I've bought a reasonable amount of stuff from HN over the last few years - normally a good experience, helpful staff and competitive pricing.  Not today however!!

Went to buy a compact camera (Panasonic S1) ticket price $118 - HN website price $108.  Asked the sales chap to price match themselves and was not a problem.  Then after trying to sell me a memory card and a case, he offered the warranty - I politely declined - but it's only $13 dollars he replies - again said no thanks.  Then he asks "well what will you do if it breaks down?" - I paused, then replied "I'll use the consumer guarantees act if necessary".

Then the astounding part!  He carries on the hard sell by saying so instead of $13 you are going to risk taking us to the claims court which will cost you $60 and you may not win.  Well I was gobsmacked!!  All I could think to say was that if he wanted to continue this conversation I would take my business elsewhere.

As soon as the sale was through I spoke with the store manager (Proprietor) and she was disappointed at what I told her and would ensure that the sales person was corrected on the procedure for selling warranties and consumer rights.    My argument as a consumer was that the impression the sales person gave was that Harvey Norman would fight tooth and nail to not honour their obligations under the CGA unless I'd bought a warranty - sounds like a threat and could potentially make me think twice about buying from them in the future.

It's not about how much it costs, it's the fact that there would be a lot of people who would be scared into buying a warranty they probably didn't need/didn't want and maybe could not afford.  I understand it is a revenue stream - but this really was just too much.