# Is buying a 4 year warranty at best buy for roamio pro a good idea?



## celtic pride (Nov 8, 2005)

I just bought one for mine but i'm not sure if its worth the $85.00 to do this. has anyone had a roamio pro go bad without the warranty ? If so does tivo give you a deal to get another one? I think best buy will just send me a new pro if mine goes bad in those 4 years.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

IMHO No. Spending 19% of the cost of an item like this for an extended warranty is a terrible investment. That's why stores push them like they do. They are big money makers for them.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

It is if you want to make best buy more profitable. That is super expensive compared to a replacement or repair costs.


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## delgadobb (Mar 6, 2004)

If you're dead-set on wanting an extended warranty, either buy directly from Tivo.com & buy their warranty or check into SquareTrade for anything you buy at Best Buy. Extended warranties are the largest profit margin item they sell. Most of the time you're better off putting the same money in a bank account & let it grow until the extended warranty would've expired, then you have a pleasant surprise with bonus money!

Although I'm not generally a fan of extended warranties (especially for items as reliable as a Tivo), I have occasionally purchased SquareTrade warranties. They have a better reputation than others within the industry & sometimes they'll have promotions with discount codes online. I happened to buy two squaretrade warranties through Costco for a couple TV purchases that were phenomenal deals. Since Squaretrade uses purchase price to determine warranty cost, I got a $59 3-year extended warranty on a 73" TV I bought online on Black Friday a few years ago from Best Buy. The replacement cost would be much higher than the purchase price, so I was fine with $59 "insurance". I was able to get a $29 3-year extended warranty through Costco as well for a 50" Plasma (purchased through Sears, who promptly hounded me with followup calls hard-selling their 2-year extended warranty for $181!)

Whatever you do, DON'T buy Best Buy's extended warranty. There are other options that are more reasonable, sometimes as simple as buying with AMEX - which doubles the standard warranty on most items.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

I'm really happy with best buy warranties . Have one on my Roamio, and have made use of them on a number of expensive Harmony remotes. Best buy is 7 minutes from my house. I walk in and walk out a few minutes later with my brand new replacement, no questions asked. If you do go with some other warranty, make sure you know if you have to send in for repair. Also, best buy will replace with a comparable product if yours is no longer available. Bought a nexus 7 from walmart with an inexpensive warranty and it bit the dust. Warranty was utilized, but I was without my tablet for around 30 days with mailing it off, waiting for repair, and waiting for shipment back. Best buy is really simple.


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## chiguy50 (Nov 9, 2009)

I would not bite on the $85 warranty, but I do agree with Fitz that BestBuy's warranties have their advantages. If you have a store nearby (and who doesn't?) it's a quick and easy swap for a brand new unit--or even a better, newer model if your unit is no longer available. There's no shipping delays involved, no quibbles over repairs, and no replacement with a refurbished unit. Although at that price you would generally be better off self-insuring, many people would find this an attractive service.


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## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

Key thing people are missing is are you getting lifetime with this? If not tivo warranties it for as long as you pay monthly or yearly forever if you pay that long. If you are getting lifetime a different thing.


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## mae (Dec 10, 2001)

celtic pride said:


> I just bought one for mine but i'm not sure if its worth the $85.00 to do this. has anyone had a roamio pro go bad without the warranty ? If so does tivo give you a deal to get another one? I think best buy will just send me a new pro if mine goes bad in those 4 years.


When you figure the percentage cost, be sure to include lifetime if you purchased it. The advantage of the BB warranty over TiVo's is that your replacement can be a newer box, and they will transfer your lifetime service to it. My Premiere XL went in 3 years 10 months, and I replaced it with a Roamio Plus at no cost, including a new 4 year warranty. I posted it here, http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=514639&highlight=mae

I normally don't believe in these things, but with the cost of lifetime, and the likelihood of a failure (although HD replacement is much easier with the Roamio), the potential for a new version replacement near the end of the lifecycle make the cost better justified.


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## dswallow (Dec 3, 2000)

If you plan to purchase lifetime service, then an extended warranty/service contract is worth considering. If you are going to pay monthly, TiVo's "Continual Care" warranty may be sufficient -- outside the initial warranty period you'd just pay $49 for a refurbished replacement if some problem develops.

TiVo's 3-year extended warranty is available at the time you activate service even if you didn't purchase the TiVo direct. It costs $39.

Third-party extended warranty plans may offer something else you find valuable that might make the additional cost worthwhile. Read the fine print and check out experiences of others. Square Trade is pretty popular and pretty hassle-free in practice. And there's usually some discount coupons one can get and apply to a Square Trade warranty purchase.

But TiVo's $39 3-year extended warranty is a pretty inexpensive option.


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## mae (Dec 10, 2001)

dswallow said:


> Third-party extended warranty plans may offer something else you find valuable that might make the additional cost worthwhile. Read the fine print and check out experiences of others. Square Trade is pretty popular and pretty hassle-free in practice. And there's usually some discount coupons one can get and apply to a Square Trade warranty purchase.


My concern with Square Trade and other "third party" companies is from TiVo's fine print concerning the exception to the the life of the box, not your life definition in the transfer of PLS, (from http://support.tivo.com/SupportPort...ow-to-Transfer-TiVo-Service-to-a-New-TiVo-DVR:

"The TiVo DVR was exchanged under warranty, either through the retailer or the manufacturer. (Proof of this exchange will be required)."

