by Dale Chessey
The Bureau of Electronic and Appliance
Repair (BEAR) oversees the service
contract industry involving washers,
dryers, refrigerators, freezers,
ovens & ranges, televisions, audio
and video recorders/playback, personal
& laptop computers, fax machines,
copy machines, satellite dish installations,
auto stereos and alarms, and more.
In 2004, BEAR’s jurisdiction
was expanded to include service
contracts sold on other products,
including: furniture, jewelry/watches,
fitness equipment, power tools,
lawn & garden equipment, home heath
care products, fitness equipment,
telephone equipment, and small kitchen
appliances.
Just about every product in today’s
market is sold with a service contract.
In fact, there are retail
chains coming up with new ways to
power-sell these money makers.
For instance, there are reverse
policies being sold; if you have
no claim – you receive some or all
of your money back.
Another method is to automatically
attach the warranty sale onto the
purchase, then the buyer has to
decide to decline or delete the
policy.
A fast reversal tactic from
deciding if you want it added!
In 2004, BEAR thought that 3,200
licenses was incredible, somewhat
of a challenge for a small bureau
to manage.
However, as you can see,
this has just about doubled from
that once exorbitant number to 5,914
licenses in 2007!
When BEAR receives license applications
from potential service contract
sellers or even administrators,
it meticulously checks every detail
of the paperwork to make sure consumers
are protected in this burgeoning
industry.
Each
application must include a copy
of the contract being sold, financial
backing information, and officers/applicants
cross-referenced to ensure that
previously questionable applicants
are not re-applying, to name just
a few areas.
Be assured, Bureau analysts read
the fine print!
Each contract is dissected
from cancellation polices, exclusions,
who’s administering the policy,
term dates, to see if the “t’s”
are crossed and “i’s” are dotted
in the expected coverage and performance
of service.
Next time I would like to integrate
the parts issue, what the contract
covers.
For instance… what’s the
difference between lamps and bulbs?
What are the major types
of contracts being offered?
Article comments and suggestions
may be sent to Dale Chessey, at
Dale_Chessey @dca.ca.gov
