Beware Of Fake Extended Auto Warranty Pitches

Getting one's car fixed can cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars unless the repairs are covered under warranty.

[Slow News Day]

I had one that came directly from the dealership from when I bought my car, and it came in handy when I needed it. In that case, I had to go back to the dealer that worked on them, and it was covered with a $100 deductible.

In the meantime, I got slammed with these offers from other companies, including this one. I didn't go for them, and now I'm glad.

[Peggy]

I started to get phone calls regarding this and they wouldnt stop calling me, when I tried to get them to stop they got very nasty and would hang up on me. There is always a recording of every call saying "weve been trying to reach you" etc....dont talk to them!!

[Syndi]

I too... purchased an extended warranty. It costs over $2000, but could be financed for $127.50 per month for 18 months through a company named Mepco.
Mepco could not cancel my account unless they were notified by The Warranty Department. I made five requests for cancellation, by phone calls, and a letter; beginning in January 2008. I always got a runaround. Customer Service referred me to Sales for cancellation. Sales referred me to Customer Service. Calls were not returned. The warranty was not cancelled.
Mepco could not cancel the financing without notification from The Warranty Department, and kept advising me to contact them. Mepco drafted my credit card another $127.50 for the monthly payment.
I first requested cancellation in January. In February I cancelled my credit card, in order to stop the monthly charges for the warranty. Mepco continued to send me bills and past due notices for non-payment. I continued to request cancellation of the warranty unsuccessfully. Just this month, May I received a notice of cancellation for non-payment. It seemed as though non-payment to the financeer was the ONLY option to cancel the "COVER EVERYTHING" warranty, that did not cover everything when I took my car in. Now I have to be concerned about whether this cancellation due to non-payment on the warranty contract will be reported as a bad debt to the credit bureaus.
If anyone receives a mailing from The Warranty Department...DON'T DO IT!!!

[Syndi]

Please take note that the extended warranty that I'm referring to is not the one's that are purchased with the vehicle. This is one of the multiple advertisements that you'll receive around the time that your original warranty is about to expire.
I'd previously had a warranty that was purchased with the vehicle purchase. The transmission went out, and I only paid $100 deductible. I was very pleased with the coverage.
However.....These "add on warranties after you've driven the car for a couple of years..and we'll cover EVERYTHING up to 100,000 miles" is what I'm strongly suggesting that you steer away from.

[HAHA]

What can you do after you did this? Can you cancel your credit card?

[mamacita]

Syndi, If you can prove to your credit card company with copies of your correspondence that you TRIED to cancel the warranty and the company would not respond, you can have it appealed and the charges removed. Call your credit card company TODAY and get the process started. You don't have much time to dispute charges. Seriously, TODAY is about all you have got.

If you receive anything that says something like, "You have only 72 hours to take advantage of this offer," WALK AWAY. If you don't have time to think about and research a $1000 or $2000 decision, it's not a good idea to get involved. My favorite two words are "due dilligence." Take the time, check it out, and get references. You'd do it if you were having work done on your home. This shouldn't be any different.

[HAHA]

Thanks I have just sent them a email.

I should have known it was too good to be true.

Thanks again

[EMPLOYEE AT REPAIR SHOP]

YES, THESE WARRANTIES ARE NOT PAYING BACK THE
CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY PROMISED.
ALOT OF TIMES, WHEN THEY DO COVER SOMETHING, THEY WANT TO SEND REPAIR FACILITY USED PARTS!!
ALSO THE DAYS OF DELAY TELLING CUSTOMERS WHILE THEIR CAR IS AT REPAIR SHOP, THEY WOULD HAVE TO HAVE ADJUSTER COME LOOK AT THEIR CAR AND TAKE THEIR SWEET TIME GETTING TO REPAIR SHOP TO CHECK IT OUT. STICK WITH CERTIFIED CARS WITHIN THE DEALERSHIP.

[ALICE]

Thanks for the info! I am going to cancel mine through 'DEALERS SERVICES' right away. I pray to have this done smoothly but I do have my doubts now that I have read and heard from all of you. What are they doing with the money they recieve? Mine is through auto withdraw and hope I can cancel. Thank you.

[Angela]

This "offer " first arrived via email.

It brought quite a chuckle as my car is a 1988 Corolla.

[william herring]

I took my car in for the air conditioner not working properly which was noted on the we owe when i bought it. They charged it and 15 minutes later the blower no longer works.They will not fix it.They have so many complaints.My car has been in their shop 7 times since october.This is the car shop for FreeWay Auto

[Stephanie]

Is there any way to get them to stop calling? I'd report them to the BBB but I can't even get the name of the company... I told them to take my number off their list but, as you said, they just hang up on me.

