Motor Vehicle Services, OTRA Protection, American Auto Shield Attempted Ripoff Via Extended Warranty Scam St George Utah
I received a notification on 10-17-2013 that my warranty is expiring or has expired marked "EXTREMELY URGENT AND TIME SENSITIVE" badly disguised to look like a governmen mailing. I own 2 trucks and 3 cars so I get a lot of these scam attempts. I recognized the name American Auto Shield which the notice said was the administrator as other extended warranty scammers had also used it including Auto Service Center and Auto Protection Alliance. The notice listed OTRA, 491 N Bluff St, Suite 303, St George, UT 84770 and the phone number 877-669-2971. I called there boiler room number to see if this scam was different from others but got a request to leave a message.
They must have all been busy working the scam on callers from a mass mailing. So I searched for and located OTRA Protections website, getotra.com which could just as well be called getrobbed.com. It looks like most of the extended warranty scammers websites and includes 5 plans. The scammers usually only refer you to their site if you balk and want to know if they are a real company or insist on seeing a copy of their "contract."
Their scam is to talk callers into buying plans that cost from $2,000 to $4,000 with a down payment of $200-$500 made via debi or credit card or a debit from a bank account. They promise the warranty covers everything but consumables no questions asked and your money back in 30 days if you don't like the contract when they finally send it to you.
I looked at the contracts on OTRAs website and they are pretty standard in that there is a nearly zero chance that if you have a breakdown they will ever reimburse you for the repair due to the exclusions. One of their slickest exclusions is "pre-existing conditions." A consumer might think that would be limited to a part that is already broken. Countless consumers who have filed complaints said the company used it to deny claims by saying the part must have had either a design or manufacturing defect if it failed. So it pretty much rules out all failures. They have another clause that says that if a part fails from wear and tear or normal use, they won't cover it. Consumers are told that since wear and tear and normal use started before the service contract (as 100% of wear and tear and normal use does), they won't pay. In short, their service contract is completely worthless. By the time you realize this, you may have blown nearly the entire cost of the service contract. It's gone forever.
If consumers get conned into making the first payment carefully read the contract when they receive it, they can cancel the contract but per all the complaints I've seen about this company all over the internet, they will not refund your money. Consumers should cancel immediately in writing and get proof of deliver such as sending it certified mail and return the contract. Don't wait for a refund because it will never come. Immediately file a dispute with your credit card company or bank and be sure to follow all their procedures and provide copies proving you followed the scammers cancellation procedures. It may take months to settle the dispute but you will get your money back if you canceled within the 30 days or whatever is required.
The main thing to note is that this is a TOTAL SCAM and RIPOFF. These crooks keep trying and trying to steal my money.
Report their scam to your states attorney general.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Joe
ARLINGTON,Virginia,
UPDATE to original report: Worthless Warranty - Refused to Provide Refund
#2Author of original report
Sat, October 25, 2014
This is an update to my ripoff report dated 1/03/2013 regarding Auto Processing Center's worthless vehicle service contract and their refusal to provide a refund as promised. It is also a a response to their employee's (honeybadger) response titled "unfair report' dated 1/31/2013.
Auto Processing Center (Honeybadger) said in her response, "The basic terms and conditions, the cancellation and refund policy and the cost of the contract was disclosed to you." Her statement is completely false. Company representatives would not let me see or review the actual contract before I made a downpayment. After payment, upon receiving it and reading the proposed contract, it was clear that everything Auto Processing Center told me on the phone about the terms and conditions of the contract was a lie and misrepresentation including their refund policy. Over and over on the phone, they told me that if I didn't want the contract all I had to do is call their office at 1-800-356-8170 within 30 days and I would receive a full refund and not be charged further. But their proposed contract (which I never saw or agreed to) contained a completely different and elaborate written cancellation process.
Realizing by then that their whole deal including their worthless "extended warranty" was a scam, I cancelled by calling them. I also notified them within 30 days in writing at the same time which was over a above what what their sales representatives promised on the phone. As expected, they refused to provide the promised refund.
After Auto Processing Center refused to provide the promised refund, I filed a dispute with my credit card company and was given an immediate provisional credit pending their review. Auto Processing Center claimed I hadn't followed their refund policy. However, I provided proof (documentation of calls and letters) to my credit card company that I not only followed Auto Processing Center's policy of calling them to cancel but had gone over and above the legal requirement by notifying them in writing of the cancellation within 30 days. Within a couple weeks my credit card company made my refund permanent and charged back the total amount to Auto Processing Center. In other words, I got all my money back from these scammers.
Protection against scams by the likes of Auto Processing Center (using the credit card companies dispute process) is one of the best reasons for using the credit card payment method. People who use other payment methods may not do as well in recovering their money upon cancellation. Worst off are those who fail to carefully read the contract and don't realize how worthless it is until they've paid hundreds or thousands of dollars and can't get the company to pay for a repair that they were told when they bought the contract was covered.
Recommendation: When you cancel Auto Processing Center's worthless contract, be sure to put it in writing even though the salesmen told you all you need to do is call. Don't wait more than a couple days for a refund because it will not come. Immediately file a dispute with the credit card company or whatever payment means you used to make payment to Auto Processing Center. Provide whatever the credit card company asks for to show that you cancelled the contract. Insist that the credit card company charge back the amounts to Auto Processing Center and give you a credit.
There are many "extended warranty" scam companies but but Auto Processing Center appears to be one of the worst. KUTV in Kansas on 6/19/2014 reported, "The company was fined $10,000 in February by the state of Kansas for violating that state's do not call registry. The Better Business Bureau has also slapped the company with an F rating after hearing consumer complaints similar to Sherry's. The BBB's website says that when customers ask for a refund, "the company fails to respond, or doesn't respond to the consumer's request in a timely manner." Besides selling worthless "extended warranties," it's obvious that a big part of Auto Processing Center's scam operations involve failing to provide promised refunds.