I buy many things from Costco and looked there. Price is not the end all of the conversation, but Costco has nothing at this price.
Warranty, however, is extremely important. My home was hit by a power surge, that I assume was lighting. I lost a lot of gear.
Washing machine, desktop, microwave, two televisions, stereo, printer, two dvd players, and a subwoofer.
The desktop was purchased from Costso and was under their extended (second year) warranty and they repaired it within no question and that service was the easiest out of all of them. 15 minutes on the phone. One, one f'n call, and it was done. They sent me a box, I packed it up, sent it to them, they called to say they got it, called the next day to say they would fix it, called two days later to say it was on its way back, called to make sure I got it, and then called me to say, "thanks for shopping at Costco".
My Vizio was also purchased at Costco, but was past the two year extension from Costco and was warrantied with the Square Trade extended warranty. The hassle that brought was to much to deal with, and in the end the coverage was denied. 10+ hours on the phone. Which is why I need a new 60". This hurt me deeply, again because I do love Costco, but the power surge was not covered because it was not "normal wear" or "product defect".
My 40" in the bedroom was also lost. It, along with my washer, was purchased from Best Buy and both were covered by Best Buy's 5 year Geek Squad extended warranty. (both 4 years old) The service was certainly not up to the Costco standard as I had to call them twice to schedule the Geek Squad to come out, once to determine they were broke, and once to schedule. Total phone time of 2.5 hours. But, once they came out, the TV was replaced and the washer was repaired and it took less than two weeks. In their warranty they actaully state coverage for this kind of issue ... for five years.
The microwave had a manufactures warranty but it did not cover the power surge, same as the stereo and subwoofer. Although Polk Audio repaired the sub for less than $50.
So, in the end I have to say that my next purchases will be with Best Buy because of the warranty service I received from them. My laptop was purchased at Frys and has a four year, but was not damaged so their warranty was not tested.
Warranty and service matter, and Best Buy backed up the service talk with the walk. Until they prove that to be different they have earned a customer. Costco lost one ...
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