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Nikon vs. Best Buy Warranty

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Michal Tracz

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Hello,

Have been reading this forum for few months now and finally got around to registering. Firstly, my hat is off to all of you for providing such a fertile ground for discussion!

I am planning to get the D200 within the next few weeks. I will probably get it through the local Best Buy, as I have a line of interest free credit with them. Just yesterday I went over to ask a few questions and the issue of warranty came up. Best Buy offers a four-year plan (some sort of extended warranty it seems) that includes battery changes and sensor cleaning, as well as parts and labor for that period of time. They charge a hefty $200 for that privilage. When asked how is that different from the Nikon warranty, the guy stated that Nikon only offers one year parts and 90 days labor, "after which time you are on your own." Just this morning I scoured through Nikon's site as well as dpreview archives and even Thom Hogan's Nikon waranty explainer and it seems from those posts that Nikon acutally offers a no-cost parts and labor for one year.

My question to the venerable forum is twofold. First, can anyone confirm that Nikon offers full protection for one year, rather than 90 days labor, like the Best Buy guy suggested? And second, do you all think paying an extra $200 for four year extended warranty is a good idea? I am trying to calculate risk here (I went through college as the only person in my class without health insurance, knowing that the risk of getting sick was not enough to outweigh the thousands in insurance premiums paid by classmates...it worked, but once my son was born, I quickly got the best insurance around, knowing that the risk ratio is very different with a little one around). In other words, I much rather spend that $200 towards an SB800, unless the chance of my camera needing attention beyond the Nikon's basic warranty is significant. I appreciate all input and have a great Sunday!!

-Michal
 
Nikon sells an Extended Warranty for the D200. That's the one I bought.
--
Cheers,
Joe
 
You may want to double-check the terms of the BB warranty. Looking at video cameras a few weeks ago, their warranty turned out to be an all-fault inland marine policy by AIG, and not a bad one for the price.

Paul
 
Save your money. Consumer Reports recommends that you skip buying -any- extended warranties. They are a huge profit maker for the retailers which explains why they sell them to you so hard. (Profit margins at Best Buy on new electronic products is fairly low due to the high level of competition. They love selling the extended warranties to increase their profit on the transaction.)

Generally speaking, if they will fail, most consumer electronics fail within 90 days. In the business they call it "infant mortality."

Cheers,
JB
 
jb_va2001 said:
Save your money. Consumer Reports recommends that you skip buying
-any- extended warranties. They are a huge profit maker for the
retailers which explains why they sell them to you so hard. (Profit
margins at Best Buy on new electronic products is fairly low due to
the high level of competition. They love selling the extended
warranties to increase their profit on the transaction.)

Generally speaking, if they will fail, most consumer electronics
fail within 90 days. In the business they call it "infant
mortality."

Cheers,
JB
Click to expand...
 
Michal Tracz said:
Best Buy offers
a four-year plan (some sort of extended warranty it seems) that
includes battery changes and sensor cleaning...
Click to expand...
Um, if you plan to take your camera back to Best Buy every time you change the battery you won't be using the camera much since it will always be "in the shop". It's ludicrous for any store to try and sell an insurance policy by stating they'll change your battery for you. As for sensor cleaning, I would say "most" people on these forums rarely have a dust issue, and a blast to the sensor from a simple rocket blower will solve most dust specks should you get one.

Save the $200 for some other camera accessory you'll be wanting or needing.
 
Hello Mark,

Just checked out your pbase gallery...some superb pics there. Being from NY, I loved the Chrysler Building one ;). Thanks for the post...I may not have been clear..Best Buy people will actually provide you with a brand new battery any time your old one dies on you in the period of four years, not just "change" it for you. Otherwise it would be pretty funny...

