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Third-Party Extended-Warranty Scams
Edmunds.com
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Third-Party Extended-Warranty Scams
Third-party extended auto warranty companies promise to offer peace of mind, but all too often, their shady practices scam people out of their money.
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1. On 2/27/2010 I bought the 2009 Impala CPO with 38781 miles on it, specifically asked the financial manager with Community Chevrolet if there is any deductible, answer was NO. But it actually came with $100 deductible.
2. The CPO car came with 12000mile/12month as certified vehicle, and I purchased 32000mile/48month GMPP Major Guard protection. Again the financial manager with Community Chevrolet told us the car would still be in coverage till 2/27/2015 or at 82781 miles. So it will start after the certified warranty runs out. I think that is a logical explanation. Just to find out that the coverage I purchased only covers up to 2/27/2014 or at 70781. In fact, it costs $1800 for 20000mile/36month.
3. When I got the booklet, sent emails on 05/18/2010 to the sale person, financial manager, and sales manager asking to cancel the policy, the dealership seems to be nonexistence.
Call GMPP, they were saying that it is MY FAULT that signed a document that I didn’t understand. What a joke! Other than saying it is a scam to rip you off, can’t think of anything else.
However, 8 months later while driving in the passing lane (US 395 S, Mojave Desert) with my xenon lights on & flashing, past a row of slow cars stuck behind a struggling semi-trailer truck a Lexus 450 SUV pulled out from behind the trailer, into my lane. Being unable to stop @ 66+ mph, I collided into the SUV, directly opposite the rear wheels of the trailer.
The Audi's radiator was pushed into the engine, which pushed the transmission into the quattro AWD drive-train, etc. At reaching $30,000 in damages, the car was listed as a total loss, at 5,500 mile's use. No one noticed that the Lexus was not seen after the impact, However, I survived the crash .
Among all the broken pieces gathered together after the accident, was being billed for the pro-rated portion of the used extended warrantee that had become effective when I drove off the dealer's lot--along with the manufacture's warrantee.
Worst customer service ever! No one can ever answer any of your questions, they say they will have someone call you back from another department and then nobody ever calls! This company just gives you the run around. I wanted to cancel and they offered no refund like they advertised! I would not trust them!!!
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Based on other posts/various sites, and other mailings, this outfit seems to have various names, phones and locations.
Mailings often lack return address or company info. This one only had name/phone number:
Auto Service Agency, 1-800-429-1341, inside only. The USPS address below, was only on website.
From other's posts, website is: www.autoserviceagency.com
Mailings have averaged about one/month, for more than 2 years.
My full name ONLY appears on legal docs, which ONLY come from State records, Dealers, or Finance companies; none should share data!
The car listed in mailings we've gotten, was a Used vehicle bought from All Star Ford [now out-of-business] in Olympia, WA. That triggered blitz of mail-deals, some w/threatening tones.
AFTER that car was traded-in at Hanson Motors in Olympia, then Uhlmann Ford in Chehalis kept sending offers of unrealistic high trade-in value towards new car, offers for extended warranties, refi-offers, service plans, etc. kept coming.
We NEVER respond to ANY of those offers, yet they keep coming.
Scammers harvest New AND Old data and show signs of Ponzi/deception/fraud/boiler-room ops.
They seem troll for the elderly, the poor, service members, uneducated 'rubes', etc. who might be desperate to have coverage or deals too good to be true.
Questions include:
--- HOW/WHERE do these keep linking me to That car? ARE there secret phrases or words to use, to get them to divulge their sources?
--- DID dealerships do their paperwork wrong, or not at all? When vehicles are sold, a separate relinquish-ownership paper needs filed with Department of Licensing/DMV, so State lists Seller as no longer owning/controlling that vehicle; otherwise, a seller can be held liable for damages involving the vehicle, even years after-the-fact.
--- WHAT ELSE might they be using my information for? Them having my full name, address, and car data; if they have that much, what ELSE?!
--- HOW do I find out?
--- HOW can they be stopped?
--- WHAT happened to Laws designed to stop Deceptive Business Practices??
--- Could these be pursued under "Mail Fraud" laws, since USPS is their main tool?
--- Can STATES be served "Cease and Desist" orders, to prevent them selling/sharing "public information"?
States and businesses divulging "public information" constitute HUGE security breaches!
I had to assume the "Customer ID Number" was that above my name in the address. At the website, I found a greyed-out, extreme-tiny-print Link to "opt-out of mailings", at bottom of page; required entering ID-number, then "prove you are not a robot" box w/a math answer.
IF this stops these, it'll probably only be from one section of their amoebic boiler-rooms, not from others they sell/share data with.
Seems opt-out of 3rd party contacts, is Unreliable; Instead of "opt-out" consumers should have to "opt-in"!
