Complaint Review: Carchex / Smart Auto Warranty

Okay, I have purchased a warranty from carchex and have not needed it yet as the things that broke were listed as not covered in the contract: CD player (did not purchase additional optional coverage), oil pressure switch (listed in parts not covered) and possibly dome light switch (have to do a bit more research to find out). And, I hope that when I do need them, these things you are stating don't prove to be true. However, some of the claims were incorrect or twisted and I feel I should point them out to be fair to carchex. First of all, Carchex is accredited and has been since 2009 which means it was a blatant lie that they are unaccredited in your post since you wrote that in 2010. You should do better research before you make these accusations. Second, this is to the person who wrote that they had 30 complaints....first of all, they dont have 30, they have 25 and second, if you would read, you would see that 25 is not many in the definition of the BBB. They state above those complaints

"When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints."

And if you look even closer at those complaints, 13 were resolved because the person who filed the complaint didn't acknowledge to the BBB that they received a possible solution from carchex. So, the customer wants to file complaints but not accept correspondence of a possible solution? That's on them.

Now, I do have a small complaint about Carchex. When my CD player broke, I was hoping it was covered and was notified that I did not purchased the optional coverage that would've covered it. And, on my contract, that box was unchecked and I looked into it and no, I didn't purchase it. However, I was also not offered that optional coverage so I am a bit perturbed. But, I ended up pulling out the fuse for the radio which reset my CD player, so I wasn't out any money anyway. Hopefully I will have good luck with Carchex.

Jason, you say carchex is a trusted and reputable company because pat goss states on his 25 year old show every now and then? Are we to believe that pat goss one day decided or felt the need to call you up and say "Hey Jason, you know i really think carchex is a great company and if you dont mind i would like to tell everyone who visits your website and tell everyone who watches my show. How does that sound?" I doubt that is what happened. In esence all you really do is pay pat goss a high fee to make these statements because yes pat goss is trusted by people who like to watch his show. Oh and let me tell you it was nice touch getting dale earnhardt jr on your site. let me guess Dale called you to buy a contract? he makes im sure more than a million dollars a year and has a race car team but he needs carchex to repair his vehicles (notice vehicles, im sure he has more than one) as he cannot afford to repair them on his own. Give me a break, how much you paying him? Does Dale get paid more than pat? Bottom line is your company is a complete scam. I purchased a contract through carchex back in last november. I owned my car since 2006. got brand new only 30 miles on it. When my car started having trouble with the engine, carchex the scam they are came up with their first excuse as to why may claim is not covered. then they said to send in maintenance records and they will see what they can do. So i faxed it them every maintenance done on the vehicle by the dealership where i purchased it from which is the same place that diagnosed my vehicle. to make a long story short, after 25 phone calls and the same bs i gave up, i requested a refund of my money as i have paid in full now 17 days later i still have no refund! The sad part is i paid you $3200.00 you couldnt at least pay a repair cost of $680.00??? sounds like someone is $$$$$$$$$$$$ hungry! carchex scam is a complete lie. they will tell you what you wanna hear to get you to buy, bottom line. I also would like to say, your BBB rating of 'A' and being accredited company is only because you the bbb a profit organization a high fee every month. you have over 30 complaints resolved and have an 'A' rating. Why is it i can find other companies with 3 - 10 complaints all resovled with an 'F' rating? Are you going to tell me it's because there a bad company well carchex sounds worse with 30 complaints and both of these are in the last 36 months. everyone out there should know

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This is one of the most blatant abuses of this site I have ever seen. Based on the bogus statements included in this post CARCHEX has reason to believe this is a competitor who is trying to discredit and damage the good name of CARCHEX. Please see my response below to each bogus claim.

Bogus Claim # 1: This company did not want to show me a contract unless I buy their warranty first.