To all others, thanks for your posts as well. Totally agree that extended warranties were invented by the retailers to pad their profits, but have been wondering whether it might make sense in this case. I'll look into the extended Nikon warranty, though I will probably have to buy it at the same time as the camera and doubt Best Buy would carry it. Can you confirm that regular Nikon warranty only offers 90 days labor?
 
i managed a Ritz for 3 years, long ago. The warrenties are very profitable. But the Ritz warrenty covers accidental damages, like dropping and being run over by a car.

IF, you are worried about that kind of damage and are that type of shooter (outdoors, etc) the extended warrenty is a good value. I don't shoot that way and didn't buy it with my D70.

If you use the AMEX or some other high end CCs, they extend the manufacutures warrenty up to an extra year at no charge.
 
Nikon's Warranty on the D200 parts/labor is 1 year. They also have an extended service plan cost for the D70S is $90 for 2 additional years (not sure about cost for the D200). I would net rely on BB to clean my CCD. You can do it yourself and it takes a few minutes vs perhaps several weeks if you have BB do it.

Laslo
--
lv1
http://laslo.smugmug.com
Smugmug $5 discount coupon #
 
why bother spending the money on an extended warranty, by the time the one nikon warranty is up the camera is out dated and it is time to get a new one:)
 
Do NOT buy a Best Buy Extended Warranty. Read the fine print and disregard what the sales people tell you. The warranty is basically they can try to fix it 3 times, with up to however long they decide to fix whatever is wrong. In other words, they can take six months.

Stay away from Best Buy's Extended warranty. If you want an extended warranty, stick with Nikon. You'll be very sorry otherwise should you have a problem. I speak from personal experience, unfortunately. Live and learn. I should have known better.

GM
 
There have been a number of nightmare stories in this forum of those that tried to use the warranty they bought with their cameras at BB. My brother has had 2 printers that had major problems that he bought from them. They didn't fix the problems and they didn't honor the warranty trying to say there was no problem. Maybe it's only in my side of the country this happens.

--
http://www.pbase.com/stilllearning/inbox
 
I overheard the salesman at my local Ritz telling a propestive buyer about the advantages of the extended warranty. Batteries, sensor cleaning, blah, blah, blah. What got my attention was the damage coverage, it covers everything (his words).

He basically told the lady "if you drop the camera a month before the extended warranty expires, we'll give you new one (since there's no way that camera will be still in production) or a gift certificate for what you paid for the camera."

Wink, wink, nudge, nudge...he was telling her to spend the extra $80 bucks for the ExtWar and you can get a new camera in 2 years. Spend $400 for one camera now or spend $480 for one camera now and a new one (or your money back in the future) in 2 years.
 
The warranty won't cover abuse. No matter what the salesperson says. They'll refuse to fix it.

As I test, I went to two different stores and asked various salespeople about the extended warranty. Almost from a script, they carefully told me "if something goes wrong and we can't fix it, we'll replace it." Not one told me they get three chances, will take whatever time they want, and then use whatever excuse they can to get out of the warranty, which is their real practice.

As I said, be warned. Stay away.

GM
 
It could be the difference between insurance and warranty. I bought a P&S camera a fews ago with my AMEX and I dropped it in the ocean. I told them what happened and they refunded my money.

My cell phone warranty/insurance covers anything. I accidently ran over my phone (I told the agent that I ran it over) and they covered it. I received a new phone within 2 business days.

There may be a problem if you tell the salesperson that you dropped it on purpose in order to get a new camera.

It's as easy as reading the literature at the camera store to determine what they offer. The Ritz and BB type warranties my also include insurance.
 
I Hate box stores!!

but with that said, when my 2 yr old D70 acquired BGLOD the week before I went on vacation I checked everywhere for a D200. BB had one.

I went on their website and noticed the ext warrantee was $149. not 199. I went to the store, bought the D200 and considering the complexity of the electronics and my recent D70 experience bought the Ext warr. for $149. ( I needed a manager to drop the price $50.)

I have had a positive exp. with BB warrantees on two laptops I have bought over the last 7 years. one laptop failed after 2 years( A Sony vaio) and was replaced with a new model and the second an HP had the mother board, hard drive and battery replaced 34 months into the 36month warrantee both were completed with 14 business days.
So make your own decision.

dale

--
Homicidal tendencies be damned, I'm stopping the medication.
 
