Car Warranty

A coworker of mine keeps getting calls about renewing her car warranty. It sounds like it could be a scam from the little I read online. Anyone know anything about this and, if it is a scam, what to do to stop the calls?

I know a little bit (2 or maybe 3 things) about car warranties. They're usually legitimate in the strict sense, meaning they form a legally recognized contract. The terms, conditions and clauses will vary between jurisdictions (state, province, country, etc.), as will the consideration (price or premium) and any coverage descriptions (what is covered), deductibles (some warranties have them) and exclusions (what's not covered).

There are many who will say that extended warranties are a scam in their own right, but that's not what's being debated here! If the company offering the warranty is real (and you know all about WU transfer requests!), here is what they should provide...

- Full name of the warranty provider
- Written offer to renew
- Full disclosure of what it will cost, and
- A copy of the wording of the agreement

Naturally, if they're truly offering to renew an existing contract, they should require no further information about the vehicle or its owner except for maybe an odometer reading and a few details of any previous repairs. All other information (owner's name & address, VIN number, etc.) will already be on the contract they are offering to renew. If they don't have that information already, they are either a scam operator OR they are offering a new contract but dressing it up to look like a renewal.

How to get them to stop calling is the easy part. Your friend could try any one of these tactics...

- Accept their offer.
- Refuse their offer and tell them to stop calling.
- If they keep calling, punish them severely.
- Try to sell them insurance every time they call. Don't laugh - it works!

The more I talk to her, the more it sounds like a true scam. She said sometimes they call 4-5 times per day. When she asks them for a company name, they refuse to tell her. When she asks for a supervisor, there is never one available. When she bought her car, the factory warranty had already lapsed. She's told them several times to never call again. Each call seems to originate from a different state. And the list goes on.

From what you said above, it's definitely a scam. No real business, not one, would ever operate like that. In my area there are quite a few "legitimate"* extended warranty providers, and it is a business that often requires an aggressive sales pitch, but I can only see one reason why someone would refuse to provide a company name - and you know what reason that is.


* That term includes companies who are scam operations but haven't been busted yet, and those who operate barely within the limits of the law. Note that when it comes to warranty providers, I have nothing but respect - and not much of that!

Thanks for the confirmation Obi (nice fridge, by the way). I told her the next time they call to say, "I'm definitely interested but could you hold on a sec?" and then to put the phone down until they hang up.

I have gotten those calls, saying that my warranty is "about to expire." I tell them I don't own a car. (Technically not quite true, as I cosigned for my roomate, but since I don't drive, I don't consider the car mine.) Anyway, these people don't really know whether I own a car or not - they're just cold-calling.

I have a little sympathy (a minute amount) for cold-call telemarketers who actually believe in the product or service they're trying to sell, but that goes out the window when they use questionable tactics.

Twice last year I received a post card addressed to me personally stating that my car warranty was about to expire and to call 800-blah-blah to find out how to renew the warranty. The manufacturer warranty had expired four years earlier, and we didn't buy an extended warranty for the car.

The way the post card was worded, and the way it looked reeked of scam. I decided to run them around the pole a little. I called the number on the card and said that I would like to renew my warranty. The woman that answered the phone had a heavy accent, and asked my name. I gave her my cat's name. She asked me which car I was renewing the warranty for, and I said that she should have that information in her database since I received a post card from her company. She said that she wasn't allowed to tell me the cars that I own because that was 'private customer information' but I needed to tell her which one the warranty was for and she would confirm it in her computer.

I told her that I only own one car, and that is my 2007 Laughia TeeHee Rider. She asked me to confirm the specifics of the car. I told her that it has electric brakes, sliding windows, tilted tires, a microscopic boot, and a luggage rack on the undercarriage.

She informed me that she found my name and my car listed in her computer and quoted me a price of $3500 to renew my "warranty." At that point the jig was up.

What she said to me isn't printable.

For about six months or so we were receiving an occassional car warranty post card and numerous automated calls each day regarding a "soon to expire car warranty."

The funny thing is that all three vehicles in this household have not had warranties for years. (My car alone lost it's 100,000 mile extended warranty around six years ago at least.)

It smelled of a scam, but we didn't follow up on it. The calls only stopped because we signed up for the national do not call list.

I couldn't resist following up since scammers make me so angry. They hope to find gullible people that have car warranties that have recently expired or will expire shortly.

This isn't exactly for this forum, but this might be a whole new baiting opportunity! If only these buggers would solicit by e-mail.

I know a few (one or two at least) things about "legitimate" private extended warranty agreements and their providers. With many (certainly not all, but many) of them, there's a fine line between an extended warranty and a 419 scam. The difference: They'll accept payment by other means than Western Union.

^^ And real warranty service will be provided to the customer.

^^^ In most cases yes. But I'll forward this little piece of well-known solid advice: Always, without exception, know what you're signing!

While the above-mentioned situation is surely a scam by all definitions, there are plenty of other one-sided legal contracts that are entered into every day. Buyer-beware isn't just for breakfast anymore!

I just got a call from one of these jokers last night!

There was a team (at least 3) of them, and they had an extremely good soft-sell / hard-sell plan. They were willing to stay on the phone with me for about 30 minutes, making up answers to my questions and assuring me that they'd beat both the price and terms of my existing warranty (which of course they claimed to be looking at right on their computer). Only when I started asking why they needed my credit card number right on the spot did they start getting jittery and losing focus. When I insisted on knowing at least the "manager's" phone number, they got downright defensive and accused me (correctly) of wasting their time! When I reminded them of who called who in the first place, the self-righteous schmuck hung up on me. Hey... it's not my fault they called a baiter!

These guys are most certainly scammers. Not of the e-mail variety, but scam artists nonetheless.