So late last year my dishwasher broke and I needed a new one. BestBuy had the closest model in stock so I ordered it from them.

They offer delivery and installation for $199.

But the also have something called Total Tech that cost $199, and when you have Total Tech you get free installation and you get Total Tech benefits for a year .

AND with Total Tech they also give you up to a 24 month warranty for free (as long as your an active member of Total Tech.)

Great, so that was kind of breaking even and getting an extended warranty for free.

Then a friend needed a new washer and dryer. He found the ones he wanted at Best Buy and I looked at them. With Total Tech the prices were like $200 less than he was seeing without Total Tech. So I made an order for him that was like $400 cheaper than he had, free install, free removal or the old ones, and extended warranty. I just used his credit card for the order.


Then I bought a new iPad Mini. Turns out when you buy an Apple product and have total tech you get free Apple Care - for the mini that would have cost $3,49 a month or around $40 a year.

So if I get a new iPhone this year I'll buy from BestBuy - the free Apple Care will save me $120 a year - so it pays for over half the cost of Total Tech membership.

I'm saying: Total Tech might be good if you're planning on some big purchases.

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Gone: My Discogs collection for The Roots:
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I bought a new dryer less than a year ago. Then turned around this year and bought my son a beast of a gaming laptop with a 3070 card to take to college for freshman year just a month or so ago. I bought the extended warranty but now I'm sitting here like damn I should have just got the total tech with the almost 3 grand I've spent this year. sigh.

nearly every appliance I've bought in the last five years, from different brands and stores, have had issues

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$300 to have them mount it because it’s going on a fireplace that has stone, but mounting is included 8th Total Tech for $200.

That’s a no brainer in and of itself…but what sounds too good to be true is the coverage for additional purchases I’ll be making over the next year, like other TVs, installation of a security system, etc…they explained it to me that way and I figured there was some catch I was was miss that I needed to research, but sounds like that’s exactly the case based on your experience…

That's how they got me too. I knew I was gonna buy at least 2 new TVs. That alone made it worth it. And I might end up having to get a fridge from there too. So yeah, I'm already 'up' with the 2 Tvs. And they have the nerve to have additional discounts with it? Yeah, it can really work for you depending on your situation.

>So late last year my dishwasher broke and I needed a new one.
>BestBuy had the closest model in stock so I ordered it from
>them.
>
>They offer delivery and installation for $199.
>
>But the also have something called Total Tech that cost $199,
>and when you have Total Tech you get free installation and you
>get Total Tech benefits for a year .
>
>AND with Total Tech they also give you up to a 24 month
>warranty for free (as long as your an active member of Total
>Tech.)
>
>Great, so that was kind of breaking even and getting an
>extended warranty for free.
>
>Then a friend needed a new washer and dryer. He found the ones
>he wanted at Best Buy and I looked at them. With Total Tech
>the prices were like $200 less than he was seeing without
>Total Tech. So I made an order for him that was like $400
>cheaper than he had, free install, free removal or the old
>ones, and extended warranty. I just used his credit card for
>the order.
>
>
>Then I bought a new iPad Mini. Turns out when you buy an Apple
>product and have total tech you get free Apple Care - for the
>mini that would have cost $3,49 a month or around $40 a year.
>
>So if I get a new iPhone this year I'll buy from BestBuy - the
>free Apple Care will save me $120 a year - so it pays for over
>half the cost of Total Tech membership.
>
>I'm saying: Total Tech might be good if you're planning on
>some big purchases.

Apple Care cost $9.99 a month for the iPhone so Total Tech is only $80 more a year.

My iPad mini it too for $3.49 a month, eating into that $80 by $46.

I think they got me.

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Gone: My Discogs collection for The Roots:
http://www.discogs.com/user/tomhayes-roots/collection

I know that the experience will likely vary depending on who they send out, but they Geek Squad team that came to my house was OUTSTANDING. They were installing drilling into stone on a two story fireplace. They also ran ethernet for me from the wall back to the basement network box. They did setup for a Sonos soundbar I also purchased AND they ran all the configuration settings for the TV and soundbar for the room it's in.

All that for the $200 Total Tech membership. And anything else I buy, like video cameras/doorbells/additional TVs, whatever for the year al of the installation and setup is already covered. Not to mention the additional warranty coverage.

I feel like it's a too good to be true thing that they might end up changing because right now the value you get out of that $200 is crazy.

It _might_ be. But that depends on your expected installation costs, total tech buys per year, and average failure rate of the tech you buy.

