Holiday shopping is just around the corner, and so are the hard sells for extended warranties and service plans. Consumer Reports says there's a real dollars-and-cents reason for that. Stores make a lot more profit on those than on the actual product you're buying! In fact, Consumer Reports says service plans are almost never worth it.
Consumer Reports' reader survey shows that products rarely break during the service contract period. And even if they do, it doesn't cost that much more to repair them than it does for the contract itself.
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Extended service plans are expensive. They can boost your costs by 30 percent or more and can run into hundreds of dollars. And Consumer Reports' surveys find that If you pay for a repair yourself, there's a better chance that it's going to be done correctly and quicker than if you had it repaired under contract.
Consumer Reports says better than buying a service plan is paying with a credit card. Many cards automatically extend the manufacturer's warranty up to a year, so check your terms.
Calling the manufacturer can pay off, too. Just because the manufacturer's warranty has expired doesn't necessarily mean that you're out of luck. If you contact the manufacturer and make a good argument, there's a good chance the company will pay for part or all of the repair.
Consumer Reports says the one possible exception to the "No Extended Warranty Rule" is when buying a laptop. If you're going to travel with it a lot, Consumer Reports says you may want to consider an extended warranty that covers accidental damage.