I'm sure that not everyone has a horrible experience. It may depend on the local store management. That said, do a google search on best buy warranty. You won't find many complimentary comments, if any at all. Resellerratings.com gives it a zero rating for returns and not much better for repairs.

I agree, make your own decision-but you need to read the fine print in the warranty pamphlet-which they give you AFTER your purchase (although they do have them available in the store if you ask). As the saying goes, let the buyer beware.

GM
 
I have a friend who works at a BB, that extended warranty is worthless.

Its nice if your camera totally dies on you, but a) until then its a $100 piece of paper and b) if anything non-camera-dying happens, you're sending it to nikon anyways.

Also, you have no idea the abuse cameras go through at best buy. The d200 you'll be buying has probably been taken out of the box, demod, who knows if the usa warranty is still in there.. people at best buy know jack about high end dslrs, so they've probabliy left the body cap off for weeks at a time.. kids might have been playing with the camera and wrecking it for all you know.

There was this 5D there, the most expensive camera BB sells, and the sensor was wrecked, mirror was horrible- scratched up beyond recognition - and all and all I pity the poor guy who ended up buying it.
 
For $150. After two year it crapped out. Sent it in, and after 2 weeks, I had it back in my hands. And yes it was fixed. They also replace my battery after it went bad. My Nikon battery wasn't all that great from the get go, but they replaced it with a better aftermarket battery. This is the second time I used their warranty and it only took two weeks the last time. And guess what, no shipping cost to you. Also, it is true that they will replace it after the third try and if that model is discontinued, they will replace it with the replacement or better camera. It is also true that sometimes they don't fix it right the first time, but Nikon don't have a perfect track record either.

Also, don't listen what the sales people tell you what the warranty covers. They are WRONG half the time. Read what is covered before you buy, that way you won't be so surprised when they tell you that is not covered. One more thing, since I have 1.5 years left on my warranty, that is 1.5 more years that I do not have to worry about paying to get my D70 fix.

Mark
Michal Tracz said:
Hello,

Have been reading this forum for few months now and finally got
around to registering. Firstly, my hat is off to all of you for
providing such a fertile ground for discussion!

I am planning to get the D200 within the next few weeks. I will
probably get it through the local Best Buy, as I have a line of
interest free credit with them. Just yesterday I went over to ask
a few questions and the issue of warranty came up. Best Buy offers
a four-year plan (some sort of extended warranty it seems) that
includes battery changes and sensor cleaning, as well as parts and
labor for that period of time. They charge a hefty $200 for that
privilage. When asked how is that different from the Nikon
warranty, the guy stated that Nikon only offers one year parts and
90 days labor, "after which time you are on your own." Just this
morning I scoured through Nikon's site as well as dpreview archives
and even Thom Hogan's Nikon waranty explainer and it seems from
those posts that Nikon acutally offers a no-cost parts and labor
for one year.

My question to the venerable forum is twofold. First, can anyone
confirm that Nikon offers full protection for one year, rather than
90 days labor, like the Best Buy guy suggested? And second, do you
all think paying an extra $200 for four year extended warranty is a
good idea? I am trying to calculate risk here (I went through
college as the only person in my class without health insurance,
knowing that the risk of getting sick was not enough to outweigh
the thousands in insurance premiums paid by classmates...it worked,
but once my son was born, I quickly got the best insurance around,
knowing that the risk ratio is very different with a little one
around). In other words, I much rather spend that $200 towards an
SB800, unless the chance of my camera needing attention beyond the
Nikon's basic warranty is significant. I appreciate all input and
have a great Sunday!!

-Michal
Click to expand...
--



Church Event Photographer

Full time auto tech, part time photographer. Just wished it were the other way around. Mark Thompson/MTT
Louisville, KY. USA

http://mtt.smugmug.com/
 
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