New
York Times
States Investigate
Warranty Sales Calls
November
6 2008 -- Attorneys General
in several
states are investigating what they suspect are telephone sales
scams promoting extended car warranties, often by calling
cellphones or numbers that are on do-not-call lists.
The
Connecticut attorney general, Richard
Blumenthal, said his office had received “a huge
number of complaints — hundreds of complaints.” Connecticut
is part of a large, multistate investigation into such calls,
he said.
Another
of those states is Iowa. “They are trying to trick you into
believing that the communication is coming from the auto manufacturer
and that your warranty is about to expire and you need to
do something to extend that warranty,” said William L. Brauch,
a special assistant attorney general and director of the consumer
protection division in Iowa.
But
automakers are not behind the policies, Mr. Brauch said, and
after buying such a policy it may be difficult to get reimbursed
for a repair.
“A
number of these companies tend to routinely deny paying, they
come up with various interpretations, shall we say, of the
agreements, which they say justify them not covering whatever
the problem might be,” he said.
Mr.
Blumenthal said the investigation was looking at whether the
policies were legitimate as well as the use of misleading
and deceptive sales practices. That includes telling people
that their warranties have expired and that urgent action
is needed.
Investigators
are also looking at violations of the federal do-not-call
registry, Mr. Brauch said.
In
many cases the callers are hiding the telephone number from
which they are calling.
“They
are using what are called ghost, or spoof, telephone numbers,”
Mr. Blumenthal said. “They use technology that masks the source
of their calls, which is troubling because consumers can't
call them back.”
The
originating phone number that showed up in recent calls to
some New Yorkers was traced to a disconnected phone in Nebraska.
It belonged to an illegal immigrant who was arrested in a
raid on a meat-packing plant and was deported, said Leah Bucco-White,
a spokeswoman for the Nebraska attorney general's office.
Last year,
a company from Howell, N.J., agreed to pay $120,000 in fines
to resolve complaints filed by the New Jersey attorney general,
Anne
Milgram , that it had engaged in unfair and deceptive
marketing in the sale of automotive warranties and that it
had violated do-not-call regulations.
The
company, Corfacts Inc. (also known as Metro Marketing, National
Warranty Division and Warranty Warehouse.com
) did not acknowledge wrongdoing. But Corfacts
signed a consent order and agreed not to violate the state's
consumer protection or do-not-call laws.
By
CHRISTOPHER JENSEN
Published:
November 6, 2008
New York Times
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