Recently, I bought a decent used car. While watching the TV, I saw an ad on Stoprepairsbills.com.Com. The ad was simple and promising. I called them up and was very pleased with the representative. Immediately he picked up the phone, he asked for the vehicle VIN number. My immediately reaction was, wao! These folks go straight to the point and must be very busy. I told him that I did not have the car's VIN # immediately available, the rep reassured me that, that was no problem. He took my info and the car's info. I later gave him the car's VIN# too. All in all, he was cordial and respectful. He said I could cancel anytime and if I did within 30 days, would get my initial deposit back. They were going to send me a contract within 14 days. I was pleased.
After I hung up, I felt odd about the whole transaction. Why did the rep request for my mum's maiden name. Nobody ever asked me that before. This is part of the security questions you get asked when setting up a secured online account and password. It is mainly used to retrieve your password and for most people it is the same. I thought that this guy, could use it to retrieve my email account and other online accounts and able to reset my password. Quickly, I went to reset my online accounts. I decided to check their website and register so I could monitor my account with them. When I goggled "stoprepairsbills.com", to my horror, I saw scam reports from other people on stoprepairsbills.com. BBB website gave it their worst rating and scored this company "F".
I decided to wait for 14 days to get the contract I was promised, it never arrived. Exactly, on the 17th day I called them up to cancel and spoke to a rep. He wanted to know why I wanted to cancel. I told him that I did not want the auto warranty anymore. He was amused and went on and on, saying he did not understand why I wanted to cancel. That he had to state a reason why I wanted to cancel and that his system would not accept "I do not want it", as a reason to cancel. I was stunned! He was persistent, then I realized that he was trying to overwhelm me psychologically and make me give up. After about 30 minutes, I hung up. Two days later, I received two different mails. One from MEPCO stating that they would be representing stoprepairsbills to collect the monthly fees. The second mail was from a bank stating that I should send my check for the fees directly. Nothing was sent about the policies and the coverage of the warranty. All these seemed odd.
Four days letter, I called Stoprepairsbills again. This time I spoke to a different rep. He played out the same script as the earlier rep I had spoken to four days earlier. This time I had little patience. I informed him that as per federal law, I was required to let him know that I was going to record our conversation and got his permission to do so. I introduced myself and the reason I was calling and requested for his first and last name. He was hesitant to give me his last name, I insisted and reminded him that I was recording our conversation, then he proceeded to give me his last name. I told him I was tired of the run around and I was going to make copies of my recordings available to BBB, to an attorney and my credit card, if I did not get my cancellation from him. He gave me a number to call next day and that he could not authorize a cancellation. I told him that the difficulty I was having to cancel a warranty that has not yet kicked in was enough reason for me to cancel. I told him that it shows poor customer service on their part... Silence. From the other end. I also told him that, it makes me feel that if I decided to keep the auto warranty, that it seems it might be impossible for them to honor claims in future should I have cause to, since a simple process such as cancellation of a service that should not take more than a few minutes of a phone call to process was taking days and that I was hitting brick walls. This time, a lone silence... From his end. Then when he gathered himself, he wanted to play the script all over again. I interrupted him, thanked him and said I had to go and hung up.
Next day, I called the number, he gave me. This time a female rep came on. Without much ado, I informed her that I was recording our conversation and her response was "I don't care, go ahead". After listening to my complaint, she asked me to put it in writing and gave me instructions on what information was needed and the mailing address. I sent out my letter of cancellation next day and copied all the companies that had sent a mail to me and also my credit card. I made sure I sent out the mails requesting for signature confirmation. I also realized that they may be playing for time, so that the 30 days grace may pass on me, to loose my initial deposit. So I sent the mails by overnight delivery, the mails would arrive to them 6 days before the 30 days expiration period. Three days later, my credit card sent me a mail acknowledging receiving the copy of the letter of cancellation I sent to Stoprepairsbills.com. They also informed me that they had contacted Stoprepairsbills.com. The credit card credited my account with the initial deposit. Stoprepairsbill.com have not written me to acknowledge receiving my letter nor have they written or called to say that they have canceled my account with them.
I learned a few useful lessons from this eperience.
1. Check with BBB before doing business with a company that is not a brand name.
2. Goggle the company to read what if any, of other people's experience with them.
3. Never give away information that you do not feel comfortable with, in this case my mother's maiden name and follow your instincts when doing any business.
4. I was glad I used my credit card and not my debit card, as I hear that it is much more difficult to recoup any money spent with a debit card.
5. Be careful to respond to those TV ads or any other ad.
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