Peggy wrote:

I started to get phone calls regarding this and they wouldnt stop calling me, when I tried to get them to stop they got very nasty and would hang up on me. There is always a recording of every call saying "weve been trying to reach you" etc....dont talk to them!!

[Jason B Bour]

Stephanie wrote:

Is there any way to get them to stop calling? I'd report them to the BBB but I can't even get the name of the company... I told them to take my number off their list but, as you said, they just hang up on me.
<quoted text>

Use your caller ID and make sure to set your phone up to reject unknown numbers.

I am shocked the amount of people that still gets taken by scam. Always check BBB and research companies before you give them anything. If they give you a high pressure sale and tell you that you haev to do it right now, just walk away.

[The Jackyl]

Syndi wrote:

I too... purchased an extended warranty. It costs over $2000, but could be financed for $127.50 per month for 18 months through a company named Mepco.
Mepco could not cancel my account unless they were notified by The Warranty Department. I made five requests for cancellation, by phone calls, and a letter; beginning in January 2008. I always got a runaround. Customer Service referred me to Sales for cancellation. Sales referred me to Customer Service. Calls were not returned. The warranty was not cancelled.
Mepco could not cancel the financing without notification from The Warranty Department, and kept advising me to contact them. Mepco drafted my credit card another $127.50 for the monthly payment.
I first requested cancellation in January. In February I cancelled my credit card, in order to stop the monthly charges for the warranty. Mepco continued to send me bills and past due notices for non-payment. I continued to request cancellation of the warranty unsuccessfully. Just this month, May I received a notice of cancellation for non-payment. It seemed as though non-payment to the financeer was the ONLY option to cancel the "COVER EVERYTHING" warranty, that did not cover everything when I took my car in. Now I have to be concerned about whether this cancellation due to non-payment on the warranty contract will be reported as a bad debt to the credit bureaus.
If anyone receives a mailing from The Warranty Department...DON'T DO IT!!!

I got lucky, I read your complaint and cancelled two weeks into the program. My suspicions where confirmed when I found their BBB report at a grade "C"! The Warranty Center is a DBA - Pacific Guard Warranty, Inc. is the name of the actual company. The good news, fortunately I didn't get the run-around with finding who can issue a refund of my $300 dollars, but there was the attempt to keep $50 just for canceling. I was adamant that no such agreement was made and she backed off. Bad news, it will take about a month to get my money back. Or whatever translates into 14-21 business days. I'm canceling the account setup for them to take payments just in case some paper work happens to slip through the cracks. There's good business and there's bad business: The Prime Directive Law of Common Sense: "If its too good to be true"...uh yeah, you know the rest.

[Mr_Obvious]

Why do people still fall for this crap? If I am forking over $2000 to anything I am checking it legitimacy first! Stupid is as stupid does...

[jaff]

I fell for it as well...and have the same problem as Syndi...have you had any problems with your credit score? I signed up for this absolute s@#$@ on the 10th of November for monthly installments of 150 dollars. I found out yesterday it was a scam when I looked online. I haven't received my papers yet and I can't even send in anything for cancellation as per their policy. I'm real worried and do not want it to worsen my already bad credit history if I block the payments. I'm extremely worried...please help me!

[El Rey]

I purchased an extended Warranty from MEPCO, and want to know how to get my money back. I have received no claims. What can I do?

[cliche_excuses]

Stephanie wrote:

Is there any way to get them to stop calling? I'd report them to the BBB but I can't even get the name of the company... I told them to take my number off their list but, as you said, they just hang up on me.
<quoted text>

Your bank should be able to get the phone number of the company. They usually have to have that information in order to draft from your account. Good luck to you.

[cliche_excuses]

The only good way to get a good extended warranty is through the car dealership where your purchased vehicle. You must do your homework and make sure that the warranty is going to cover all costs and not have deductables. Be sure to check with the BBB before purchase of warranty also. Dealerships have to honor warranties.

[hopefull]

So I was bamboozled into buying this warranty and gave them information (i kno stupid). Long story short I called the next day to cancel. Looked up the phone number on the website and got a suprisingly pleasant woman willing to give me a refund for all but $50 of what I paid before. I argued about it for a minute but didn't get anywhere.(besides as punishment for being dumb enough to go with this i can live with having paid $50 this is definitely a lesson I won't forget!) I filled out the form sent it back and she said it would take 2-3 weeks for the refund, but that she would start processing it immediately. Now I'm just hoping that I actually get it. I'll repost if I don't get the money back.