I purchased a leather office chair from OfficeMax in April. The extended warranty for the office furniture was called "Furniture MAX Assurance". About 8 months later, the wheels started falling off and the plastic that holds the wheels in place was buckling and cracking.
I called the 800 number to request service / replacement, and the rep (who didn't even realize they covered furniture) gave me the run-around for 30 minutes, claiming to talk to his direct supervisors on a number (5 - I counted) of occassions.
The rep eventually told me that I needed to contact the manufacturer of the chair to request service, because the problem was covered on the 5-year warrany from Numark, the chair manufacturer. Despite being upset about the shuffle, I figured that Numark would honor their warrany. After calling Numark and finding out that they wouldn't cover what they thought was due to normal wear and tear (after 8 months?! Even after 1 1/2 years?!). This is not a normal issue, and I shouldn't have to justify this to two different companies!
I called GE-Zurich again, explaining that Numark wouldn't cover the problem. The new rep told me that if the Manufacturer doesn't cover it, neither will they. I asked what the purpose of having an extended warranty on furniture is, when you get a manufacturer's _limited_ 5-year warranty that GE-Zurich won't cover the fringes of. The rep said "I can't tell you".
This is deceptive! More than that, it's a classic example of corporate control over consumers. I told the second rep that I would contact the BBB and he replies, as he's typing, "OK, so you're threatening to call the BBB...". They considered it a threat. How classic.
Needless to say, I will _NEVER_ purchase another extened warranty from GE-Zurich. I _WILL_ contact the BBB in Dallas. And I will be calling OfficeMax's corporate headquarters to investigate why I was pushed to purchase this warranty that serves no purpose.
Ian
Boston, Massachusetts
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