I bought my daughter a digital camera for Christmas. Nothing fancy, just an $89 Kodak which I of course refused to pay $30 for an extended warranty with Best Buy. Well, just so happens the mini USB cable that plugs into it for charging the battery and file transfers broke off inside the camera while charging it as it was a flimsy affair. Removed the broken piece out of the camera and head to the store.
Soooo, I go back to the store with receipt in hand wanting to make an even exchange since I just bought it two days before and it had a defective part. Best Buy says "No can do without purchasing the extended warranty. You have to take it up with Kodak." Pissed off of course I go searching for a replacement cable which the young man tells me they sell. I go over to that section and the cable I need is out of stock, but retails for $24! Another cable that acts as a universal sells for $54. I say BULL SHIT as the camera was only $89 and turn around and walk out.
I get home and go to the Kodak site and check for the cable which they sell for $19. Fuck that as well. Next stop Amazon.com. Search find the exact same damn cable for.... drum roll... $1.54 brand new.
It cost more for shipping than the part so I ordered it and will have it in another day for under $4.
Moral of the story don't waste money on extended warranties or cables for electronic devices at big name retailers. You can purchase those HDMI cables, USB cords, etc for almost pennies online rather than for the marked up amount you get using the middle man. Did the same thing a while back for my iPod when replacing its USB charger and got a replacement for $5 with shipping brand new.
Posted by lamp (Member # 19270) on :
ive done this many a time through ebay etc. it pays to shop around online!
more to the point though that store's policy sucks
Posted by catsman (Member # 10269) on :
I must chime in here as I was looking for a very similar item once at a local Goodwill store. Found it on a shelf with dozens of assorted cables and wires, but it had no price on it. I ask a sales associate about the price, and she looked at it, then took her price gun out of it's hoslter and zap......49 cents! As Seinfeld's Kramer once said, "retail is for suckers."
Posted by -cfg- (Member # 13863) on :
Amazon win!
Posted by Maverick Matrix (Member # 2989) on :
Nowadays, you can buy USB cables for things such as that at the dollar store even and they actually work. Trust me, I've done it.
Posted by feetluvr (Member # 1570) on :
Amen LD. Everything I've ever read says to NOT buy extended warranties- they are cash cows for the business and rarely much else. Between eBay, Amazon and a few online computer stores we've bought many cables, cell phone batteries, car chargers, etc. for pennies what the brick and mortar stores sell them for. Most places want $40-50 dollars for a cell phone battery- the last one I bought was $7 and works like a charm.
Posted by Keyfeet (Member # 27313) on :