There's likely a pretty small sweet spot where you're making money. If you're regularly buying lots of poorly-made tech, definitely worth it.

If you buy one big ticket item every other year or so, which I'm guessing is about normal, you may be in a different situation. Most big ticket items (tvs, fridges, W/D, etc) are incredibly reliable - you're likely better off paying for installation and saving the $200/yr for the lifetime of these products to stay in warranty. All of this stuff can be expected on average to last for over a decade.

____________________________

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So yeah - it depends. I’m my case it paid for itself with one purchase because of the installation/setup. Anything else included (additional installations, warranty, etc.) is gravy.

Depending on the purchase, the sweet spot isn’t THAT small in which it makes sense.

if you pay a second or third year you're much more likely to lose money

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For stuff like that I set calendar reminders to cancel a couple weeks before renewal. Not cancelling for now because I already of a few other major purchases I’m making (just moved into a new construction home with several projects we are doing.)

>if you pay a second or third year you're much more likely to
>lose money

If you bought an iPhone like me this year it includes Apple Care which cost $9.99 a month. So that's $119 a year.

Oh, and the iPad Mini AppleCaretoo.

Also my dishwasher extended warranty would still be in effect if I keep the membership for the second year, so that's the other $80, or $6.00 a month.

So in my case it's almost "breaking even" with the warranties. Granted - warranties which I may never use.

So I may renew in January for the AppleCare and warranty - or I may cancel.

But for the first year it's been worth it for me. And likely the second year too.

Now, if you wouldn't have bought extended warranties the best strategy would be to cancel it and then renew or rejoin only when it's in your favor that year, like Amazon prime or any other program like this.

Just don't buy a TV or appliance and pay money for delivery/installation without considering Total Tech first.

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Gone: My Discogs collection for The Roots:
http://www.discogs.com/user/tomhayes-roots/collection

At some point this year Best Buy changed the Total Tech Membership to a new Total Membership plan that is 179 instead of 199, and no longer includes free installation. I definitely get it - they were literally losing money on all those free Geek Squad installs.

Like I said up above last year - this was a too good to be true deal that I was sure would change soon. I had a new house built last year and I got WAAAAAAAYYYY more than my Money's worth out of them. For $199 I have them install three TVs (including one on a stone fireplace that would have cost $350 by itself), four outdoor cameras and a doorbell camera, security sensors for doors and windows, and a full Sonos home theater setup, and a smart refrigerator. I also recommended it to my parents who got their security system installed for free.

The new membership still includes the additional warranty coverage, and a few other perks, but definitely not worth it compared to everything I got for that $199 over the last year, so I cancelled it instead of renewing.

The AppleCare offered by them is less than I'd pay Apple.

iPhone Pro 15 - $9.99 a month ($119.88 a year)
iPhone 15 - $7.99 a month ($95.88 a year)
iPad Mini 6 - $3.49 a month ($41.88 a year)


$257.64 vs. $179.99 is a net plus.

Edit: And the dishwasher warranty too! Oh, the washer/dryer I got for a friend (they paid), my new microwave, the Chromebook and printer and Echo I bought for moms.

I also am still seeing free delivery and installation with mounting too too on TVs but maybe that's just grandfathered in until I renew??

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Gone: My Discogs collection for The Roots:
http://www.discogs.com/user/tomhayes-roots/collection

>The AppleCare offered by them is less than I'd pay Apple.
>
>iPhone Pro 15 - $9.99 a month ($119.88 a year)
>iPhone 15 - $7.99 a month ($95.88 a year)
>iPad Mini 6 - $3.49 a month ($41.88 a year)

My only concern with the AppleCare protection is that it's only good as long as you keep their Total coverage. So for example my renewal date was in September. Earlier this summer I bought the AirPods Max from there. Since I decided not to renew, I lost AppleCare coverage on those after only having them a couple months. If I'd renewed I'd have coverage for up to two years. But since they can change the Total Membership any year later it becomes a thing where I don't know if it WILL be worth it, and I'd prefer to get my Apple devices from Apple directly anyways.

>I also am still seeing free delivery and installation with
>mounting too too on TVs but maybe that's just grandfathered
>in until I renew??

Free delivery is included, but not the Geek Squad installation and mounting. If you still see that on your account then your last renewal was before the change (I believe the change happened over the summer) which means you keep those same benefits for 12 months, taking you to the next renewal. If I was you I'd take full advantage of that if you have any TVs (or anything else needing an installation) you might need to replace at some point soon.