CompUSA warranty

[stonepro]

I've been waiting for BestBuy to get the 5450 in store so that I could by it with the warranty (I heard good things here and on brighthand). It doesn't seem to be happening though..

So I think CompUSA has a similar warranty (bring it back for a comparable replacement for 2 years if it breaks), but I've never really trusted their customer service...

Anyone have any advice?!?

[Unreal32]

I've been waiting for BestBuy to get the 5450 in store so that I could by it with the warranty (I heard good things here and on brighthand). It doesn't seem to be happening though..

So I think CompUSA has a similar warranty (bring it back for a comparable replacement for 2 years if it breaks), but I've never really trusted their customer service...

Anyone have any advice?!?

I've had nothing but good experiences with CompUSA... had to replace my Jornada, got a Toshiba. That didn't work, so I got an iPaq 3955. In each case, they came through. I highly recommend them.

[seanturner]

Their warenty is basically a no questions asked replacement. You bring it in, tell them what's broken, they check that the serial number of your PDA is the same on in their computer, they say you ahve an $X amount of credit go pick out a replacement.

You can get the warenty in either 1, 2, or even 3 years I believe.

I've had nothing but good experiences with it.

Their laptop warenties, however, are another story.

[stitics]

Maybe I should move to where you're from. In my experience, CompUSA is a bunch of idiots. They rarely know the answers to my questions, and when my HP Jornada 568 took a dive, I was told I would have to wait for a week for the "powers that be" to determine what a suitable replacement would be for it (the Jornada line being discontinued, and all). I didn't have a problem with that, per se, but about 2 days into the week, one of the reps from the store called and told me my unit was ready for pickup (a Toshiba e330 or 335, I forget which). I go down to the store and they look at me with this confounded look on their collective faces and tell me... "Er, um....nope...sorry." From the beginning, I had no intention of keeping the unit, as I wanted something that could use ANYTHING I still had from my Jornada (at this point we're talking only the CF card)....and the e33X was going to give me a ~$300 trade in value. I knew I was only going to get store credit, so, of the things available, I had my sights set on the e740...a difference of ~$300. To shorten a story that doesn't even pretend to be short, I talked to the manager, who gave me a $30 credit to be used towards a case, I went in at the end of the originally prescribed week and got my replacement unit... (perhaps mistakenly, perhaps not...I dared not ask) an e550, I did the swap out and, since I was planning on spending the $300 anyway, left with the e740, the 2 year warranty on the e740 (as much of a pain as it is and as much as I don't like CompUSA, it is still better than forking over $600 for a new PDA), AND the Linksys Wireless Access Point Router.

But I'm not bitter.

Anyway, maybe I am being unfair....because the other 2 times I had to go replace a unit they had in stock it was very straight forward.

Hope this helped and thank you for listening to my venting.

[jt3]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with stitics. I've had nothing but bad luck with CompUSA, and what's more, everytime I've had to stand in the warranty line, it's been behind 2 or 3 others with similar "nothing but bad" experiences. The sad thing is, stitics's story is almost IDENTICAL to one experience I had. Only replace the "HP Jornada 568" with a "iPAQ 3765" and the rest could be word for word... simply amazing.

Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is that it purely depends on the manager and employees of your local CompUSA. At some stores, it's "No questions asked." At others, it's "Let's make it so difficult that they'll give up."

If I were you, I would forget about the CompUSA warranty and get a CarePAQ from HP. For the same cost, you get three years "Next Business Day" replacement, instead of two years "who knows how they'll act" uncertainty. For a little more, you can even get "accidental damage" coverage, which will include gravity mishaps (i.e. dropping the darn thing).

[DVallot]

In every CompUSA I have been in so far, the PDA warranty has been a no-questions-asked warranty that covers accidental damage and plain old wear and tear. If something happens during the 1 or 2 years you are covered, you bring it back to any CompUSA and either A) exchange it for the same exact machine or B) Get credit for whatever you paid for the device and apply that to ANY other PDA.

I know for a fact that when the 5455s hit the shelves, there were many exchanges done by iPAQ owners covered under the plan that wanted the latest and greatest and were happy to apply money they already spent towards a brand new device.

[MultiMatt]

JT3,
Where do you get the carePAQ from HP? I've not yet purchased a 5400 but intend to - would like to go that route...

Thanks,
Matt

[seanturner]

And how long from the date of purchase can you buy one?

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is that it purely depends on the manager and employees of your local CompUSA. At some stores, it's "No questions asked." At others, it's "Let's make it so difficult that they'll give up."
That seems to be the case with every store that has this type of warranty. I remember people that bought their PDAs online were going to Best Buy to purchase a warranty with no questions asked. They would wait a year or two and go back and trade it in.

I walked into a local Best Buy and asked them if I could do the same (buy a warranty for my unit purchased elsewhere) and the manager looked at me like I was on drugs.

[bullrat]

MultiMatt and seanturner,

I poked around the HP site and found the CarePaq pricing at the URL below if you're still interested in details. It appears that CarePaq has to be purchased within 30 days of handheld purchase.

-bullrat

Click for CarePaq Info (http://h18005.www1.hp.com/services/carepaq/us/hardware/cp_portables.html#handheld)

[MultiMatt]

bullrat,
Thank you for the URL!

Seeing as how I am averaging less than a year per device (crazy? perhaps!), I think I'd go with the 1 yr Next Business Day Exchange with Offsite Accidental Damage protection service...

Curious - they need to update their page - heck, it doesn't even reflect the 3900 series, much less the 5400's!!!

Matt