SafeChoice Car Warranties (Yuck!)

[amishman]

I purchased my 1989 Syncro back in February. I paid extra for a SafeChoice 7 Year 100K Warranty as I purchased the Westy from a dealer in Colorado. They required their special additive be added to my cooling system, and that I immediately get an oil and transmission fluid change to activate the warranty. Then every 4 Months or 4K Miles, I have to get an oil change "professionally" done. They also require proof all other maintanance is done per manufacturer specs by a pro shop. So, in a nutshell, I have done all of this so far.

In September I took a trip, and 1000 miles from home, the water pump went out. Happened on a weekend. The water pump was covered by this warranty. The SafeChoice is closed on weekends. They require their phone # be called to get approved the claim before any work is done. But... they are no open on weekends, so no one to call. I am on business, have places to be, and what do they expect, me to sit on the side of the road and until they open their doors on the weekday to do the claim. So, I had the work done by a pro shop and got on my merry way. I have kept all documents of what was done and that I did all their maintainence since owning the Syncro. I arrived back home, called them, and they refuse to even do anything since the vehicle has been worked on already even though I have all proof. So, their loophole is to have the customer wait for days/weeks to get the OK to have the job done I guess.

Just bitching but seems unfair to me. They are not open to call, I am not going to wait days for this as I am on business and have to get home also. I pay for the job to be done, keep all receipts, stick to their original requirements, and now they will not accept claim because I did not call (but they were closed... <grin>).

OK, my gripe is over. hehehe

tj

*I wonder if I have any legal recourse or since I did not call even though they were closed, I am SOL.

[nakedfrog]

Maybe you could cancel the warranty and get paid out for the unserved remainder, or at least threaten that to a manager?

The fine print in most extended warranties I've seen has stipulated that the repair must be approved before it is performed, so you're probably SOL :(

[amishman]

Maybe you could cancel the warranty and get paid out for the unserved remainder, or at least threaten that to a manager?

The fine print in most extended warranties I've seen has stipulated that the repair must be approved before it is performed, so you're probably SOL :(

Can't cancel the warranty either. This company will not even talk to their customers over the phone regarding a claim and will do only via email or written form. Even though they have no one to answer a claim call on a weekend, they expect their customers to wait days until they open again to get ahold of them. Who is going to wait days when on the road to do that??? They make it difficult for customers to actually turn in a claim and my bet hope they just forget it so they do not have to pay up. The funny thing is I sent an initial message and used the word compassion about their customers. I had mentioned they should use some compassion when something like this happens, and "they" are not available to help in a timely manner, that they can look over the claim anyway after the fact and see if there is any room for improvement on their end. Maybe someone like me saying they should then have someone available 7 days a week as there will be many times emergencies arise and even if I had to pay to call on a weekend, I would have done so in order to get back on the road. Instead they are not available and just make it hard for us to do anything about it. Here is what they said regarding compassion.

"Please understand that compassion can not enter into the claims process.
Regulatory guidelines do not allow for compassion."

That is the problem these days. All about them and not about people. Do any of you remember the days when "people" came first? I agree no one should get special treatment, but if they make a guideline for us to follow, they better be available then for us to follow, and not make it so unbearable that no one ever follows it.

I did not expect to get anything out of them but such a little infraction, part my fault for not waiting, part their fault for not being available in a timely manner, I thought I would let them know it was not fair. Not asking for anything special but that is the way they responded to me like I wanted a special favor. All I asked is for them for look at my claim and if they expect customers to call, then they need things in place to help the customer and not make it a pain in the ass to perform.

Oh well.

tj

[vdubyah73]

Give your state attorney general a call. Sounds close to an unfair business practice.

Bill

[Birdibus]

If they don't have a provision for emergencies, or a message machine for weekends, something is very wrong with this warranty. My sympathies

[DurocShark]

Back in 96 when I bought my new S10 (actually, it was a repo... 28k on the clock) I bought the extended warranty. The dealer had lowered the truck for the customer, so it was dealer work.

I had a noisy driveshaft bearing at 50k. (Probably caused by the lowering.)

I took it to the dealer and the warranty company refused to pay because the vehicle was modified. The dealer was good enough to do the repair no charge (Lake Chevrolet in Lake Elsinore, CA).

I called the warranty company, explained the situation. Got a check in the mail a week later for the FULL COST of the warranty. And I got another 100k out of the truck with only one other issue (cracked flex portion of the exhaust down pipe).

[OB Bus]

I agree you are probably out of luck, but you might just try a small claims action against them for the cost of the repairs. You might get something out of this policy.at least