The fact that extended service, extended warranty or other form of the same are offered in the product's normal life is exactly the reason these plan administrators exist.  Their own actuaries calculate expected claims payments, reserve (future liability) in the active periods for these warranties.  Not only do these companies know that the repair rates (excluding physical damage) for ALL  products are exceedingly low in the normal life periods, buy that general consumer ignorance and fear will drive business and create hefty profits for the plan administrator and the sellers/retailers.    With incidence of repairs low, the odds of using the plans are low.  There is NO model that favors the consumer.  In fact, one has much better odds at black jack tables in Vegas.   If society was rational and made more decisions based on sound reasoning and research, extended warranties, and their companies, would not exist.  

Consequently, In the retail environments, study after study confirms that pushing these plans creates negative customer relations.   Within retail culture and within the stores, lack of execution from the behind the scenes extended service plan administrators actually exacerbates operational stress on store management and has a net negative impact on the customer experience.  Retail executives tend to be blinded by the profit.