"It was a nightmare initially until I could find the right department," Hileman says. Even worse, even though he had the original warranty certificate, his claim was initially rejected -- GE Assurant couldn't find a record of the warranty in its database. This issue that wasn't cleared up until an agent thought to check Hileman's old address in Seattle against its records. Even once they did agree to honor the warranty, Hileman still had to find a repair shop and front the money. He has yet to be reimbursed.

Have you bought a Circuit City extended warranty, or attempted to get service on a product covered by such a policy? Would you buy one now, considering Circuit City's Chapter 11 status? Why or why not?

Update: Jim Sykes from Assurant's corporate communications department had this to say about Circuit City and Assurant's own services:

"Assurant Solutions companies administer and underwrite extended service contracts sold through Circuit City, and that would not change even if Circuit City happened to go out of business. As you may have noticed from the news release posted on the , Assurant acquired GE's Warranty Management Group business in late September. While we contracted with GE to continue to sell extended warranties on home appliances under the GE brand for another 10 years, GE is not longer involved in the operation of this business, or other accounts, including Circuit City.

Service contracts sold through Assurant Solutions companies are backed by an Assurant insurance subsidiary, American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, which is rated A "Excellent" by A.M. Best Co."