Complaint Review: Squaretrade - Los Angeles California

Hi Kord, I do applaud the fact that SquareTrade cares enough to respond to complaints from an unhappy customer. I think that you should have made it right with this customer. From my understanding of your reply, you say that the customer was not dealing with your company, but with VAC- a company you partnered with in the past to offer your warranties. You also state that because ST became aware that VAC did not treat the customers well and do business the way ST wanted to, ST cut ties with VAC. Glad to hear that, but how does that help this customer? From your assessment of VAC, it can be assumed that the customer has a valid complaint. The customer was loyal to ST, with six warranties at the time. Did your company hand his account over to VAC with the customer's explicit knowledge? Probably not, since he is complaining about SquareTrade and not the third party who was formerly your partner. Was the warranty offered to him by SquareTrade or VAC? If the banner said SquareTrade, the customer was making his decision to purchase the warranty based on trust and past experience with your company- not VAC. Your reason for needing a partner at the time is certainly understandable. I also think it is understandable that the customer is angry with SquareTrade, who he thought he was doing business with. SquareTrade has a good enough reputation that I would not expect them to excuse themselves from blame and essentially pass the buck. "Oh, sorry. That wasn't us, that was someone else who used to work with us. Don't worry. We agree that they weren't very good, so we don't do business with them anymore. Now we are now a great company you can trust- our consumer ratings are the highest out there." It is not this customer's fault that he happened to buy the warranty at a time when he would be contracted out to a company operating behind SquareTrade's name, and with SquareTrade's approval. The fact that it was technically another company is not meaningful if your name was used and what sold the customer. Kord, you are halfway there- you admitted that there was a problem. The next logical step is to make it up to the customer. Refund him, make him whole again. Fix his camera. Do something to make up for the bad judgment by SquareTrade that led you to partner with VAC that cost this man money and caused him stress. Reward his loyalty by showing him you are loyal to him as well. Six warranties and no claims? That's a good, honest customer. Don't you want to keep customers like him? In closing, I just want to repeat that SquareTrade does seem to care about this problem. You did respond, you did admit that VAC was not a company you want to handle your customers. But that is just talk if you don't stand behind your promises. To say that VAC is responsible does not excuse SquareTrade, unless your name was not advertised or included anywhere in the deal. Hopefully, this was resolved already. **I am not involved with any party in this complaint.**

Hi Kord, I do applaud the fact that SquareTrade cares enough to respond to complaints from an unhappy customer. I think that you should have made it right with this customer. From my understanding of your reply, you say that the customer was not dealing with your company, but with VAC- a company you partnered with in the past to offer your warranties. You also state that because ST became aware that VAC did not treat the customers well and do business the way ST wanted to, ST cut ties with VAC. Glad to hear that, but how does that help this customer? From your assessment of VAC, it can be assumed that the customer has a valid complaint. The customer was loyal to ST, with six warranties at the time. Did your company hand his account over to VAC with the customer's explicit knowledge? Probably not, since he is complaining about SquareTrade and not the third party who was formerly your partner. Was the warranty offered to him by SquareTrade or VAC? If the banner said SquareTrade, the customer was making his decision to purchase the warranty based on trust and past experience with your company- not VAC. Your reason for needing a partner at the time is certainly understandable. I also think it is understandable that the customer is angry with SquareTrade, who he thought he was doing business with. SquareTrade has a good enough reputation that I would not expect them to excuse themselves from blame and essentially pass the buck. "Oh, sorry. That wasn't us, that was someone else who used to work with us. Don't worry. We agree that they weren't very good, so we don't do business with them anymore. Now we are now a great company you can trust- our consumer ratings are the highest out there." It is not this customer's fault that he happened to buy the warranty at a time when he would be contracted out to a company operating behind SquareTrade's name, and with SquareTrade's approval. The fact that it was technically another company is not meaningful if your name was used and what sold the customer. Kord, you are halfway there- you admitted that there was a problem. The next logical step is to make it up to the customer. Refund him, make him whole again. Fix his camera. Do something to make up for the bad judgment by SquareTrade that led you to partner with VAC that cost this man money and caused him stress. Reward his loyalty by showing him you are loyal to him as well. Six warranties and no claims? That's a good, honest customer. Don't you want to keep customers like him? In closing, I just want to repeat that SquareTrade does seem to care about this problem. You did respond, you did admit that VAC was not a company you want to handle your customers. But that is just talk if you don't stand behind your promises. To say that VAC is responsible does not excuse SquareTrade, unless your name was not advertised or included anywhere in the deal. Hopefully, this was resolved already. **I am not involved with any party in this complaint.**

Hello, My name is Kord and I am the Customer Experience Manager for SquareTrade. I am sorry to hear that VAC (Bankers Warranty Group) denied your claim. However, I would like to point out that you were not dealing with or speaking with SquareTrade. The number you called and the Agent you spoke with is associated with Banker's Warranty Group (formerly VAC Corporation) which is a completely separate company from SquareTrade. Let me explain. For a short period of time we partnered with VAC Corporation to offer extended warranties. We were not set-up to be our own Warranty Administrator so, like Best Buy or Circuit City, we partnered with a 3rd party to act as our Warranty Administrator for the plans we sold. It became clear to us in pretty short order that we were not in agreement with the manner in which VAC Corporation was administering the warranty and the way in which our customers were being treated by VAC. So, we ended our relationship with VAC (in October of 2006) and have since that date administered the SquareTrade Care Plan ourselves. Since becoming our own administrator our consumer ratings are higher than any extended service contract provider out there. Again I am sorry for your experience with VAC Corporation. I you would like to discuss that matter further, I can be reached by writing to [email protected].