The finance guy at the big name kia car dealership convinced us that we absolutely needed a third party warrantee because our vehicle had high miles. He assured us that this warrantee would cover anything that could happen and all maintenance that we would need. We ended up paying nearly $5,000.00 for this "warrantee" and maintenance plan. This raised our monthly payments quite a bit, but we justified it by the peace of mind that the warrantee gave us. So, after a year of owning the vehicle, we had not had an issue, and I took it in for a routine maintenance at the Lexus dealership, as suggested by the USWC rep that I talked to the day before. When I got to the dealership, USWC balked at the dealers pricing for rotating the tires, inspections, and changing the oil. On top of this, they did not pay for anything beyond that. They did not cover any of the factory recommended services. I was frustrated at this point because the dealership had obviously lied to us about what was covered, and I felt like we had paid an ridiculous price for something that only covered a small portion of the "maintenance". So, I asked the USWC rep what they actually covered. He rattled off what was covered, but the list of qualifications that were required for those repairs, was far longer than the actual items that were covered, including that they would not cover "Any failure caused by a condition that existed prior to the purchase of the agreement."
I came to find out also at the Lexus dealership that we were over 10,000 miles past the recommended timing belt replacement. FYI, If the timing belt fails, your engine blows up. This meant that we bought the vehicle that was already nearly three thousand miles overdue for a timing belt. Basically a ticking time bomb. Which of course, if it blew, was not covered by the "warrantee." This is because the warrantee stipulates that not only is any precondition not covered, neither is the factory recommended replacement of the timing belt, nor is any damage covered due to a failed timing belt because it is a factory recommended service. Kind of chicken before the egg, but no one gets to eat.
These guys are good at covering their liabilities. And by liabilities I mean paying out anything to help you out when you need it most. At best, they are good at adding insult to injury by sticking it to you when you already have a problem.
Total scam. They should be outlawed.
I had a Good Sam extended warranty on my 2007 Dodge which had the transmission rebuilt at 146k in Asheville NC. The claim was denied because my service interval was "tardy". They demanded service at 60k, 90k and 120k. Provided proof for 66k, 103k and 119k. But that was not close enough for them even though it had nothing to do with the transmission failure.
Bad Sam will get no more of my business. i have lost faith in them as a company and warn all who have to cancel and get their money back before being disappointed.
If you get a call from either of these numbers, 908-266-1029 or 636-685-0027, do not answer. Do not let these rude people scam you out of your money. It's so sad that people such as this are comfortable treating people like crap for them to be in business.
History is replete with stories about these companies. Simple google US Fidelis for a typical account.
And really, why would anyone respond to a telephone call or mailing regarding an extended service contract?
I get these mailings all the time. Usually for a vehicle I no longer own.
All extended service contracts are a losing proposition for the buyer, all of them.
I've been having the policy for 2 months now but they lie to me to make me stay on the policy till time ran out. All the receptionist could tell me was, "Oh I'm sorry you had a bad experience." I told her this is a scam and you are not an honest person. I also explained to her that if I did not get it fixed the vehicle would get worse over time and then they would not cover the policy because of negligence but it's their fault that there is negligence in the first place so if you're thinking about getting this policy with this company just don't. Also they lie and say that the problem was solved and no it never was . the theives still have all my money. there are a lot of fake reviews here as well so beware when dealing with this scam of a company. if you see this as a reponce to any of the one star reviews
Vincent-
We are sorry to hear about your experience. Looks like you spoke to one of our customer service representatives and they were able to assist you.
If there's anything you need, please give us a call.
It is a lie. Before you deal with this company please read the one star reviews they are not lieing to you but this company is. They are nothing but a bunch of Liars who ony want your monney. consumer beware.
They CONSTANTLY call me, even when I have their number blocked, and on the do not call registry, but they continue to call from different area codes. I've asked them for over a year to STOP calling me! Now they are sending postcards to me.
They also have the wrong name and car that they "claim" they have on file.
BE FOREWARNED! THEY ARE SCAMMERS. Always check with a reputable dealership for extended warranty companies.
A requirement of the insurer (scammer) is that the claim must originate via phone from the service center which will do the work. Sounds innocuous, right? The problem with this arrangement is that the insurer treats the service center so badly that service centers are loath to agree to take payment from the insurer. They pay slowly and they limit the payment to a flat rate fee which is almost always less than the service center charges for the repair.
The insurer (scammer) restricts payment for repairs to parts that failed as a result of the failure of an "internally lubricated component". Failing that, no payment. The scammer's rep will ask the service center in precisely these words. "Was this repair caused by the failure of an internally lubricated component?"
When an internally lubricated part fails on its own, the warranty will not pay. Such an occurrence happened to me when I had a failure in one of the heads of my 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee Hemi.
To understand the lay of the land... the service center does not want to deal with the warranty scammer. The Warranty scammer does not want to pay for the repairs. The owner of the vehicle is stuck with a car that is at least partially disassembled at the service center. The service center rep knows he is going to be paid more quickly and with less quibbling if he deals with the owner. So, in effect, two parties (Service Center and scammer) are working together to find a way to decline payment from the scammer. When the scammers rep, asks his question (quoted previously), all the service rep has to do is equivocate momentarily. This gives the scammer everything he needs to deny the claim.