Ready, Aye, Ready

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/30/AR2006093000148.html

I don't really have an awful lot to add to the Washington Post commentary on extended warranties, other than highlighting the interesting sidenote that they're not always offered by the point-of-sale but by a third party.

Personal experience is that if the warranted item is going to fail, it does so in the first few months, and that's (almost) always covered by the manufacturer's warranty. The article correctly notes that where the extended warranties pay off is when they bundle something special into the deal, whether it's home service in the case of bigscreen televisions or cleaning and maintenance (in the case of projectors.)

The worst one I've ever come across? Soundsaround here in Calgary wanted $600 for a two year extended warranty on my $800 Sony DVD player. Quite a few years later, the DVD player is still going strong. I think Soundsaround is too, but I've not been there in a while to confirm that...