Never buy an extended warranty

Comet are a disgrace, they've had my plasma TV for 12 days now and they've not even put a screwdriver to it yet.

I paid £800 for the warranty 4 years ago as the set was expensive at that time.

About 16 years ago I had the same experience with a Comet warranty, we had a Panasonic TV that packed in, they had that set for 16 weeks.
After many phone calls I eventually contacted Panasonic myself, they went ballistic when I told them the details, I had the set back within a week.

Looks like I'll have to get in touch with LG, the manufacturers of the set they have at the moment.

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

Not everyone has a similar experience with extended warranties.

We took one out on a dishwasher - and after 41/2 years it went on the blink.

We were given a new machine there and then.

My OH took out a warranty with Comet when she bought her new laptop - and so far she has had to use it once - after only a few months - and the service was excellent.

I confess if I got the same service as you have had - or not had - I would have been up to Comet to find out what was going on.

Denis I have taken out quit a fewextended warranties on different products purchased through Curry's and just had a DVD Recorder/Player replaced new for old, did not even come out to see it just sent us a voucher for a new one, so perhaps it is Comet who are at fault. and not the extended warranty.

In which case the post would be better entitled never buy from Comet.

Where do you buy what from?

Following other threads on various sites I have become aware of problems that certain people have had with different companies with different products.

Personally - if I was going to buy another computer on the High Street - I would probably go to Comet. I have found their after sales support excellent over 20 years - and far better than the experience that others have had with different stores.

As far as white goods are concerned - we have bought where we found the best deals on the products that have suited us best. Twice we have had to call on the extended warranty that came via Curry's - and twice have had excellent service.

My late mother-in-law bought a washing machine that came with a manufacturer's five year warranty - that proved virtually worthless when that machine died - again almost at the end of its life.

Another problem with these warranties - regardless of where you buy the machine - can be the company that provides the cover. Rarely when you buy a warranty do you get it from the firm that sells the product.

Firms like Comet and Currys sell machines - and the also selll warranties. Now - if the firm that sells the warranty goes bust - where does that leave the customer?

I confess I don't know the answer to that one. Anybody got any idea?

Up a creek without a padle I suspect.

I rarely go for the extended warranty because on most products it is statistically 90% more likely to go wrong in the first 12 months (and therefore covered by the manufacturer). If it's passed that stage all componants should be well and truly 'run in' and it has been proved that they will then go on for at least 5 years (That's why the extended warranties always expire after 5 years) and, usually, you can't get further cover.

When we bought our Bosch dishwasher they offered me a 5 year warranty, with 100% money back if no claim so I accepted that, the claim for the 100% refund had to be made in a 'window' of 10 days only and of course you had to remember to send in the claim after 5 years (which they obviously hoped most people would forget). Not me I still feel happy about that, 'tho of course it wasn't completely free 'cos they had the use of my money for those 5 years.

I never bother with extended warranties. I feel that if the product has something major go wrong, then within 12 months it will get sorted by the retailer and if after that time I just replace it. I know of people who have purchased extended warranties and waited ages for people to turn up to fix it or something. Not for me The only thing I've ever had that let me down was my old Dyson vacuum cleaner and that went bang just after the year warranty expired. Was not viable to fix, so replaced.

We don't buy extended warranties either.
It doesn't matter if your item breaks down just outside of it's years manufacturers warranty anyway as goods have to be sold fit for purpose with a reasonable length of service.

Hence why we got our plasma screen fixed by Toshiba when it was nearly 2 years old. The first quote was for £1700 for a new screen until I started to mention trading standards who told me about the fact warranties don't mean a lot.

I have extended warranties on all my kitchen appliances. I do this with a "kitchenplan" policy from Domestic and General and get any 6 items covered. They also replace the item if it cannot be repaired. I've been with them for years, and never had any bother.