Friday, December 1, 2006
Consumer Reports: Why You Don't Need an Extended Warranty
Posted by Ekkie Tepsupornchai in "ARTICLE" @ 12:00 PM
"This holiday season, shoppers are expected to spend a whopping $1.6 billion on extended warranties for laptops, flat-screen TVs, other electronics, and appliances. And almost all of it will be money down the drain. Retailers are pushing hard to get you to buy extended warranties, or service plans, because they're cash cows. Stores keep 50 percent or more of what they charge for warranties. That's more than they can make selling actual products."
Consumer Reports lists a couple of exceptions to this "avoid-extended-warranties" rule: rear-projection microdisplay TVs and Apple computers (read the article for their rationale). I honestly can't recall the last time I invested in an extended warranty. I do recall certain store warranties allowed you to trade up to a later model if your device broke down and the store no longer stocked your model. That doesn't sound like such a bad deal. Or is it? Give us your thoughts. Are there situations where you feel extended warranties are... uh... warranted?
Consumer Reports lists a couple of exceptions to this "avoid-extended-warranties" rule: rear-projection microdisplay TVs and Apple computers (read the article for their rationale). I honestly can't recall the last time I invested in an extended warranty. I do recall certain store warranties allowed you to trade up to a later model if your device broke down and the store no longer stocked your model. That doesn't sound like such a bad deal. Or is it? Give us your thoughts. Are there situations where you feel extended warranties are... uh... warranted?
