If you are reading this car warranty scams by phone review, likely you have received a call or 2 from some company trying to sell you a car warranty. If you are like me, you have probably not only received phone calls, but also solicitations by mail. So you may be asking if these solicitations are legit or scams? Keep reading to see what to consider FIRST before buying a car warranty! If you don’t, then you will smack yourself later if you become victim of auto warranty scams!
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What To Expect In Our Car Warranty Scams by Phone Review
Although this website is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs to create websites online, today I wanted to cover this topic.
In this car warranty review I will tell you about what to look for before buying any offer by phone or mail. This is very important to know so that you won’t spend your money on so-called products that are fake. This unfortunately is the way how many people get scammed because they don’t research before pulling out their credit cards.
Do You Need A Car Warranty Anyway?
Has your car ever broken down and resulted in crazy costs out of pocket? Yeah you know what I am talking about. We have all been there some time or another, right? Every car no matter the make, model or age will require normal maintenance on it from time to time. I have even noticed on the side of the road brand new cars that have broken down.
I have a VW Jetta that I absolutely love. In fact, to be truthful I have always had foreign cars just about all of life due their reliability. However, again with any car comes costs. If your alternator dies, it could costs you an upwards of $300. If you your engine is blown, then this could literally run you THOUSANDS of dollars to repair it? What repair did you have to do recently and what did it cost you? Let me know below in the comments.
I know that with some people when it comes to hearing noises that come from a car, that in itself is scaring. Sometimes, it’s not if you will have a car issue, it’s a matter of when.
These are just a couple of many problems that any owner could potentially face with their cars. And I don’t know about you, but money doesn’t grow on any of the trees in my back yard. This is were car warranties come into to play to your benefit. They can help you save potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars during the coverage term.
So as you can clearly see, there is true value with getting a car warranty to protect your investment.
Some Common Car Warranty Scams By Phone
I bought my VW Jetta a few years ago and the warranty on it was nearing its end. The car dealership that I dealt with gave me coverage up to 100,000 miles or 5 years. Interesting that I am just about 100K soon. I guess it’s all part of the timing of your coverage ending and that companies buy names and numbers to sell you their services. However, you should know that NOT ALL companies promoting car warranties by phone are legit. Many, if not all are scams. Let me explain why I say this and then later detail some simple ways that you can protect yourself.
Today I got an voicemail from 980-525-4982 that said:
“We sent you manufactures warranty in the mail that you have yet to extend your warranty. You pass the cut off and this is a courtesy call to renew your warranty before we close the file. If you are interested in renewing your auto warranty now please press 5 now or press 9 to be removed from our list. Hi my name is Susie calling with the vehicle service department”.
Have you received a message like this? I assume so if you are reading this car warranty scams by phone review. This is just one example of many that has slight variations, but it’s typically messaged like this. You will notice when these scammers leave you these voicemails, they are trying to create a quick sense of urgency. They do this by by saying to press this number or that number “now”.
Be especially careful with this because these scams try to get consumers to make fast or rushed decisions. When you press certain buttons on your phone, you could be giving the scammer permission to keep calling you. Or by pressing buttons or links you could even be giving scammers access to your phone. Don’t do it!
Also you will hear words like like this is a courtesy call to renew your car warranty before “we close the file”. In the minds of many recipients this would give the idea that you have actually done previous business with the company. However, this is not the case, rather are skilled individuals who know how to grab your attention with these car warranty scams by phone.
The absolute BIGGEST mistake that you could ever commit would be to press buttons on your phone or actually call them back. Don’t do it! It’s a SCAM!
I read how the FTC filled a lawsuit against American Protection Corp. of Florida and several affiliated people and complaints for allegedly deceptive practices. Supposedly this company worked with automakers like Ford and Toyota and offered fake full coverage bumper-to-bumper warranties. Unfortunately, consumer repairs were not covered, the warranties never originated from the automakers and they were sold illegally.
Apparently the auto warranties ranged from $2,800-$3400. Consumers lost an estimated $6 million dollars since 2018 due to these auto warranty scams per complaints.
How to Protect Yourself From Car Warranty Scams
Something that you should know off back is that when you purchase a car from a dealership, they usually will offer car warranties to you. This is just part of the business to help protect your investment for possible future repairs.
