Friday, April 3, 2009

SCAM ALERT: Beware of "Extended Car Warranties"!

Most of the time I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, but maybe this is the wrong policy
when talking with salespeople over the phone.


We got sucked into a
scam the other
day for an "extended car warranty."
  I even told the person over the
phone, "this is too good to be true."  She offered me a 5-year, 100,000
mile extended warranty on our 2001 Grand Caravan that already has over
110,000 miles on it.  And we had to commit to it right then, or else we'd
miss our opportuntity and couldn't call them back (when you hear this,
immediately think: Warning! Warning! Scam alert!).  She told us we had 30
days to cancel and get our money back, so I agreed.



A week later, a bottle of engine treatment arrives in the mail.  It says to put it in our
vehicle, and they will cover anything that the fluid touches.  Originally
the salesperson told me it was a $50 deductible, and that A/C and electrical
components were covered.  But in the contract that arrived in the mail, we
had a $100 deductible, a total $3,000 coverage limit, and only on the drive
train (maybe not even that).


I called customer service to ask for my money back, and when they heard that I had received the
engine treatment, they acted like it was some sort of mistake, and they tried to
sell me the same extended 100,000 miles warranty again (with full electrical and
A/C systems covered)!   By this time my guard was up, so I
declined.  They told me to send the engine treatment product back to them
(at my expense, of course) and they would return my money.


Stay tuned to see if I get my money back!  And in the meantime, just remember:


  1. If it's too good to be true, it probably is (and when dealing with salespeople, I would dare say it's ALWAYS true!)

  2. If you're pressured to make a decision immediately without time to consider it, DON'T DO IT!

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