Sports Authority is pushing a new “Extended Coverage Plan” for footwear that runs for one year after Sports Authority’s 30-day warranty expires. The extended warranty, which costs between $4.99 and $15.99, supposedly even covers normal wear and tear. So how is this profitable?

Sports Authority associates tell us that most people simply forget they have the extended warranty, which we find hard to believe. When we asked what would happen if we requested a new pair after cutting the tongues off our shoes for an art project, we were told that “managers have been very lenient.”

Sports Authority associate Taylor Smith writes on his blog that the warranties are part of a new corporate effort to upsell extras:

i sell shoes and we have this “Operation Big Foot” thing that just started in February 2009… we are supposed to basically ANNOY the customer by trying to persuade them to purchase an “ECP” aka Extended Coverage Plan, Insoles, shoe cleaner, sneaker balls (deodorizer), heart rate monitors watches, socks and any other product that we offer.

It gets so redundant throughout the day but the up side is we get a little money for each thing we sell. Like if i were to sell you an insole that costs $19.99-29.99 each i would get $1. If i sell you an ECP and your shoes cost $79.99 your ECP would cost $9.99 and i would get $.50 but if your shoes cost over $100.01 then the ECP would cost $15.99, and i would get a buck!

The extended warranty is administered by the National Electronics Warranty Corporation, which has several complaints against it on RipOffReport.

We distrust most extended warranties. A warranty on shoes that including wear and tear seems to good to be true, which means that it probably is.

Consumer Portal [National Electronics Warranty Corporation]

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