However, you should know that your information can be found online by scammers. There are databases that by paying a fee, a person can get a list of individuals who have car or manufacture warranties expiring. This is primarily how scammers get your info in the first place to then call or mail you their propaganda.
Now the question is..how can I protect myself from car warranty scams by phone? This is question that you need answered to avoid losing your money online dealing with someone that you know. Although you may need a car warranty, there are few things that I always FIRST before pulling out credit card to confirm if something is legit or a scam.
What I am about to show you right now has saved me THOUSANDS of dollars and frustration. It’s quite simple, but often something that people are either unwilling to take a few seconds to do.
First, I perform a search online to find honest product reviews. This is great to especially good to do to see what other people may think or have experienced with the company in the past. How can you do this?
Yes, just like you did today to find ways to avoid car warranty scams by phone, you can also do footwork with companies that call you. What do I recommend? First, type the phone number or company name in browser and see what results you get. If in fact it is a legit company, then there should an official web page the appears. You also see tons of other reviews about the company.
Something else that you can do that takes a quick blink of the eye is to enter the name of the car warranty company + complaints. These are longtail keywords that will give you specific results of complaints from previous customers who have used or been scammed by the company in question. If people have been scammed by phone with the car warranty, then you will learn about this and thus avoid wasting your money.
Another thing that you can do is go directly to the BBB website to research the car warranty company or type in google the name of the company + BBB. This will pull up a report that you can read if the company is legit or if people have been scammed by them.
Trustpilot is another place I frequent often to check companies that I am not familiar with. When you arrive to their official page you will be able to type in the name of the company or url if provided. Once you click Enter button you will then see a rating system used based on past experiences and reviews left by real people. I have used this websites times over it had save me tons of time, frustration and money.
Another thing that you can do if you haven’t done so already is signup for the do not call registry. This will great minimize how many unsolicited sales related called that you receive. Also, if you a company and phone number of one continues to call you, then you can report them. You can block unwanted calls or even use good mobile apps to block robo calls.
In my opinion, there are several steps that you can take before buying a car warranty for your vehicle, but these some quick ones. Once you have done your research, then it’s time to make a decision.
Ask yourself, how old is my car? Do I really need to buy an extended warranty when my current one expires? And if you do decide to buy one, always go with a REPUTABLE established company that offers the service.
AARP
AARP provides some very helpful tips to avoid how to steer clear of car warranty scams. They have a long list of do’s and dont’s on a chart that can guide you in avoiding these pitfalls. They recommend installing a call blocking app on your phone or device for your landline. These apps and devices use reports from users and FTC to identify numbers from spam or scammers.
Their October 2021 National Fraud Frontier study found that 7 out of 10 US adults encountered a car warranty scam in the previous 12 months.
They suggest that if you get a call from a person claiming to be from the dealership where you bought the vehicle, hang up and call the dealership directly. Also do not provide license or credit card info over the phone unless you verify them first. This is to confirm if they are from a company that you actually done business with or not.
Federal Communications Commission
The FCC is another place online that warns consumers to watch out for these auto warranty scams. According to them, auto warranty renewal calls were the top robocall complaints filed with the FCC by consumers in 2021. Per complaints, many state these calls typically start with a prerecorded or automated message that instructs you to press a button or stay on the line.
The FCC recommends several ways to avoid these robocall scams:
- Always use caution if you are being pressured for information or money immediately.
- NEVER give out personal or financial information someone who calls you.
- DO NOT answer calls from unknown numbers. If you do by mistake, hangup immediately.
Watch this brief video about how auto warranty scams or other scammers use spoofing to falsify information and caller id.
These suggestions that they provide are very simple and will help to protect your identify and personal info online.
Conclusion
As you guys can clearly see with review, you MUST be vigilant when receiving phone calls from supposed companies that try to push car warranties on you. There are many car warranty scams by phone that you may encounter. The idea is to ALWAYS do your research FIRST to see if the company is reputable or not.
Do NOT give personal information over the phone not press any buttons. This will only confirm your phone number is valid and increase unwanted robocall scams.
There are some really reputable companies that are actually good to deal with for car protection. I have used Zurich on my VW Jetta in the past and also CarShield on another car. CarShield has been around for a long time and has great customer support.
I hope that the information that I have shared today in this car warranty scams by phone review helps you to make good solid decisions about your car protection. Have you been a victim of auto warranty scams before? Comments below.