With respect, I would not trust the word of any random service centre employee. I'm sure they mean well, but I can easily imagine they will be happy to say what they think will happen, or what they think you want to hear to be reassured, etc.
As @Burley said the Helvetia extended warranty definitely had to be purchased before the expiry of the manufacturer one. As things stand now we're about a month in of there being no extended coverage available. The website talks about emailing them and them honouring the request at the point of that email, but I hadn't had any personalised acknowledgement of my email, or reassurance that I'll be taken care of.
As @Burley said the Helvetia extended warranty definitely had to be purchased before the expiry of the manufacturer one. As things stand now we're about a month in of there being no extended coverage available. The website talks about emailing them and them honouring the request at the point of that email, but I hadn't had any personalised acknowledgement of my email, or reassurance that I'll be taken care of.