf busted my old one when she threw my backpack. I'll let you know Feb 2011 if it was worth it.
 
Gateways aren't that hard to take apart. I'd say stay with the manufacturer's warranty, and perhaps upgrade through the manufacturer.

As far as Cpt.'s comment goes, BB has their own service centers, they don't usually use 3rd parties. Circuit City, however, outsources to GE Assurant which also outsources to a 3rd party repair depot.

I'd get a warranty for consoles and such through Best Buy as they replace them on the spot... but retail stores use horrendous service centers for their computers, so I'd stay away generally.
 
well, I am posting from the new laptop. Definitely made the right choice. Bought it online so I could get the free game included as well. Got Crysis, which looks pretty cool so far.

I decided to skip the BB warranty based on everyone's input here. I'd rather just deal with gateway, as I am pretty careful as a whole with my toys. I think at most I'll just extend it through gateway.

Thanks for the input, this thing rocks!
 
CptFalcon said:
Yes, they do. Go to the Gateway Support page, on the bottom right corner it will say "Upgrade your warranty."

You technically have the same warranty that you'd get with WorstBuy but at least it goes straight to the manufacturer and not some third-party warehouse. That way you can track it and its unlikely that they can lose it.
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Best Buy doesn't outsource any services. In ohio we have a service center where eastern US Geek Squad repairs go. We go the manufacturer to get parts yes, that is how we make money on the service plan is in the first year.

last time I sent anything to the manufacturer it took 2+ months to get it back. Every repair we send out had three numbers to track it, service number, shipping tracking number, and the tag number. It is unlikely we will just lose it.

Andantie said:
In my experience with Besbuys warranty is that if you are still in the 1 year MFG warranty they will send it to the MFG. If you are outside of the 1 year they will send it to there "Geeksquad City" for them to do the repairs.

As far as the accidental damage goes is that if you damage it and the repair is more than the cost of the item they will replace it. If the repair costs less than the item they will repair it. This is only good for 1 time... so for example if you spill some beer on your keyboard and take it in to get it replaced and they repair the problem, the next time you accidentaly damage it, it wont be covered.

So bottom line is if you damange it make sure you damage it good so it can be replaced.
Click to expand...

the only time they do that is if the screen is broke twice.

Gateway DID have an accidental warranty program and dropped it.

I have drop my laptop three times, first time screen broke, dog tripped me. second time, was off the bed when I fell asleep on it and the platters came lose in the HDD. and the third time was when my sister was using it and fell down the stairs broke it in half for the most part and had it replace that time. All three times is was fixed.
 
One thing that I would be leary about a policy such as accidental damage is that if you drop the machine and discovered that, for example, the hard drive now makes a louder noise but still works and the accident didn't show any external damage then it would be hard to convince that the hard drive is now louder and damaged and that goes with any other part with that situation in which the damage is latent and can't be seen.

When it comes to private insurance you got to be really carefull who you deal with because some private insurance agets are the scum of the earth as they love to prey on ignorance, if you have a claim with a bad agent they will say "oh yeah, PROVE IT!" and they will "look under every single rock" to see if they can screw you out of your money.
 
CptFalcon said:
Yes, they do. Go to the Gateway Support page, on the bottom right corner it will say "Upgrade your warranty."

You technically have the same warranty that you'd get with WorstBuy but at least it goes straight to the manufacturer and not some third-party warehouse. That way you can track it and its unlikely that they can lose it.
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FYI. Unless something changed I tried this with my 6831FX and I got an error message saying because I bought it from a retail outlet that I didn't qualify to upgrade the warranty through GW.
 
Per the GW support page...

Gateway Warranty Upgrade Center
Protect your technology with great extended service plans from Gateway. Gateway offers you choice with our Value, Value Plus, or Total Protection plans. Each plan provides longer-term benefits to provide peace of mind. You decide on the plan that’s just right for you.

These extended service plans are available for consumer notebooks and desktops purchased directly from Gateway. The plans must be bought either at the time of computer purchase or within the first 365 days after shipment, and they must be bought before the original warranty has expired.

Gateway computers purchased from an authorized retailer do not qualify for these extended service plans; see the retailer for its warranty policies. Owners of professional systems purchased from Gateway, which recently sold its small business, mid & large business, government and education segments to MPC Computers, should visit MPC’s Support page for information on warranties. For more information on the Gateway-MPC agreement, go to our Professional Segment Acquisition page.
 
Anyone know how widespread that policy is? While clicking through the myriad of crap that came with it, my acer laptop (bought from circuit city) offered to sell me a manufacturers extended waranty.
 
i have the accident coverage on mine (worked at bby at the time, so got it for pretty cheap). My gateway laptop's power button busted so i took it in for repair. the hinges on the lcd were cracked but still worked, so i was gonna get that fixed too. Geek noob told me that the warranty only covers if the device no longer functions due to the damage so my lcd hinges are still cracked. They 'fixed' the power button only to have it bust again less than a month later. i didn't feel like giving it to them for another 3 weeks so i'm just living w/ the iffy power button.

so, i suggest you save your money and just be careful w/ the device.
 
wcdturbo said:
Per the GW support page...

Gateway Warranty Upgrade Center
Protect your technology with great extended service plans from Gateway. Gateway offers you choice with our Value, Value Plus, or Total Protection plans. Each plan provides longer-term benefits to provide peace of mind. You decide on the plan that’s just right for you.

These extended service plans are available for consumer notebooks and desktops purchased directly from Gateway. The plans must be bought either at the time of computer purchase or within the first 365 days after shipment, and they must be bought before the original warranty has expired.

Gateway computers purchased from an authorized retailer do not qualify for these extended service plans; see the retailer for its warranty policies. Owners of professional systems purchased from Gateway, which recently sold its small business, mid & large business, government and education segments to MPC Computers, should visit MPC’s Support page for information on warranties. For more information on the Gateway-MPC agreement, go to our Professional Segment Acquisition page.
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That's interesting. This contradicts the conversation I had through online chat with the Gateway Upgrade department a couple days ago when I asked them about upgrading the warranty on a P-6860FX I was going to buy through Best Buy.

Fawn said:
12 Jun 2008 02:52:06 PM - AZRaptor says: I'm inquiring about a warranty upgrade for a Gateway P-6860FX Laptop
12 Jun 2008 02:52:19 PM - Fawn says: Hello AZRaptor, let me check it for you.
12 Jun 2008 02:52:39 PM - Fawn says: Can you provide me with the 13-digit alphanumeric serial number of your laptop so that I can check?
12 Jun 2008 02:53:35 PM - AZRaptor says: I haven't purchased the laptop yet. It's one of the models you sell through Best Buy and I wanted to see if it was possible to upgrade the warranty directly with Gateway rather than through Best Buy's program.
12 Jun 2008 02:53:49 PM - Fawn says: Yes it is possible AZRaptor
12 Jun 2008 02:54:11 PM - Fawn says: An additional year would cost $109.00 or you can extend it an additional two years for $189.00.
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