Goose
Well-known Member
For one thing, you did NOT buy a warranty. A warranty is intended to cover parts that were defective when manufactured.
What you bought was a service contract. It is a contract to replace certain parts if they fail in normal use. I was a claims adjuster working service contracts for close to ten years, and all I can say is, "READ THE DAMMED CONTRACT" and see what is and what isn't covered. And it's not unusual for the vehicle owner to be responsible for teardown until the failure is determined.
We had people call all the time and tell us, "The salesman that sold me this told me everything was covered, bumper to bumper", and he'd have maybe a simple power train contract.
Don't even get me started on all the repair shops that tried to get rich off of our company. I once caught a Chevy dealership installing a $500 salvage yard engine in a Chevy pickup after I'd authorized a new Goodwrench engine.
I caught a Dodge dealer replacing the transmission in an Intrepid with a 90 day salvage yard unit after I'd authorized $1700 plus labor to install a Chrysler reman with a 36 month/36,000 mile warranty.
I caught a Dodge dealer wanting to replace the entire engine in a B200 van when the problem was simply a failed injector.
I caught the largest independent used car dealership in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio trying to get some shop equipment covered on a phony contract. The also tried to get some service work on their own service truck covered on another phony contract.
I could go on and on. For some perverse reason, heater cores weren't covered on most of our contracts, so if a shop called in a heater core and we legitimately denied it as a non-covered item, you could bet money within a half hour the shop would call back claiming failure of a covered component equivalent in cost to a heater core.
And this was all everyday stuff. And the large franchise dealers were the worst. There was a gal at a large GM dealership (which no longer exists) in Las Vegas who would try to pull something outrageous and when we called her on it, she's simply say, "Oh well, I had to try".
There are some sleazy contract companies out there, but there are also many straight arrow companies like ours that were bled white by all the greedy, crooked repair shops in the country. And I'm including ALL auto repair shops in the country. Even our local, small town Chrysler dealer tried to pull a $1200 flat out scam on my wife on her T&C mini-van knowing he had about a 2% chance of getting it past me.
I've become jaded enough to think there is not one single auto repair shop in the U.S. that would not work a scam on someone if the opportunity presented itself.
And if any of ya'll who work in auto repair have your feelings hurt by that statement, so be it. Look in the mirror.
I apologize for the rant, but our company no longer exists. We tried to do it right and were eaten alive by all the scam artists in the auto industry.
What you bought was a service contract. It is a contract to replace certain parts if they fail in normal use. I was a claims adjuster working service contracts for close to ten years, and all I can say is, "READ THE DAMMED CONTRACT" and see what is and what isn't covered. And it's not unusual for the vehicle owner to be responsible for teardown until the failure is determined.
We had people call all the time and tell us, "The salesman that sold me this told me everything was covered, bumper to bumper", and he'd have maybe a simple power train contract.
Don't even get me started on all the repair shops that tried to get rich off of our company. I once caught a Chevy dealership installing a $500 salvage yard engine in a Chevy pickup after I'd authorized a new Goodwrench engine.
I caught a Dodge dealer replacing the transmission in an Intrepid with a 90 day salvage yard unit after I'd authorized $1700 plus labor to install a Chrysler reman with a 36 month/36,000 mile warranty.
I caught a Dodge dealer wanting to replace the entire engine in a B200 van when the problem was simply a failed injector.
I caught the largest independent used car dealership in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio trying to get some shop equipment covered on a phony contract. The also tried to get some service work on their own service truck covered on another phony contract.
I could go on and on. For some perverse reason, heater cores weren't covered on most of our contracts, so if a shop called in a heater core and we legitimately denied it as a non-covered item, you could bet money within a half hour the shop would call back claiming failure of a covered component equivalent in cost to a heater core.
And this was all everyday stuff. And the large franchise dealers were the worst. There was a gal at a large GM dealership (which no longer exists) in Las Vegas who would try to pull something outrageous and when we called her on it, she's simply say, "Oh well, I had to try".
There are some sleazy contract companies out there, but there are also many straight arrow companies like ours that were bled white by all the greedy, crooked repair shops in the country. And I'm including ALL auto repair shops in the country. Even our local, small town Chrysler dealer tried to pull a $1200 flat out scam on my wife on her T&C mini-van knowing he had about a 2% chance of getting it past me.
I've become jaded enough to think there is not one single auto repair shop in the U.S. that would not work a scam on someone if the opportunity presented itself.
And if any of ya'll who work in auto repair have your feelings hurt by that statement, so be it. Look in the mirror.
I apologize for the rant, but our company no longer exists. We tried to do it right and were eaten alive by all the scam artists in the auto industry.
