Tag: warranty

Experience with Citi Extended Warranty program

In June 2020, I purchased a Samsung 43″ Class 7 Series LED 4K UHD Smart TV (model UN43TU7000FXZA) from Best Buy with a Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi, and it included a 12-month warranty. About 18 months later, the TV wouldn’t power on, and an authorized service shop said the repair would cost more than a new TV.

I thought we were out of luck. Then, I remembered this 2018 article from Consumer Reports (“Why You Should Steer Clear of Extended Warranties“), and that my credit card has an extended warranty:

Get an extra 24 months added to your warranty when you purchase items at least in part with your Citi card and/or your Costco credit card reward certificate. In the event of a covered failure, the item will be repaired or you will be reimbursed up to the amount charged on your Citi card (including Costco credit card reward certificate) or the cost to replace the item, whichever is less, up to $10,000.

After about eight days, Citi Card Benefits replied:

Your claim under the Extended Warranty program has been approved.

A payment in the amount of [redacted], which represents the full amount payable for this claim, will be credited to your card account within 1 to 2 billing cycles.

The amount didn’t include the cost of shipping (understandable), and they credited the card one day later.

If you’re about to buy a TV, keep this in mind!

Review: Kingston Technology ValueRAM warranty replacement

One of my two Kingston ValueRAM 2GB sticks seemed to be causing blue screens in Windows XP. After running with one stick of memory for almost a month, I concluded the other was defective.[1. I separately tested both sticks of memory with Memtest86+ 1.70 (via Ultimate Boot CD 4.11). But, the latest version of Memtest86+ is 4.00. I was five versions behind. Maybe if used that version, it might’ve definitively found errors. Oh well.]

I requested RMA service with the cross ship option (just for kicks).

Time line:

  • 3/22/2010 8:04 PM – Requested RMA number
  • 3/26/2010 1:33 PM – RMA request processed
  • 3/26/2010 4:34 PM – Memory shipped via UPS Ground from Anaheim
  • 3/29/2010 11:40 AM – Memory delivered

Summary:

  • It took three business days for my RMA request to be approved (the RMA page said it’d take two business days).
  • Kingston Technology shipped my memory locally, so that only took one business day.
  • I didn’t need proof of purchase/receipt since Kingston’s ValueRAM has a lifetime warranty.
  • The new memory stick is a bit shorter.

Other than the extra day waiting for my RMA request, the whole process was painless. If I went with standard replacement, it’d take a few more days waiting for them to receive my defective memory. I didn’t mind the temporary hold on my credit card.

I think it’s safe to say that you can be confident when buying Kingston Technology system memory.