Extended warranties are almost always insurance policies, and done through one of a small number of insurance companies. The largest, and by far the oldest, is Domestic & General Insurance, and many of the manufacturers 'extended warranties' are through them.

Pretty well all the bad publicity was about Dixons/Currys extended warranty system, where it was done completely in-house, and cost more than other policies.


As far as I'm aware JL sell exactly the same gear as everyone else, and don't offer their own extended warranty, but pay an insurance company to do it. Also, as far as I'm aware again, JL don't even offer any service facilities, it's done by however the insurance company happen to send.

JL also sell a LOT of Philips, so they are hardly 'managing to sell reliable products'


And I can't get my head round this "everything is covered for six years" rubbish, it's completely untrue, even after that time you are quite free to take them to court - but obviously the older it is, the less chance you have of proving a manufacturing defect, and the less chance of winning.

I have not implied this, I would say that there is the possibility of liability and redress during 6 years. I have explained the concept of "reasonableness", it is quite straightforward in principle, in practice, of course it presents challenges to the litigant, that does not mean all such litigation will fail. But if you act like a victim, sure as eggs are eggs, you will be a victim.

I think some clarification is due here as I think you're being a bit disingenuous, Nigel.

DSG with warranties has for at least the last 20 years always had their warranties underwritten by a major insurance company. Whilst they may sell their own policies, pricing them accordingly, there was not in this time any risk to customers money as had DSG gone bust or been bought out, the customer's warranty would have been honoured by the insurer. At one time Cornhill underwrote, not sure who does now.

I don't believe DSG's warranties were significantly different in price to those of it's major competitors of the time - Comet, Rumbelows, Tempo, Co op etc.

A far bigger problem with warranties - and one which DSG was not involved in - was the sale of warranties by retailers who did not have them underwritten - Tempo and Tiny spring to mind as main offenders. When both of these outfits went bust, there were a large number of customers whose warranties became worthless - unless they'd paid by credit card in which case the credit card provider would cover it.

However, I completely agree with you on this - and the sooner certain posters stop placing fundamentally misleading information on this board about the SSGA what it will and won't cover, and instead actually read up on both the act, what it really means and also how the legal system works, the better for all of us.

iI had problems with my philips dvdr, comets repair team in Leeds said that parts were no longer available, i asked what could i do with my 60 dvd+r discs, of old movies, which i foolishly had not finnalised and could not play on any machine, the guy told me to bring them to him and he would finalise them for me, i did and he did them for me in his lunch break, what a guy, i slipped him a tenner, he was happy, i was over the moon.

Thanks for the info i WAS considering a Phillips HDTV but I think I'll stick with Panasonic unless anyone has had any major problems with them

Someone is bound to have had major problems with a Panny or any other make you can name.

Certainly some brands are more unreliable than others but if you let a single or few disgruntled purchasers of any product dissuade you from acquiring it you will never buy anything.

Obviously, everything goes wrong - it's just a question of how often, and how the manufacturer deals with it.

Sony and Panasonic have the best reputations, and Philips one of the absolute worst.

Apart from their poor reliability and poor service, the other thing with Philips gear is that it tends to be 'weird' - it's hard to explain if you're not an engineer. But normally you can look inside most electronics, TV's, Microwaves etc. and it all makes sense - you look in a Philips and it's often completely different to anything else, no matter where it's made. It's like it's beamed down from a completely different planet?.

According to the GS the best TV under £1000 is...........A Philips!!!!!!!!!!!!! mind you they only tested 3, No Panny, No sony, No Sharp........DOH
PS no i dont take the show seriously-does anyone?

Exactly, they only tested 3, hardly a comprehenisve survey

and naturally you can't spot test a TV for reliabllity.

Anyone got any more amusing 'Philips' stories to share?

my parents bought a 42 lcd phillips tv in dec 2007 - are there issues with their tvs as well? i find the tvs pic quality fairly poor, the connections (inc. the standby button) are on the side of the tv) and it doesnt auto change the aspect ratio which is a fairly basic thing for a tv to do - (yep i have scart autop switching selected in sky settings)

Pioneer hi-fis/separates are excellent - they run and run, ditto for Denon.

Sony don't get a look-in when I'm buying hi-fi equip.

Aunt had a JVC hi-fi bought in around 1983, it did well and lasted until 2004.

Ditto: a Panasonic hi-fi that my father bought in 1979 died in 2003

I've got a 'Trio' (old subsidiary of Kenwood) HiFi that was bought in 1987, and a 'Technics' amplifier & CD player from about 1989, and they're all still going strong (touch wood) and used on a daily basis.

Trio wasn't a 'subsidiary' of Kenwood, it was simply the name they used in the UK as the name Kenwood was already in use by the food mixer people. In later years they came to some arrangement with Kenwood food mixers, and started using the Kenwood name here as well.

I've still got a Trio 3 head cassette deck, and matching Kenwood amp and tuner - bought the cassette just before the change, and the others just after

I've got a late 80's JVC amplifier. It just keeps running and running without a hitch. I must upgrade it really but it has been so reliable for so long I don't want to!

I agree with your sentiments when it comes to Denon (I have had a big soft spot for Denon kit for many years, and sold more TU260 tuners and PMA250 amps than I care to remember); however, I have also had some good Sony stuff as well over the years - the thing that strikes me with Sony kit is that if it is good, it tends to be stunningly good, and if it is poor it is bloody awful.

I've got an old Trio CD player in the cupboard. It's says Trio by Marantz on the back.

Never heard of that, and Trio in the UK were certainly nothing to do with Marantz - was it perhaps an American import or something?.

What's the model number on it?, Trio/Kenwood CD players start with DP.

I used to have a Phillips dvd recorder, Had same problem with it. Didnt recognise the disc. I also bought my son a dvd/combi for his birthday and that developed the same fault one day after the guarantee had run out. Phoned Philips and they said that it was just a bad coincidence. I gave up trying to sort it out as they were very unhelpful and i too have sworn never to buy Philips products again