I'm just writing this thread as public service announcement and for any advice anybody may have for me.
Lately you may have seen many commercials for Extended Warranty companies for your car.
DO NOT CALL THEM!
On 6/15/09 I called one. They made their services sound wonderful on the phone. They guaranteed me a 30 day review period in which my down payment would be fully refunded in the event I wished to cancel for any reason.
I received their policy and welcome package only to find out that the company I spoke to is merely a "middle man" for another company which actually handles the warranty. The original company I called has a rating of "A-" with the Better Business Bureau. The company they sold me to has a rating of "F" due to massive complaints about the same issues and also Government lawsuits brought against the company for misleading advertisement and a few other things.
After reading the policy I realize that this thing is nothing but loopholes for them to not have to pay. One of the clauses states that in the event a claim is filed you must be able to provide proof that you performed all scheduled maintenance on the vehicle at the correct mileage intervals. Well considering I've probably had 50 oil changes (many of which were done myself which is also not allowed under their policy) there's no way I could possibly find or have kept that many receipts. Not to mention all the other maintenance performed on the vehicle over the 4 years I've had it.
So last Friday 6/26/09 I called to cancel the policy. Well amazingly you can't actually talk to someone. They have girls who answer the phone and take down your information and promise to have someone call you back within in the business day. Well 5 days of that went on until it became blatantly obvious they have no intention of calling back. So I finally argued my way to be transferred to a manager through one of the girls. He said that he would gladly e-mail me the cancellation form I need to fill out and fax back.
On this cancellation form it clearly states at the bottom "Cancellations within 30 days have a cancellation fee of $150" Magically this number is the exact same amount as my original "down payment" which was supposed to be able to be refunded in full.
So I made many more attempts at calling this company and just got the run around and the "we'll have someone call you back" bunch of crap. So I called the original "A-" company that sold me the policy to begin with to see if they would help me since they are the ones who promised me the full refund. Basically they were very friendly and apologized many times but said that the refund has to come from the other company who won't even talk to me the majority of the time. Fortunately they were able to help me get someone on the phone from this company immediately. Amazingly it was the exact same guy I spoke to who send me the cancellation form (is this just one guy in his garage running a scam?) He said that I will be receiving a full refund and they would waive the cancellation fee.
Of course I have no way to prove he said any of this if he chooses to deny it later but I have now faxed in the cancellation form to them with a note on the bottom about my discussion with their rep. I would love to be able to call them to confirm that they received the fax but once again I am just getting the run around from the girls who answer the phones.
I will continue to try to contact them as my 30 days expires on 7/15/09. If anybody has any advice about something else I should try or should have done differently please post it. But whatever you all do don't even call one of these companies, you will regret it and getting out of it will be nothing short of a nightmare.
On another note: When the hell are cell phones going to have a "record call" option? All businesses record their conversations to protect themselves. I would love to be able to record my conversations with these people to protect myself. I got their rep to say I would be receiving a full refund but I'd feel a hell of a lot better if I had him on tape saying it.
Lately you may have seen many commercials for Extended Warranty companies for your car.
DO NOT CALL THEM!
On 6/15/09 I called one. They made their services sound wonderful on the phone. They guaranteed me a 30 day review period in which my down payment would be fully refunded in the event I wished to cancel for any reason.
I received their policy and welcome package only to find out that the company I spoke to is merely a "middle man" for another company which actually handles the warranty. The original company I called has a rating of "A-" with the Better Business Bureau. The company they sold me to has a rating of "F" due to massive complaints about the same issues and also Government lawsuits brought against the company for misleading advertisement and a few other things.
After reading the policy I realize that this thing is nothing but loopholes for them to not have to pay. One of the clauses states that in the event a claim is filed you must be able to provide proof that you performed all scheduled maintenance on the vehicle at the correct mileage intervals. Well considering I've probably had 50 oil changes (many of which were done myself which is also not allowed under their policy) there's no way I could possibly find or have kept that many receipts. Not to mention all the other maintenance performed on the vehicle over the 4 years I've had it.
So last Friday 6/26/09 I called to cancel the policy. Well amazingly you can't actually talk to someone. They have girls who answer the phone and take down your information and promise to have someone call you back within in the business day. Well 5 days of that went on until it became blatantly obvious they have no intention of calling back. So I finally argued my way to be transferred to a manager through one of the girls. He said that he would gladly e-mail me the cancellation form I need to fill out and fax back.
On this cancellation form it clearly states at the bottom "Cancellations within 30 days have a cancellation fee of $150" Magically this number is the exact same amount as my original "down payment" which was supposed to be able to be refunded in full.
So I made many more attempts at calling this company and just got the run around and the "we'll have someone call you back" bunch of crap. So I called the original "A-" company that sold me the policy to begin with to see if they would help me since they are the ones who promised me the full refund. Basically they were very friendly and apologized many times but said that the refund has to come from the other company who won't even talk to me the majority of the time. Fortunately they were able to help me get someone on the phone from this company immediately. Amazingly it was the exact same guy I spoke to who send me the cancellation form (is this just one guy in his garage running a scam?) He said that I will be receiving a full refund and they would waive the cancellation fee.
Of course I have no way to prove he said any of this if he chooses to deny it later but I have now faxed in the cancellation form to them with a note on the bottom about my discussion with their rep. I would love to be able to call them to confirm that they received the fax but once again I am just getting the run around from the girls who answer the phones.
I will continue to try to contact them as my 30 days expires on 7/15/09. If anybody has any advice about something else I should try or should have done differently please post it. But whatever you all do don't even call one of these companies, you will regret it and getting out of it will be nothing short of a nightmare.
On another note: When the hell are cell phones going to have a "record call" option? All businesses record their conversations to protect themselves. I would love to be able to record my conversations with these people to protect myself. I got their rep to say I would be receiving a full refund but I'd feel a hell of a lot better if I had him on tape saying it.
