The Ugly Truth about Extended Warranties

I have worked in retail for many years, some as a part-time associate and some as a full time associate, so I am quite familiar with those extended warranties retailers so desperately want you to purchase.  They love that little add on since a vast majority of the time, it's money in their bank.  Let me explain.  If you were an appliance manufacturer, like Whirlpool, would you want to build, say a dishwasher, which breaks down after three years?  The idea is to create a brand saturated with consumer loyalty.  Whirlpool is not going to grow that loyalty if their products are shoddy and need repairs after three or even four years.  This means they are going to build something which is going to survive longer then an extended warranty.  When it does finally break down, they want you to buy another Whirlpool product, not go with Samsung or LG.  Retailers don't give a shit about how long a product lasts, they just want you to buy the extended warranty since they put a lot of money in their bank account.  This is not to say there are not a few consumers out there who have not purchased and used these warranties, but they are a rare breed.

I did some research to find out who exactly buys these extended warranties and was surprised to find out low income people, those that are the least financially fortunate, tend to purchase them.  Of course major retailers don't really care about how much money you make they just want you to buy them: out of poor pockets into theirs.  Doesn't that seem a little unethical?  The largest group, how  ever, are those who don't want to worry about their appliances breaking down.  Now I don't know about you, but I tend to put some time into research before I go out and buy any large ticket item.  I look at online reviews, Consumer Reports, check out how many stars the product gets at Amazon; there are a vast number of resources out there.  When I make a purchase I want to make sure I'm getting the best bang for my buck.  I sleep well at night.  Unfortunately there are a lot of pudding heads out there who do not do that.  No, they will go from appliance showroom to appliance showroom who will always end up extolling the wonders of their own brand of extended warranty.  Holy Shit, when are people going to get smart and do the research, it doesn't really take that much time.  It's also feels great to walk into a showroom and say "I'll take this refrigerator in white," and when they move into extended warranty territory say "actually, this refrigerator has a lifetime expectancy of around thirteen years, so you can take that $400 extended warranty you want me to buy and use it to wipe your butt."