Extended Warranties are almost always sold at the time of the initial purchase with the respective retailers having relationships with different Extended Warranty companies. In all cases (except for Harvey Norman) the Extended Warranty companies are a third party company, completely independent of both the manufacturer and the retailer. Extended Warranty companies are virtual insurance companies and are run in a similar way. The procedures which are followed are varied and quite complex, so for simplicity let us say here that all Extended Warranty companies are not equal. Some are significantly tougher than others and have lists of exclusions which even they do not necessarily understand.

Some Extended Warranty companies claim that they mirror the manufacturer’s warranty, while others blatantly re-write the rules to the point where the term ‘warranty’ must be used in the loosest possible way.

Generally, across the board, Extended Warranty companies do not like to cover ‘no-fault-found’ situations and to varying degrees will pass the cost of such a Service Call back to the customer to pay. Unfortunately, in this age of electronic componentry, ‘no-fault-found’ is an increasinly common occurence.

Another common contention with Extended Warranty companies is their refusal to pay travel outside the repairers standard area. In other words the customer has to cover this cost.

Some of the exclusions which are often debated are ‘plastic components, corrosion, hoses, wear and tear’ etc.

Customer’s are advised to scrutinise the fine print of these warranties when deciding between one and another. Maybe the exta cost of a particular warranty is justified over a cheaper warranty even though the customer might need to purchase the product from a different store.

On a brigher note, we say unequivocally that all of the Extended Warranites are worth what you pay. Just that some might be better value than others. We suggest that customers ALWAYS take up the option of extended warranty on all major electrical appliances.