Today I received a call from “Warranty Services” from the number (303) 749-9642 that was a shocker – lies, misrepresentations, glib talking, pressure sales and a shocking ending. I think every U.S. citizen has been plagued by at least a dozen calls a month from shady sounding companies like “Warranty Services” or “Card Services” – or some other generic name. This slick scam seems designed to fool the average person into believing that their car dealer, bank, or credit card company is calling to offer them a special offer. Not so and I’d like to begin a class action lawsuit against the responsible party if our state Attorney Generals can’t seem to get the job done.
Warranty Services – The Fraudulent Phone Call
My cell phone rang and I heard as the result and, after picking up, I was greeted with a recorded voice warning me: “Your warranty service on your car is about to expire. This is your second and final call…” Seems ominous and something that I should take care of immediately, right? One problem – I don’t own a car. I was curious so I pressed 1 at the tone to speak to an agent so that I can help myself make sure that my car warranty wouldn’t lapse!
Yolanda picked up and explained to me that Warranty Services company was going to help me with extended the warranty on my car before it expired. She was probably the most honest of all the shysters you’ll hear about. After asking her if this was my car dealer and trying to get through her half-truths in order to determine my eligibility for their special program, she finally told me that my information was given to the company because Warranty Services works with all the major auto outlets, etc. Not possible but let’s say they bought my number and let’s play ball with her. I gave her the make, model and year of my car – a 2003 edition. Incredibly, after a minute or two of checking, searching, reviewing and working, Yolanda told me that I might qualify but she’d have to get Dan on the phone, her head of sales.
Dan gets on the phone – and this guy is a master at double talk and willing to lie about virtually anything in order to nail you to a 5 year prepaid warranty. He told me that my car was just out of warranty because normally they only accept cars within warranty and extend it… but he might be able to do something. Wow… really? What a surprise. But he had to get John on the phone, the Program Director, to see what they could do. After about a minute and a half of messing around, John gets on the phone… and now it gets really interesting.
John tells me that normally they can’t extend the warranty if the car is out of warranty – but they can make a special exception from me. The only catch is that they need me to make a decision about getting this amazing deal for an extended warranty service before the end of the call because if I don’t, the exception they can make today will get erased by the computer when the system reboots at the end of the day. Really… So I told him that of COURSE I could make a decision before the end of the call. Let’s move onwards!
John returns me to Dan who does more dastardly double talk about the program, something about “Direct Pay” and the program is 5 years, 100,000 miles, $558 a year, $2,793 if paid in full, $295 for something and I think it was $138 a month (at least that is what I wrote down). Now that I look at it, the numbers don’t make sense but that’s what I wrote down and probably what I was told! Immediately after all this he asks me for my Visa card. I told him that I was in a cubicle and couldn’t say my number out loud but I’d be happy to fax it to him. This man is a master of double talk. He basically asks me for the number again and I reiterated the problem. He says he’ll wait for me to go to another location and I asked him why I couldn’t simply fax him the information. After more double talk… get this… he says he’ll have them call my bank so that they can get my debit card (I told him that was the preferred payment system) and he’ll get them on the line for a three party call. Wow… this is going to get interesting.
I tell him the name of a major bank and he gives them a call – it took him only 2-3 minutes to get the number. I hung up the phone accidentally… but Dan called me back, this time from an unlisted number. Brenda, the bank representative, picks up and asks how she can be of assistance. Dan explains that he is on the phone with a bank customer and he is simply trying to confirm my account number with me. Brenda asks him if he is a bank representative/employee – and Dan says yes!!! I couldn’t believe my ears. So she continues to request his “ACS number” and then Dan says he doesn’t have one. Brenda seemed annoyed but was still willing to connect us to the proper group – Dan apparently called the business group, not the personal group that handles such issues.
During the transfer, I hung up the phone again. This time Dan did not call me back. Of course not – this liar got spotted by Bank of America after lying to them about being an employee and he knew it. It doesn’t matter whether or not any of these “Warranty Services” / “Card Services” companies provide – the fraudulent manner in which they operate to fool you into thinking that they have an affiliation with someone you trust is abhorrent and preposterous. Can you imagine what unscrupulous liars (I haven’t even covered the bulk of the repated misrepresentations) like these might do with your private financial information? They also will potentially have all the key information needed to access your bank accounts. What boggles my mind is that after at least 100 calls over the past year, this company is still in business and operating. How? I’d like to know and fire a shot at these unscrupulous employees… and especially the owners and operators of this company.