Knowing that most things can no longer be repaired after three years, sometimes less, you need to look at the warranty. Does if offer replacement or repair. You were lucky that they allowed you to select any model. Some companies only allow you to replace with the same model. Most major things are covered for a year. If the extended warranty starts with that year and only covers the two/three years after purchase I never buy. In three years replacement parts for many things will be no longer available so proper repair will not be possible. You also have to consider the cost. Would it just be cheaper to throw away the item when it breaks or pay for the warranty.

Best Buy was pretty awesome. When they said it could not be repaired they basically gave me a store credit ($449.00) for anything I wanted. I could have applied that amount to a new TV if I wanted to.

My brother purchased a $100 warranty from Best Buy for a television. The television failed, it was no longer available, Best Buy sent my brother a new, larger tv. He was happy.

I've never paid for so-called "extended warranties" or product insurance and have never had an occasion when having done so would have saved me any money. I've saved many thousands of dollars by avoiding this expense I consider to be unnecessary. Different people have different experiences.

It's a high-profit margin item for the sellers, that should say something.

For once, I agree with Elmer. ;)

My DH says never buy any product that you expect might break. We have never bought any extra warranties - especially on vehicles.

I don't, I depend on the manufacturer warranty. MY shark vacuum wand broke and I called to order and pay for a replacement, I had no idea it already had a 5 year warranty!

Glad that shark even had a replacement wand. My three year old canister vac's hose had something stuck in it and trying to remove only made it worse. Replacement hose was not even shown on website. Was assured that they had ones in the warehouse. Second reorder they refunded money. Third reorder again never made it out of their system. When I complained on fb they wanted to "check on it" even after I mentioned I had purchased a replacement. Which was not a shark product.

My Chase Reserve doubles my warranties on whatever I charge. Another option to paying for an extended warranty.

" It helps that if the warranties are unused at the end of the coverage period, I get a store credit for the amount."

Wow! Never heard of such a thing.

Wonder if I could get Life Insurance coverage with such a provision? lol

I think there's a pretty short limit on the amount of time I have to spend it, but it's still worthwhile. If I don't need a new appliance, I can probably use it to buy one for a friend, etc.

We have never bought extended warranties for anything. DH is very handy and able to fix almost everything! Well, when we bought this fridge when we were at the register and they asked about a warranty, imagine my surprise when he said yes to the warranty! Turns out a friend had purchased a new fridge and it had broken within the first year. Well, our fridge broke (it was the mother board in it) and thanks to his fore thought it was fully covered and they also paid for food replacement! Haven't had a problem since, but he made sure to see how it was replaced!

Extended warranties are essentially just a form of gambling. The warranty purchaser is betting that the product will need more repairs than the warranty costs, while the company selling the warranty is betting it won't. Guess who's got the data on their side? That doesn't mean these warranties don't pay off sometimes. So does casino gambling. But the business model of both casinos and extended warranty companies is to be sure to take in plenty more than they pay out. That situation is not in the best interest of the consumer.

Also, Kathy's post above illustrates one thing you can do to keep appliance repairs to a minimum: Don't buy appliances with excessive amounts of electronics in them. Touch-screen refrigerators and washing machines, for example. These have a far higher failure rate than simpler appliances that have electro-mechanical controls rather than computer motherboards. Appliances have abundant heat, moisture and vibration. These are the worst enemies of electronics, and it means the $2500 refrigerator in all likelihood won't last as long as the $500 one.

Extended Warranty Buying Guide (Consumer Reports)

"Extended warranties are essentially just a form of gambling."

Just like insurance!

No, unnecessary expense.

Unless appliance breaks out of warranty. lol

Kind of like Life Insurance. "Unnecessary expense" unless you die.

I just posted a story in the Appliances Forum about how hard it can be to actually get real service.

Sears non-service

Since we've moved into this house we've opted out of the warranties - only because we have a home warranty that also covers appliances. Yes, it's a gamble, but considering the age of this house and the AC we figure it's a gamble worth taking this time around.

Yes on our refrigerators. After losing all food etc. with a slow freon leak on our first refrigerator we bought the insurance for the next fridge. And low and behold it happened again after 5 years of use and we were refunded. But only after the very slow process of proving that it was not repairable. Also bought it on a white leather couch which we did use when ball point pen got on it. Worth it sometimes!

Personally, I pay for replacement plans on eyeglasses and headphones. Not much else.