COMMENT
Let's Play 'Spot The Warranty Rule Change'

The next time you visit your local High Street in search of some electrical goods, check out the retailers that usually like to persuade you to take out an extended warranty along the way. (Do certain high street names spring to mind, perchance?)

New rules about how they sell extended warranties came into force yesterday and you might like to take a look to see if they're complying with them.

First of all, note that the cost of the extended warranty and the fact that it is optional is now supposed to be clearly displayed next to the retail price of the goods.

If you decide to buy anything and the sales staff try to persuade you to take out an extended warranty, tell them you'll have a think about it and may possibly come back at some point in the next 30 days to buy one. (They can no longer tell you that you have to buy it there and then, you see!)

If you decide to buy a warranty on the spot then do remind them that you may consider cancelling it at some point in the next 45 days - and claim a pro-rata refund  - seeing as you now have a 45-day cooling off period.

The new rules follow an investigation into extended warranties by the Competition Commission who branded the market as 'unfair and uncompetitive'. They were supposed to have been introduced in time for Christmas shopping but retailers whinged that they hadn't been given enough notice (even though they knew about the proposed changes a year in advance!)

Anyway, the rules are now in place. So, let's see if they're complying with them when we next go shopping for electrical goods, shall we?