well, thanks to this board, i made my decision - it was between the cybook and the sony 505, and i'll be getting the sony next month for my birthday :)

so my question is about the extended service plan. some companies have good ones, some make it not worth while. i've heard a lot of conflicting things about sony with other products. has anyone here used their service plan?

My overall take is Sony has been good with this plan, I know of a couple cases where the user abused the reader in fact and Sony still fixed them

Before considering buying any service plan, talk to your insurance agent, and see if they have some sort of policy where you can insure your device through them. I haven't done this myself, but I heard somewhere this can be done, and its usually a better deal. I could be wrong on this, but might be worth the phone call.

Personally, I don't buy service plans. I just roll the dice and hope for the best.

i've had good luck with service plans, overall - very helpful, but some companies are into helping customers where a few seem to be mostly into trying to find a loophole so they don't have to pay or in stringing things along forever.

Before considering buying any service plan, talk to your insurance agent, and see if they have some sort of policy where you can insure your device through them. I haven't done this myself, but I heard somewhere this can be done, and its usually a better deal. I could be wrong on this, but might be worth the phone call.

Personally, I don't buy service plans. I just roll the dice and hope for the best.

I guess I'm just cynical, but I regard anything that someone pushes on me with the hard sell a bad investment. If it were a good deal, they wouldn't try so hard to sign me up.

I personally dont buy service plans and dont find them worth the money, I usually take my chances and luckily its always paid off.

Dawn

I usually buy the plans if they are reasonably priced. The Sony one wasn't too bad. I have had accidents due to my wife and kid, so for me, it's always worth it to have a "no questions asked" type of replacement or repair policy.

My stepson took our an insurance plan when he bought his laptop and has more then gotten his money's worth.

Also others here have used Sony's service plan and had no problems with it to get a replacement reader.

If you go for it, why not got for the "Service Plan with Accidental Damage from Handling" which basically covers anything under the sun, including your negligence in smashing the screen. My 2 year one was $48 which is what I consider an investment from all the beating its going to take before I replace it with the next model

Hmmmm! I hadn't thought about before but maybe I should have gotten the insurance on my Sony.

I always take extra good care of my things so I never get insurance on anything. But since this is fairly new technology maybe I should have. :chinscratch:

I have a PRS-500 which was dropped, causing the display to be broken. I sent it to a Sony center and they wanted $250 to fix it. Since I was able to get a refurbished 500 for $200 I decided not to get the broken one fixed.

When I purchased the 505 a few weeks ago, I also bought a 3-year service plan. Hopefully I won't have to use it, but if I do it will be more than worth the $70 price.

I don't normally do the service plans on devices but I read lots of scary stories here on MR about screen breaks and Sony charging damn near as much to fix them as they do for the reader itself. Consequently, I got the Service Plan with Accidental Damage from Handling. Naturally, my reader, even after five months, is in fine shape.

I don't normally do the service plans on devices but I read lots of scary stories here on MR about screen breaks and Sony charging damn near as much to fix them as they do for the reader itself. Consequently, I got the Service Plan with Accidental Damage from Handling. Naturally, my reader, even after five months, is in fine shape.

OF course, if you buy the insurance you will not need it. I think that is one of Murphy's laws.

BOb

amazing it would cost that much to fix

I have a PRS-500 which was dropped, causing the display to be broken. I sent it to a Sony center and they wanted $250 to fix it. Since I was able to get a refurbished 500 for $200 I decided not to get the broken one fixed.

When I purchased the 505 a few weeks ago, I also bought a 3-year service plan. Hopefully I won't have to use it, but if I do it will be more than worth the $70 price.

OF course, if you buy the insurance you will not need it. I think that is one of Murphy's laws.

BOb

LOL!! Isn't that the truth?

amazing it would cost that much to fix

That's what I was thinking.

I guess they want you to buy a new one instead. :chinscratch:

This may be helpful too...

http://discussions.consumerreports.org/n/blogs/blog.aspx?nav=main&webtag=cr-shopping&entry=7

This may be helpful too...

http://discussions.consumerreports.org/n/blogs/blog.aspx?nav=main&webtag=cr-shopping&entry=7

Good read!

I agree that once an electronic item breaks for me I want a new and improved one and not the old one. I'm really bad with cell phones:o.

But I have to disagree on one item, based on my personal experince. My rear-projection television set is about 10 years old now and we have never had one problem with it. A bit :offtopic:but I had to say something here, lol.

Good read!

I agree that once an electronic item breaks for me I want a new and improved one and not the old one. I'm really bad with cell phones:o.