The use of the phrase "through the retailer" might be used to refuse the transfer if the warranty was not from the selling retailer.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

chiguy50 said:


> ......... If you have a store nearby (and who doesn't?) .........


I don't! I have to spend a minimum of $136 for a RT airline ticket and then cab fare or rental car costs just to get to Oahu, where there are two BB's. 



mae said:


> When you figure the percentage cost, be sure to include lifetime if you purchased it. The advantage of the BB warranty over TiVo's is that your replacement can be a newer box, and they will transfer your lifetime service to it. My Premiere XL went in 3 years 10 months, and I replaced it with a Roamio Plus at no cost, including a new 4 year warranty. I posted it here, http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=514639&highlight=mae I normally don't believe in these things, but with the cost of lifetime, and the likelihood of a failure (although HD replacement is much easier with the Roamio), the potential for a new version replacement near the end of the lifecycle make the cost better justified.


This is what I had to do and it made it worth it for me, but then that's what it's all about. It only benefits the ones that actually have to use it. Funny thing is, I usually never buy warranties but did for some reason that time, probably because of the whole Lifetime Service thing, and it paid off.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

The Roamio Pro is too new to know if a failure within 4 years would be extremely rare or very common. The $85 price sounds OK to me given the uncertainty, assuming the Roamio Pro has lifetime service. No lifetime subscription, don't buy an extended warranty in my opinion but I also wouldn't buy a TiVo without lifetime service.


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## celtic pride (Nov 8, 2005)

thanks a lot for your replies! a lot to think about, I live 5 minutes from best buy but its not a magnolia store so i had to order it at the store ,And yes i was going to add lifetime when and if if i activate it. I think 4k is coming sooner than we think so i might return it,Just read at mutichannel news where SES put up a4k satellite to demo for cabe companies to check out ant they all seem to love the 4k and want it,so i'm thinking tivos going to have to make a 4k box within a year or so and i dont want to have to buy another tivo that soon. i'm torn on keeping or returning this tivo since the new hdmi codecs are hdmi 2.0a and 2.2 hdcp to allow high dynanmic range and tivo only has the 1.4 hdmi. I eventually plan on upgrading my av receiver for the dolby atmos and DTSX and hdtv to a 4k tv.


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## evanborkow (Mar 17, 2008)

HarperVision said:


> I don't! I have to spend a minimum of $136 for a RT airline ticket and then cab fare or rental car costs just to get to Oahu, where there are two BB's.


Wow, now I feel bad for you; living in paradise.


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## celtic pride (Nov 8, 2005)

To followup i went to pickup my tivo at best buy since i had somethings to do in town,but as of 4 p.m. it still hadn't arrived,i decided that when i do pick it up that i will keep it keep it and the 4 year warranty.I'll worry about 4k when theres a lot more shows to watch in 4k,I also picked up a tivo mini 2,so i might be selling 1 or 2 of my lifetimed tivo premiere xl dvrs.I figure worse case senario that if my tivo breaks in 3 or 4 years there is bound to be a new 4k tivo by then and then i''ll upgrade,In the meantime i'll be enjoying my roamio pro!


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

evanborkow said:


> Wow, now I feel bad for you; living in paradise.


Hey, there are a LOT of WTFs here, I can tell you that! But yes, worth it!


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## aristoBrat (Dec 30, 2002)

chiguy50 said:


> If you have a store nearby (and who doesn't?) it's a quick and easy swap for a brand new unit


That was the reason I sprung for the Best Buy warranty.

Over the last 14 years, I've had two TiVos (with TiVo warranties) fail. It took about 5 days berfore there replacement TiVo arrived.

That was OK back when I had multiple TiVos in the house, ... we could shuffle them around and make do.

With the Roamio, it's the ONLY TiVo in the house. So if it goes down, then I'm having to run up to to the Cox store and "rent" one of their DVRs during the TiVo downtime, and that only gets me TV in the living room. Everyone's bedroom TVs (minis) will be useless until the replacement Roamio comes back. Definitely first world problems, but enough of one that I don't feel bad throwing $2/month towards the possibility of it happening for a warranty I may never use.


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## monkeydust (Dec 12, 2004)

I've had every series of TiVo since they were released and have never had a hardware failure. I wouldn't do it.


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## csell (Apr 16, 2007)

I don't think I saw this anywhere in the responses... If you upgrade your harddrive down the road, I believe that voids the warranty.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

csell said:


> I don't think I saw this anywhere in the responses... If you upgrade your harddrive down the road, I believe that voids the warranty.


You just put the original hard drive back in before you send it in.


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## sangs (Jan 1, 2003)

All comes down to personal preference. If you have the money, go for it. I did. I don't mind paying a little extra for some peace of mind. And with the prices they charge for things in my neck of the woods, by comparison, those extended warranties from BB were a bargain. I pay that amount in tolls every g*****n week.


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## ncbill (Sep 1, 2007)

My base Roamio, purchased as soon as it went on sale on Tivo's site, died within a couple of weeks (and it wasn't the hard drive or external power supply).

No problems with the replacement unit, even after a 3TB upgrade.

Since Tivo now seems to only charge $49 for a replacement unit out-of-warranty (lifetime or not) the question is will they still do so if you've upgraded the hard drive? (as Dave says, swap the original drive back in before you send it off)

If so, I wouldn't bother with an extended warranty.


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