BBB: Vehicle Warranty Schemes On The Rise
Published: May 13, 2009
Updated: May 13, 2009
CENTRAL OHIO—Scam artists are calling people at home, on their cell phones or sending out mailers claiming it’s time to re-up their vehicle warranties.
They’re using high-pressure sales to try and lure people into buying bogus warranties.
The Better Business Bureau has received 1,200 related complaints and reminds people to never give out personal information to an unknown telemarketer.
If you think your warranty may be up, the BBB recommends calling your dealership to find out.
If you think you’ve been scammed contact the Attorney General’s office or the Better Business Bureau.
BBB offers the following advice for dealing with firms offering extended auto warranty contracts:
• Never give personal information, including Social Security, bank or credit card numbers, over the phone to an unknown telemarketer.
• Read your manufacturer’s warranty and contact your dealer or manufacturer to ensure that you are not purchasing duplicate coverage.
• Consumers can place their phone numbers on the Federal Do Not Call List by visiting http://www.donotcall.gov. If a consumer is already on the list but continues to receive telemarketing calls, he or she can use the same Web site to report incidents to the Federal Trade Commission.
• To find trustworthy auto warranty companies, consumers can check out BBB Reliability Reports online and free of charge at http://www.bbb.org.
For additional information, stay with NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com—Where Accuracy Matters.
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Reader Reactions
We have 4 cell phones in our house and they call all 4. They are not ‘live’ persons, the ones that call us are recordings that tell us to press certain numbers. The first one we got came about a year after we bought a truck, so I thought it might be legit, but I NEVER give information over the phone that has been solicited. Then my son started getting them a month after buying his car, the same thing on the phone. We thought at first they were trolling people who had just purchased a car, then my middle son started getting them and he doesn’t own a car but JUST received his license. Maybe they do troll for anyone who just purchased a car or got their license? We have been on the do not call list since it was made available. When we do a reverse look up on the phone number it comes back to a 90 year old woman in Illinois. I wonder if she even knows her number has been scammed!
Thanks for the suggestion about the Do Not Call list. We’ve been on the list for over a year, but it doesn’t work with these people. The number that shows up on caller ID is pirated, and it also keep changing. We get calls from them all the time, despite being on this list and also despite having an unlisted number. If you have any doubt about whether they are legit, ask them to tell you the year, make and model of your car. They won’t be able to. And, as with all calls that seem bogus, ask for a number so you can call them back. They won’t be able to give you that, either - or, if they give you a number, it won’t work.
The best thing I’ve found to get them to stop calling is to blast them with a police whistle, very loudly.
My mom received one of these calls and she does not even own a car.
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