Expensive purchases warrant protection

Your article “Spending on product warranties targeted” (Nov. 14) failed to give a fully rounded picture of the value that extended service plans provide for consumers.

Cited in the article are questions being raised by Consumer Reports about extended warranties. But you failed to acknowledge that a Consumer Reports product reliability survey showed that 92% of the product types reviewed by the organization (23 of the 25) have double-digit percentage failure rates within three to four years of the purchase date.

Indeed, some products, again according to Consumer Reports, have very high failure rates in that time frame, including 43% of laptop computers, 37% of side-by-side refrigerators, 29% of front-loading washing machines and 28% of selfpropelled mowers.

(In addition, although the long-term repair record is not yet known, products such as plasma televisions and TVs using digital light processing are likely to incur significant failure rates -- and costs to their owners -- because of their complexity.)

Consumer Reports’ own survey, therefore, actually supports the fact that people making important, expensive purchases need the protection provided by extended service plans.

These plans increase the value of the product, provide convenience and enhance consumer peace of mind.

Given the complexity of today’s consumer products, 24-hour toll-free product assistance, a national network of highly qualified, prescreened service technicians (with access to factory replacement parts and schematics) sure beats Yellow Pages searches and Internet recommendations for repair providers.

Timothy J. Meenan

Executive director, Service

Contract Industry Council

Tallahassee, Fla.