EXTENDED-WARRANTY PHONE SCAMS

[DRIPTROIT 71]

I get those calls too. Most interestingly though, we refinanced our house a couple of years ago. Since then, I have gotten calls and letters that my home warranty was about to expire with the same type catastrophic warnings as the car warranty pushers. My house was built in 1937. I didn’t realize that that warranty lasted that long. 😀

[Painted Black]

Hey,, if your check engine light comes on it "game over"  So say's Mr. Ice T

[Danno]

3 hours ago, vintagerpm said:

(Lesson: do not buy German unless you only keep your car until the original warrenty runs out.)

I can and will say "amen" to that!  Had a VW Passat. Wonderful car until the warranty and extended factory warranty ran out. Then everything started going bad and EVERYTHING cost way more than real cars. It was taking me toward bankruptcy when the engine expired completely. Estimate for repairs was 6 or 7 times its value. Ended up getting $500 trade-in for a new Chevy. 

Over the years, I've owned 9 Chevys, 7 Mopars, 1 Pontiac, and the VW.  I drove 2 Chevy and 3 Ford company cars. Out of the 11 Chevys + 1 Pontiac, all of the Chevys were virtually trouble-free and the Mopars were a little problematic but not bad. The 3 Fords were not bad, but not on my dime. The VW cost more in maintenance in the two years I kept it past the warranty expiration than the 17 other cars combined!!!  Fine German engineering?  You can have it. Fahrvergnugen? Far from it.

🌵😎 

Edited February 1, 2021 by Danno

[Dragline]

As a Benz mechanic with some 20 odd years repairing them I can tell you that ridding yourself of a vehicle with a warranty about to expire is just plain good advice.

[Danno]

5 minutes ago, Dragline said:

As a Benz mechanic with some 20 odd years repairing them I can tell you that ridding yourself of a vehicle with a warranty about to expire is just plain good advice.

Wish I had heard that before . . . 

🌵😎

[Dragline]

2 hours ago, Danno said:

Wish I had heard that before . . . 

🌵😎

I will extend that warning to any BMW, Porsche, Audi, Fiat...... You get the picture. I have repaired cars that were clearly a problem before the warranty had run out and the local dealers told the owner there was nothing they could do. Outright lies and half truths were normal and in my experience were just part and parcel of the way things work. I had a wonderful relationship with the old guard at the local dealers , [Viti Bro's and Benz of Warwick RI], but when a couple of the old timers left they were replaced with what can only be described as money sharks.

[Joe Handley]

1 hour ago, Dragline said:

I will extend that warning to any BMW, Porsche, Audi, Fiat...... You get the picture. I have repaired cars that were clearly a problem before the warranty had run out and the local dealers told the owner there was nothing they could do. Outright lies and half truths were normal and in my experience were just part and parcel of the way things work. I had a wonderful relationship with the old guard at the local dealers , [Viti Bro's and Benz of Warwick RI], but when a couple of the old timers left they were replaced with what can only be described as money sharks.

Lol, I was going to say that sounds like solid advice for any German owned brand!

[Tom Geiger]

The robo calls I get don’t include a live human. I wind up answering much of the time because I get a lot of business calls I’m not expecting. The minute the speel starts playing I hang up. 

I hate calls I get from Indian job recruiters. They are in India, most of them cannot be understood and they have no concept of American geography. I’m in Philadelphia area and they’re calling with a golden opportunity in California..

I had one call last summer. Hard to understand and I was barely civil... I   quoted a large number and absurd terms.. wound up doing a four month consult off that one!

[vintagerpm]

2 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

The robo calls I get don’t include a live human. I wind up answering much of the time because I get a lot of business calls I’m not expecting. The minute the speel starts playing I hang up.

I have a new routine when its an actual human calling. Before they can get into their shpiel, I ask for their credit card number. I tell them they are using my phone equipment for their work, so they owe me rental. Its amazing, but most will protest a little. A few hang right up. One actually argued with me for 5 minutes. I was happy to waste his time. (Note: Apparently you can charge them for phone use if they call your cell phone. Haven't looked into the details.)

Edited February 2, 2021 by vintagerpm

[peteski]

11 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

The robo calls I get don’t include a live human. I wind up answering much of the time because I get a lot of business calls I’m not expecting. The minute the speel starts playing I hang up. 

I hate calls I get from Indian job recruiters. They are in India, most of them cannot be understood and they have no concept of American geography. I’m in Philadelphia area and they’re calling with a golden opportunity in California..

I had one call last summer. Hard to understand and I was barely civil... I   quoted a large number and absurd terms.. wound up doing a four month consult off that one!

So did you kindly do the needful and hung up urgently?

[youpey]

i get these calls about 4 times per day on my cell

[tbill]

One way or another, they are going to find you....

 

[Tom Geiger]

They got me on the day of the 24 Hour Build. I was in the Zoom chat with a few Canadians and my phone rang, showing Toronto...  

[NOBLNG]

We have voice mail on the land line and our cell phones. If we don’t recognize the number, we don’t answer. If it’s important they will leave a message. Most unknown callers don’t.

[Doug 1061]

So is there ever gonna be the tomb of the unknown caller?    

[Pete J.]

On 1/31/2021 at 8:04 PM, Toner283 said:

If they have one of those return postage guaranteed envelopes in the junk mail that you can mail to them for more information, you can get a little of your own back. Stuff the envelope full of whatever you can find making it as heavy as you possibly can even to the point of having to tape the envelope shut and then take it to the post office. Costs them money and gets you a little giggle. 😁 Just make sure there's no personal information in it that they could use to trace it back to you.

If you have the time, you can tape it to a well wrapped brick and return it.  That really sucks up their budget because they are on the hook for the return postage.  I use to do mass mailings for my insurance business and had that happen to me.  I really had to laugh about it.  I kept it on my desk for years. 

[Pete J.]

Lucky for us, my land line provider offers nomorobo as part of the service.  It doesn't stop all the calls but it gets most of them.  You can tell it is working because the phone rings once and stops.  By the way, I never pickup a number I don't recognize.  Most robot dialers dial numbers consecutively and if they get any form of response they know they have a live number and add it to a live list.  This refines their calling strategy and you will get more calls. 

I am kind of sad about this because I use to love trolling  them, especially the "Microsoft security department".  I would play the old fool who just didn't understand his computer.  I would mess with them until they got mad and hung up.  I especially like it when they would ask, "are you wasting my time?"  My response, "You don't want me to waste your time?  Stop calling!"  That really sent them into an apoplectic fit with bouts of foul language .  I just laughed and that really made them mad. 

[slusher]

I get one every day. My phone goes off while I am sleeping or working on a model and have the world zoned out.""

[Danno]

5 hours ago, Pete J. said:

If you have the time, you can tape it to a well wrapped brick and return it.  That really sucks up their budget because they are on the hook for the return postage.  I use to do mass mailings for my insurance business and had that happen to me.  I really had to laugh about it.  I kept it on my desk for years. 

I haven't done the brick, but what I usually do is find every kind of solicitation mail and response card and advertisement I can - - from their competitors!  I stuff that crapitola into their 'return response, no postage required' envelope and stick it in the mail. You're right: they have to pay for it when it comes back to them.  😉

 

🌵😎