Panasonic 5year warranty, do you get it or not?

[admin_exported]

Great forum, great help but you've not swayed me onto plasma...yet.

I'm all set to buy the TX37LZD85 and have emailed a price match request with Sound and Vision to JL. That was this morning, so while awaiting reply I called into my local Comet store and found it in stock for £999 with a package choice.

Round one: I asked for a S&V price match (£799), when the assistant got his breath back he mumbled something about a 10 mile radius. Ok I said shall I ask the Bolton Comet to price match? what is the difference? as they would phone the order to you and you would deliver from stock anyway.(not sure if this is correct or not but it sounded good). He went off to check and came back and said they would price match S&V.

Round two: Ok thanks, what about the 5 year warranty? No No No no no no no you only get one year manufactures warranty because we do our own. Hang on, Panasonic are giving away a 5 year manufactures warranty with this set. No No No no no no not from us.

So do I get this 5 year warranty automatically from Panasonic or not??

Round three: This might be tomorrow, depending on what advice I get from you guys.

Cheers

Peter

 

[Pistol Pete1]

I have seen this offer too.

I think its valid from selected shops/companies (Comet probably is not one of them) rather than all retailers.

You have done well to get that price match!! I would run while the goings good....

Hope that helps.....

 

[Anonymous]

I recently bought a Panasonic TH-42PZ85B plasma from my local dealer and got the five year warranty. the dealer freely admitted he couldn't match web prices, but the price he gave me (£1150) was considerably less than the local comet/currys branches could do. This included the five year warranty, £100 off a nice stand, immediate delivery and installation (and I mean immediate - from purchase to full installation in less than one hour!) and a reasonable diamond HDMI cable thrown in. so all in all, i thought it was a reasonable deal - especially as i don't want to take a day off work to sit in and wait for a courier delivery.

Getting to the point, it appears to be that the warranty is predominantly offered via authorised independent dealers. Although they might not offer the absolute best price for the TV, if you add in the free warranty and the better after-sales service, it may swing it for you.

 

[Ravey Gravey Davy]

If you have the offer from JL at that price and JL offer 5 yrs warranty then IMO take it.Have been buying tellies from them for 20 yrs and their warranty is excellent.On the one occasion I had to call them out ,they had to take away but left a replacement(not exact but heh).Just cos it is a manufacturers warranty,doesn't mean the service is going to be top notch,(it might be but I do not know who is covering Panny warranty-ask Sound and Vision)

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Guys,

Still awaiting feedback from JL. I need to have a second option in place, in the event that JL don't agree the price match. I notice that Richer Sounds also price match providing that the price includes a 5year warranty. Any of you had dealings with RS? I also noted from their site that they offer to sell you a 5 year panel protection warranty!! so how does this differ from the Panasonic 5 year warrenty?

Is it really this difficult to get a good deal, it's become a war, I now have to clinch a good deal or I'll have failed, does it get everyone like this.

Peter

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Hi,

I've had many dealings with Richer Sounds in the past (mainly hi fi rather than home cinema). They have price matched no problem, althought they tend to be one of the cheapest anyway.

I have purchased their 5 year warranty before, cos they can be very cheap for certain products. Fortunately, I have not had to use that waranty, so I have no feedback in terms of customer service. Friends have used them, and all highly recommend their service though.

As for reliability, I've been told many times before that if a product is to go wrong, they tend to in the first year anyway. Saying that I had a Panasonic product go wrong recently, after 14 months of use. Full marks to Panasonic, though, cos they agreed to pay for the repair in full!!

Now thats customer service.....

Hope that helps....

 

[bf1]

I would have nothing to do with Comet especially after I witnessed one of their kiddy sales guys `drawing` love hearts on a LCD screen.

Yes - drawing, and then standing there fascinated at how the hearts `disappeared`. Fortunately for him I couldn`t see a manager or anyone over the age of 16 otherwise I would have reported him.

Go to John Lewis, great service.

 

[Anonymous]

I phoned Panasonic a few days ago to find out what the deal was with their warranty.

The explanation I was given was that it was for in-store purchases only (i.e. not online) and that the retailer had to fill out/stamp a form. I can't remember if this had to be sent back to Panasonic for registration, but, basically it does require action from the retailer.

The guy pointed out that, obviously, the bigger chain stores (Currys, Comet etc.) prefer to sell their own warranties, so almost certainly wouldn't offer Panasonic's free warranty.

If you really want the warranty (and I felt it was worth it) it's best to find a local retailer who will sort out the form, and try to talk them into giving you a good price.

Of course, if Panasonic are offering a free 5 year warranty, that does tell you they're not expecting droves of failing TVs, so if you find an unmissable web price, it might be worth going for it.

 

[Anonymous]

I got my px80 from Premier AV in Birmingham and they gave me T'interweb price in store. As i payed they gave me a warranty app. which they signed. I took it home and filled in my details (and those of the tv) and sent it back to Panasonic.

They returned an 'Extended Guarantee' certificate. If you have a prob you look up your nearest Panasonic repair centre on their website and they deal with it. Seems pretty fool proof to me.

 

[Anonymous]

bf1:I would have nothing to do with Comet especially after I witnessed one of their kiddy sales guys `drawing` love hearts on a LCD screen.

Yes - drawing, and then standing there fascinated at how the hearts `disappeared`. Fortunately for him I couldn`t see a manager or anyone over the age of 16 otherwise I would have reported him.

Go to John Lewis, great service.
jl defo they are great if theres any prob with the tv they replace it, comet will try to repair it and in the end you will suffer from a set that has been poorly repaired! (note: see how no one likes comet)

 

[Anonymous]

Get it from John Lewis - the customer service is second to none

 

[Anonymous]

All,

Once again guys thanks for the comments and good advice.
So far I have contacted JL via email and asked for the price match giving all the details, retail outlet, price, URL etc exactly as recommended via forum posts. I then read again on this forum that it was best to actually go into JL and fill out the form, so on Saturday morning I did. I hope that's not overkill, anyway it's done now. It's now Tuesday, so it would be nice to get some sort of a reply today.

Peter