I decided to purchase this warranty shortly after we ordered a Mitsubishi WD-73737 73-Inch 1080p 120Hz Home Theater DLP HDTV from Amazon, because Amazon recommended this service.

In the end, I went for the SquareTrade 4-Year TV Warranty (00-2000 LCD, Plasma, LED) plan but the 3 year is in no way different from the 4 year plan other than the cost and the coverage duration. I decided to take the 4-year plan because the coverage is transferable and, on a per-year basis, the extra cost for the extra year is well justified – keep in mind that, with a manufacturer’s 1 year warranty, a 3-year plan only has 2 years worth of coverage from SquareTrade while the 4-year buys 3 years of coverage from them.

THE PURCHASE EXPERIENCE

Getting the warranty was relatively easy. I had a few questions because our TV is a DLP, not an LCD, Plasma or LED but, to my surprise the off-shore persons answering the phone – and it was easy to get to talk to a human – were able to intelligently search their knowledge base, find the definition of DLP, determine that my TV could be covered, correctly answer my question regarding the DLP’s replacement lamp (no, it’s not covered) and made a note in their system that my TV was a DLP.

Shortly after I actually completed the purchase at Amazon, I received an email from SquareTrade that had a printable copy of the service agreement/contract.

I was told over the phone that I had to get a userID/password at their site in order to be able to manage my coverage information. Once that completed, I was able to log in and retrieve my contract number and instructions on how to send SquareTrade my proof of purchase – simply paste Amazon’s invoice into an email that has the contract number in the subject line.

SquareTrade then sent me an email that acknowledged me sending them my proof of purchase and advising me to keep the original because they were not going to actually verify my purchase until I made my first claim.

COVERAGE

It may be interesting to understand how coverage works without spending time on the phone with the company reps so, here it is.

- There is a 60-day full refund upon cancellation provision so, if you don’t like the service agreement, it’s easy to cancel.
- This coverage is concurrent with the manufacturer’s warranty. In other words, this 4-year coverage begins on the day you sign for it but SquareTrade won’t be taking claims from you while the manufacturer’s warranty is still in effect. If your manufacturer has a one-year warranty on your TV, SquareTrade will cover it for years 2, 3 and 4.
- The value of coverage is limited to whatever you paid for your TV. This is important so, let me provide the full quote from the agreement:

[The total amount that We will pay for repairs or replacement made in connection with all claims that You make pursuant to this Service Agreement shall not exceed the purchase price of the Product, less taxes. In the event that We make payments for repairs, which in the aggregate, are equal to the purchase price or replace the Product with a new, rebuilt or refurbished product of equal or similar features and functionality, We will have no further obligations under this Service Agreement.]

- There is a ‘no lemon’ provision in the agreement which states that if the same item is repaired 3 times for the same defect within a year they will replace your TV with an equivalent product, at which time the warranty coverage ends – will not cover the replacement.
- If your TV is damaged by a power surge and you had a power surge protector they may ask you to send it over to them for examination (probably to see if they can get some money from the power surge protector manufacturer).
- Any time we are talking about replacements, they reserve the right to ask for the defective item to be sent to them and they will provide the box and the shipping label.
- They will help arrange for in-house repairs and pay the repair company directly.
- They do not cover scratches or cracks.
- They do not cover any damage cause by you doing terrible things to your TV – like leaving it out in the rain.
- There is no deductible.
- They will allow for the agreement to be transferred if you sell your TV – can do it at their Web site.

MY RATING

I haven’t made any claim yet but, since Amazon stands behind this company and based on the service agreement and on my experience in dealing with the people at the call center, I am confident that this is a company worth doing business with so they get a 5-star.

Square Trade TV Warranty was quick to respond on our purchase . We have not had to use it but hopefully they will respond as quickly if we have a problem .

Don’t bother getting your warranty from the store you purchased your electronics. Get it from squaretrade at a lower price and better service.

My LCD TV died after 2 months of use and manufacturer wouldn’t help because I purchased it off of ebay. Luckily I purchased a 3-year squaretrade warranty so filed a claim and got back the full amount in less than 2 weeks.

Customer service people are knowledgeable and polite. I could not be happier. When I get a new TV, I’ll definitely purchase another squaretrade warranty for it.

Made a claim re: 47″ ebay purchased LCD HDTV on a Tuesday: Courteous, friendly representative said they would refund purchase price, rather than attempt an in-home repair (after hearing description of problem). She emailed an affdavit to for me to sign and email back; and, said depending on how quickly they received it, the full purchase price would be in my PayPal account on the following Friday or Tuesday night. I rec’d the affidavit within 1 to 2 minutes, signed it, and send it back immediately. When I had not heard from them by that Friday A.M., I called to check on the status of my claim. A different (and equally couteous and friendly) representative asked me “who” in claims had I sent the affidavit to, as he could not locate it. I told him that email address was [...] with NO NAME! He immediately sent me another affidavit that would be directed to him; and, said that if I signed and returned it right away, he would have my refund in my PayPal account on Tuesday night. I did and SO DID HE – full PayPal refund Tuesday evening!!! It can’t get much easier than that! I used it to purchase a 50″ plasma HDTV; and, of course I purchased another 4-year SquareTrade Warranty!!!