It's insurance, plain and simple. Do we, on an average, come out on top of the insurer regarding premiums paid versus benefit payout? Absolutely not! The argument can be made that certain individuals don't need medical insurance because they are healthy, liability insurance because they have nothing to lose, comprehensive auto insurance because their vehicle is not worth fixing, etc, etc.
For most of us, a $50, $500, or $5000 repair outside of any warranty or extended protection plan is not going to result in bankruptcy or selling a kidney. On the other side of the coin, we are likely not going to get $5k+ of warranty repairs while covered by a $2k extended plan. At the end of the day, just another insurance choice we make. (With inconsequential ramifications relative to our other insurance decisions)