Is it possible to buy a service contract somewhere else?

Factual Questions
1

Suppose I buy a Panasonic phone at Circuit City, and I feel the service contract price is exorbitant.

Could I find a seller elsewhere for which the contract would be as legitimate (as the clerk at CC claims)? You know, like they promise at CirCity - “It brealks, you get a new one.”

2

I know you can buy that for certain things. A few years back, I bought a digital camera from the 'States - back then the price difference was worth it, the only problems being import duty, and the fact that the manufacturer’s warranty was no good in Canada.

The guy selling them knew this, so he also sold me a 3rd party warranty from Mack Camera & Video Service. I haven’t had occasion to use said service, but the major disadvantages are that should I have to use it, it would require some internet research as to the closest dealer partnered with the company, along with shipping my camera there and back.

Really, I’d only pay for anything like that on something expensive and liable to break like a laptop, for which I would get everything I could. Anything else like a phone, dvd player, etc. have a reasonable expected lifetime - by the time any of them break, you could buy something smaller and better for less money.

3

I get emails trying to sell me an extended warranty for my '87 Cavalier all the time.

So there must someplace somewhere.

4

certainly.
same places Circuit City shops.
store warrenties are rarely from the manufacturer. They are insurance. The store buys insurance on the product. Extended car warrenties are similar. Rarely (never in my experience) are extended warrenties from the car manufacturer.

I am sure you could shop around and find a reasonable deal. The only problem I could see is that the insurance company will want some way of knowing the condition of the item when it is first sold. Not easy for a relatively inexpensive item.

5

If you buy from a car dealer of that make, they’re almost invariably from the manufacturer.

6

Google produced [this page](http://www.google.com/search hl=en&q=extended+warranties&btnG=Google+Search) of sites for extended warranties for various things. For cars, some are from manufacturers and some from independent sources.

Here and here are sites on how to choose an extended warranty.

7

That is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny.

Thanks, Reeder.

And thank all of you for your inputs.