J
it's indeed a scam. These plans aren't warranty at all, they're an insurance policy and have all the limits and restrictions of those as compared to a warranty plan. Also, depending on your jurisdiction, you might actually by law have warranty far exceeding what the warranty card that came with your product tells you you have. And for those things where it does appear worthwhile, the seller knows quite well that a) the vast majority of users will never have a valid claim (because the product is highly unlikely to develop a covered flaw before the "extended warranty" runs ou), b) the vast majority of people buying it will forget about having the coverage and/or lose the paperwork needed to actually make a claim and c) they unscrupulous ones count on the company issueing the coverage going out of business before any claims are likely to be issued (self liquidation, and just starting a new company every other year or so, or just economic reality, the one time I had such a plan the store I'd bought it was out of business when the product failed years later, there was no way to get it replaced)