Complaint Review: GAW - Great Atlantic Warranty

In early February, 2008, I contacted my Ford dealer about purchasing an extended warranty for my vehicle.The individual to whom I needed to speak was absent and I was instructed to leave a message on her voice mail. A couple of days later I received a call from GAW and assumed it was a response to that message.

I spoke to a David Danforth, who told me his number was 888-290-9711, extension 260, and put the call on speaker phone so my husband could participate and bear witness to the conversation. We decided to purchase the 3 year Warantec Deluxe warranty. David Danforth put his supervisor Michelle, from the Verification Department, on the line to confirm the purchase. The phone number Michelle gave us was 863-294-7410. We paid the warranty in full in the amount of $2,050.

I shortly received a confirmation letter dated 2/13/2008 that stated the policy would be arriving in 17-21 days. I received the policy about 3 weeks later and it was not the policy I had purchased. This policy was named Trac Guard and differed significantly from the policy I had purchased. That's illegal in most states.

I called GAW and spoke to Marty Sigal at ext. 2705 at which time I expressed my dismay and overwhelming concern that I had been screwed. Marty told me that there were problems with the warranty I originally purchased and that David and Michelle should not have sold it to me. He asked me to think about purchasing the Trac Guard policy and noted its merits. He apologized profusely for the 'mix up'.

I thought about it.

I received some sort of transmission fluid additive I was supposed to put in my car as part of the warranty. I called Marty (this was March 10) and told him I was uneasy about the way the transaction was handled and wanted to cancel the policy. He said he understood and thanked me for my consideration. He told me the address to which I needed to return the product. He told me to send a fax to 954-861-4908 stating that I was canceling the policy and returning the activation kit. He said that because of the confusion I should be getting a refund in 6 to 8 weeks. I returned the product and sent the fax that day, March 10, 2008.

Early in May I again contacted GAW asking about the status of my refund. I spoke to Bob at ext 2701. Bob told me it takes at least 3 months to receive a refund. I informed him that Marty had told me otherwise, and why.

Today, June 3, 2008, I called GAW again to find out the status of my refund. I spoke to Angie Dubose(sp?) at 8:43 a.m. Angie told me that a check was sent May 9, however, when she asked me to confirm my address the zip code they used was wrong. Angie Dubose(sp?) told me she would check into it with the accounting office and asked me to call her back in 30 minutes. I mentioned that I expected payment in full since I received a product I did not agree to buy in the first place.

I called Angie back twice and got her voice mail. I also called back at 11:20 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. I did a search and discovered this site. It seems that in response to the many complaints about this company an individual calling himself GAW Helpguy assures people they haven't been defrauded or ripped off and asks them to get in touch with him at an addy that's just a search engine; greatatlantichelpdesk0408@live.com

It's possible I'm using the search engine improperly; but I doubt it. I do know that I can contact the Attorney General's office regarding this matter with much less effort. One wonders at the implications of being able to contact productively a government agency more easily than the vendor of a product. I should note that the people I have spoken to at GAW are all very friendly and likable and more than anything, able to mimic quality of helpfulness better than most of the people I've done business with during my lifetime.

Thus far they haven't actually done anything other than offer to 'help' me and take my money.

Stevens
Duncan, Arizona
U.S.A.