Rebuttal: CARCHEX not only provides contracts in real-time through our CARCHEX Direct website as we speak with customers but all contracts are also available on our website. https://www.carchex.com/protect/Coverages.aspx

Bogus Claim # 2 I felt that was a little odd, but I figured out the reason. THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO FIND THE PROBLEM WITH THE CONTRACT BEFORE GIVING THEM MONEY!

Rebuttal: Pat Goss, Americas trusted mechanic, co-host of PBS' 25 year and running series MotorWeek, and CARCHEX spokesman has a section dedicated to this subject on our website along with another tips for buying an extended warranty. The exact tip and Goss quote is as follows:

"Pat Goss' Warranty Buying Tip # 1 Make Sure You See the Contract Before You Buy"

"Never buy a warranty over the phone without first seeing the contract. If an extended warranty company will not show the contract prior to purchase, they have something to hide. Many companies will claim to have bumper-to-bumper coverage when they are really offering you a low-end powertrain plan and just using the term bumper-to-bumper. Beware of phone scams!"

Bogus Claim # 3 - Old Republic Insured Automotive Services, Inc. based out of Tulsa, OK. If you check them with the BBB, they are A rated, but they are not accredited.

Rebuttal: Actually this claim is the only claim that is not completely bogus but it is misinformed. The way you become accredited is you must maintain a B+ rating or higher with the BBB for a long period of time and have limited complaints, etc. The second and more important part is you need to pay to be a member of the BBB. Old republic is not a member but not being a member can't affect the letter grade of a good company. They just don't get the BBB accredited logo next to their BBB listing. http://www.bbb.org/tulsa/business-reviews/auto-warranty-processing-service/old-republic-insured-automotive-services-inc-in-tulsa-ok-18362121

Bogus Claim # 4 - If you check them (CARCHEX) with the BBB, they are A rated, but they are not accredited.

Rebuttal: Yes we are A Rated with the BBB and are very proud of that A rating and we are accredited as well since we are a member of the BBB. http://www.bbb.org/greater-maryland/business-reviews/extended-warranty-contract-service-companies/carchex-in-hunt-valley-md-23015869

Bogus Claim # 5 - I did some more research because they like to pressure to get you to put a down payment and have you see a contract in the mail.

Rebuttal: Absolute Bogus. As stated earlier our contracts are available directly on our website. We never withhold a contract from a customer, never. Our brand promise is "customer experience above all' and we pride ourselves on complete transparency to our customers. We provide the contract for review several times before purchase.

Bogus Claim # 6 - They told me that Old Republic Insurance Company in Greensburg, PA are the insurer. I called the Greensburg, PA office and they told me they have ABSOLUTELY NO affiliation with the Tulsa, OK company! So that means that the Old Republic they sell does not have an insurance company that is rated with AM Best.com who rates insurance companies.

Rebuttal: Wow! This bogus claim takes the cake. This is completely made up. Old Republic ranks among the nation's 50 largest publicly held insurance organizations and yes the contract that "Michael" refers to is insured by Old Republic in Chicago not PA which is one key reason we suspect this whole complaint to be bogus. No one from CARCHEX would have ever told him PA. Every sales representative has the insurer information of each policy in front of them on their desk at all times.

Old Republic International Corporation
307 N. Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60601
tel (312) 346-8100
www.oldrepublic.com or www.orias.com

Bogus Claim # 7 - I later found out that Carchex were first called Smart Auto Warranty who had many complaints and not rated with the Better Business Bureau and that is why they use the name Carchex now. That is probably why they are not accredited with the BBB.

Rebuttal: We were not first called SmartAutoWarranty.com, we were first called CARCHEX actually for almost a decade and if you visit the www.SmartAutoWarranty.com website you will clearly see that the website logo displays it is a CARCHEX company. Further if you refer back to the BBB report you will also clearly see SmartAutoWarranty.com listed as an additional DBA Name under the CARCHEX BBB listing. We obviously have nothing to hide.

We take this defamation of our good name very seriously and if found to be a hoax will use every legal means available to pursue this matter.

For more information about this posting email support@carchex.com