Sears Rocks

so like many people i know, i go through headphones, ALL the time. i probabbly average about 3-4 pairs a year. I step on them, the cord breaks, stuff like that.

When my last set broke in september i went to sears and bought a decent set of sony headphones ($80 or so) and they offered me a 2 year protection plan for like $8.99, i said sure why not. I personally have never bought one of them but i had just been paid from work so i figured it couldn't hurt.

well they finally broke today, i stepped on them while rushing to get something in my room.

Took them back to sears with the original box and receipt and walked up to the service counter.

I started to explain how they broke and the guy just looked at me and said, dude i don't need to hear it, just go get a new set and we'll swap them out and you will be on your way.

Summary: Buy headphones at sears with a protection plan. It rocks my socks

Some Sears protection plans (known as PA's) are a waste and some are a good investment. (I should know, I had to sell them for a while last year, and I processed merch in need of service.) In your case they would have given you a new pair w/out the extended warranty, since it was within a year.

Do not buy PA's on mowers. Doesn't cover anything. Same for replacement agreements for cheap electronics, they get replaced anyway.

Sears employee's push PA's hard, since they get 10% on the price and the number of PA's they sell affect if the get a raise or not.

Don't forget Sears pricematches, so bring the BB ad with the low price of that gizmo you want.

And in nearly every department is a small obscure area where returned items are sold at 30% markdown. (Tools are the best deals) They still carry the same warranty as the new stuff and you can get PA's on them. Also, each item is tested by someone like me before it's set out. And should it not work and you want a replacement, often you can get a new one in exchange.