The Washington Post is reporting that extended warranties are just not worth the price, that the insurance companies involved are shady, and so on.

Neither Circuit City nor Best Buy discloses how much of its bottom line comes from extended warranty sales. But analysts have estimated that at least 50 percent and in some lean years 100 percent of profits at the electronics retailers come from extended warranty sales.

But the comments on the Aeropause article pointing to the Washington Post pieces says otherwise.

I respectfully disagree. Extended warranties have saved my butt no less than 6 times in the past 5 years, replacing at no cost my iRiver MP3 player, microwave, motherboard & power supply (known power supply flaw fried them, not a power surge), cordless phone, and 2 printer/scanner/copiers.

So which is it for you guys? I don't think I've ever bought an extended warranty at the store, as they always seemed a little too eager to sell them, which made me suspicious. Eliza Gauger

Extended Warranties Are Bad for You [Aeropause]

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