But I have to disagree on one item, based on my personal experince. My rear-projection television set is about 10 years old now and we have never had one problem with it. A bit :offtopic:but I had to say something here, lol.

The main idea here is that extended warranties should never be purchased for electronics. The only thing it truly warrants is the manufacturer making more money off you the consumer.

The main idea here is that extended warranties should never be purchased for electronics. The only thing it truly warrants is the manufacturer making more money off you the consumer.

Isn't that a shame? :(

I've known of cases where it's more then paid off to have the warranty. My 505 has never had a problem and I do carry it around with me most times when I leave home. But then, I've also heard of cases where it didn't take much to damage the screen. Sometimes the screen can be more fragile then others it seems. And I am talking about ALL eink devices when I mention damage and the screen.

Where do we sign up for the service plan? I don't even remember the border's rep telling me about it...

And as my luck would have it, today is the day my screen cracks =(

Somebody PLEASE cheer me up

I've known of cases where it's more then paid off to have the warranty. My 505 has never had a problem and I do carry it around with me most times when I leave home. But then, I've also heard of cases where it didn't take much to damage the screen. Sometimes the screen can be more fragile then others it seems. And I am talking about ALL eink devices when I mention damage and the screen.

Of course, the manufacturers' original warranty is a service that you pay for when you first purchase an item. EXTENDED warranties, as outlined by Consumer Reports and many other consumer agencies, is BAD. Here is the reasoning:

From SmartMoney.com
"Since extended warranties are claimed so rarely, the profit margins on them run as high as 40% to 80%, says Marlys Harris, finance editor for Consumer Reports. That can pad a company's bottom line nicely. During 2004, in fact, nearly 100% of Circuit City Stores' (CC: 4.38, -0.02, -0.45%) and 50% of Best Buy's (BBY: 45.07, +0.89, +2.01%) operating income came from extended warranties, say analysts. Is it any wonder that the big box retailers aggressively push these contracts?"

http://www.smartmoney.com/consumer/index.cfm?story=20050707

I got the accidental damage service plan when I bought my reader 13 months ago. Its freed me to enjoy it more because I dont worry about it. I brought it to Mazatlan and put it in a plastic bag to read in the pool. I've brought it everywhere with me and lo, at the gymn the other day (I read while exercising on the elliptical trainer or spinning bikes) I dropped a 10 pound weight on it. Toast! I called Sony. They are going to replace it no problem, no hassles. All they wanted was for mne to ship the broken one to them so they can determine if its fixable (its not trust me) and thye will ship me a new one.

It cost me 4 bucks to ship it to them. The only problem is... I'm going through withdrawal symptoms without my reader!

I'd get the accidental plan if you are thinking you will use it alot and use it while you live. Standing on line at the movies I read. What if I drop it? Which I've done at least 15 timeswith no damage to it.... Anyhow I usually dont get the extended warranties on things but this item I knew I was going to be using alot and its paid off for me.

But where do we get it? = )

Contact SonyStyle and see what they have to say.

I'm pretty sure you have to buy it when you purchase it. I remember clicking on it when i bought it from the website itself... I doubt you can buy it after you've recieved it. I'm waiting fro them to send me a new reader now... (I'm hoping they send me a 505 like they did another member of this board) I'm going crazy here actually reading paper books.... Its outrageous.

Well, the only thing I can suggest is taking your reader down to SonyStyle and see if they'll allow you to purchase it if they see your reader is in good condition. Of course, how long you've had it may make a difference as well.

So yea. <3 Borders. I bought my Reader from them and at no time did the less than friendly young lady behind the counter mention a service plan.

Matter of fact, she didn't see happy at all to ring up my $350 order.. .. wish I had her name to let management know what kind of stellar young employees they hire.

Anyway...I checked Sony's website and can only find the "Replacement" and the "Service Plan".. .. there's no mention of accidental handling or whatnot. Was that a separate plan only offered at sonystyle?

FWIW: Here's the linky to the warranty info for anyone else that may need it.
SonyStyle (http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&identifier=S_BrandShowcase_Customer_Care)

This from Sonystore. Look on the right hand side of the page next to the picture of the reader. Thats where I got my extended accidental plan.

Have you tried calling 1 877 865 7669 number listed on that page and waiting until you get a person on the phone, then asking if you can buy the extended warranty plan?

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665245739

Select Your Service Plan:

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None
2 Year Service Plan $49.99
2 Year Service Plan with Accidental Damage from Handling $54.99
3 Year Service Plan with Accidental Damage from Handling $89.99
4 Year Service Plan with Accidental Damage from Handling $129.99
3 Year Service Plan $69.99
4 Year Service Plan for Portable Electronics $89.99

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