I agree with some of the other posters that the CityAdvantage warranty is a ripoff. We don't have any experience with the laptop warranty, but we did purchase a 3 yr. Warranty on a 32" TV we bought from Circuit City within the past 18 months.
Soon after we first got the TV it would emit a high pitched tone that would almost pierce your eardrum. We called this in, they sent a repair person to fix it, then about a week later the problem occurred again. We called again, the service person ordered & brought a part out to fix it, & by the next day it was making the sound again & the picture became distorted. Everything on the picture shifted to the left about 2" where you couldn't see what was on the right side of the screen.
We called again to report this problem & this time the service person took the TV back to their shop & said they were going to have to order another part. At this point my wife & I said we really should be getting a new TV from Circuit City, as under the "no-lemon" law if the product is reparied twice & fails a third time, we were entitled to another TV. We felt like we had met these requirements, but we didn't want another TV & wanted the problem fixed, so we didn't pursue the replacement. Weeks later we got the TV back. It still made the noise after the first 5 minutes of use & would then be OK, but we decided we could live with that.
After about 3 more months the noise has come back, worse than ever, so we called CityAdvantage & said "enough is enough", as we think this TV is a lemon & we want our replacement. Well, they have tried every trick in the book to keep us from having a replacement. They tried telling us we didn't fall under the category of qualifying for a replacement TV as it had been over 12 months since we purchased it - that it was in our contract stating that.
When we got a copy of our contract, it stated we would get a replacement TV if it failed during the life of the contract. Our warranty is a 3 year warranty. They finally relented on this point, but then tried to say that this was only the 2nd time the TV had failed. When we got proof that this was actually going to be the 4th time it had been repaired, they then said the number of repairs didn't matter, that we had only had 1 part put on - didn't matter how many repairs but depended on the replaced parts to qualify. If we could show we had had parts replaced twice we could get another TV. When we proved we met that requirement, they then said that what the contract really meant was that it had to be repaired 3 times & then fail after the 3rd time, before you get a new TV.
This is not the way we interpret it. We feel it means if it has been repaired twice & then fails again we would qualify for a replacement. During these conversations, CityAdvantage has tried to say that is not the way the contract reads & wanted to know where we got this information from, & when we said it came off of their own CC website, they then tried to change the requirements for getting a replacement TV.
Before all of you people from Circuit City write in saying we are stupid consumers who don't understand our contract, be assured we think we actually understand our contract better than CityAdvantage personnel. Either they don't understand their contract or they are trained to try every trick in the book to keep from admitting the consumer is due a replacement when a product continually fails.
Every time we have called explaining our situation & recurring problems, the person at CityAdvantage always says "the next time" you will get a replacement. We have been told this twice so far.
The bottom line is - don't waste your money on the extended warranty through CityAdvantage if you buy a TV from Circuit City.
Chris
Darlington, South Carolina
U.S.A.
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