A friend purchased some extended warranties with some new appliances.
She only bought them because they could be redeemed after five years for
goods at the shop. The shop (a major retail chain) went belly up and
the warranty company (basically an insurance company) said.....
The larger retailers here are really enjoying the concept of extended warranties. Its just another form of insurance and it seems to be quite lucrative.
I bought my new computer from a large department store because they had a good interest free finance deal. The salesman applied a LOT of pressure to try and convince me to purchase an extended warranty that would add 12.5% to the price.
I eventually managed to (very patiently) convince him that I didn't want the warranty and nothing he could do or say would make me take it. Even after he tried to sweeten the deal by reducing the price of the warranty by 60%. There must be a pretty good commission to be had from these things.
- Dave (sorry I've gone off-topic)
http://www.digistar.com/~dmann/
