FARK.com: (4384923) Consumer Tip: No one is going to give you an extended warranty on that 1983 Tercel that your mom gave you when you started school that has 175,000 miles on it

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		Consumer Tip: No one is going to give you an extended warranty on that 1983 Tercel that your mom gave you when you started school that has 175,000 miles on it (myfoxdc.com)		111
		More: Obvious

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ZAZ		2009-05-13 08:18:29 AM

I have received hundreds of "final" courtesy care notices about my car's expiring warranty. The first time I got a call my warranty really was about to expire. I figured the caller was a semi-legit company tracking vehicle records and doing targeted marketing.

Big Cheese Make Hair Go Boom		2009-05-13 08:50:06 AM

I am very curious as to how this is all going to play out. As much as I want prosecutions to begin quickly, I sadly continue to doubt the sense of urgency of the FCC/FTC on "trivial consumer matters."

These phone calls have been going on for months now and no one at the Federal level so much as raised an eyebrow at it. Then a few prominent law makers get a few calls...and now they are pissed! Hell, the TelCo's have worked harder on this than the Feds.

I am glad to see this is getting the attention it finally deserves.

necropoultryac		2009-05-13 08:53:14 AM

I want these callers to die....DIE!

Obnox		2009-05-13 09:11:01 AM

An '83 Tercel with only 175K? I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Those were dependable as hell. I dogged one for years and it seldom needed any repairs.

SurfaceTension		2009-05-13 09:32:57 AM

We recently received a call from a live person claiming to be from "The Warranty Company" and decided to ask a few questions. When we asked the telemarketer for his address, he said he didn't need to provide it. When we asked if we could speak with his supervisor, he said there was no supervisor.

www.georgettesworld.com

/hot, like the passion Sienna Miller would feel if she ever got to know me

Marcus Aurelius		2009-05-13 09:33:54 AM

Consumer protections hurt profitability, and profitability is what America is all about.

Why do you all hate America?

ZAZ		2009-05-13 09:37:54 AM

Big Cheese Make Hair Go Boom

I have been getting the calls for over two years.

JibMac		2009-05-13 09:40:12 AM

I always press 1 to talk to an agent, then put the phone down on the table.

I figure if I can tie up their lines enough times they'll stop calling my number.

filth		2009-05-13 09:47:52 AM

Big Cheese Make Hair Go Boom: I am very curious as to how this is all going to play out. As much as I want prosecutions to begin quickly, I sadly continue to doubt the sense of urgency of the FCC/FTC on "trivial consumer matters."

These phone calls have been going on for months now and no one at the Federal level so much as raised an eyebrow at it. Then a few prominent law makers get a few calls...and now they are pissed! Hell, the TelCo's have worked harder on this than the Feds.

I am glad to see this is getting the attention it finally deserves.

I don't know about the feds, but my state has been investigating this for months. Supposedly, they already caught the guy who was responsible for the majority of the calls.

damageddude		2009-05-13 10:02:19 AM

Even if someone asks to opt out of the calls or registers their number on the National Do Not Call List, the telemarketers keep calling. The FTC notes that these may be violations of telemarketing sales rules.

May be???

One day, while working at home, one of these called on my office line. Usually I hang up right away, but I was bored that day and I thought, -- "what the heck, I'm ready for a break and I have a speaker phone, I'll see what happens."

I quickly got a live person and he said my car's warranty expired. As we have two cars, I asked "which car?" "You know, your car." "I have two cars." "The older one." "They're both the same age." This cat and mouse game went on for about another 10 seconds until the guy hung up on me in frustration. All in all a nice 60 second entertainment break. Pity that didn't stop the calls, but such is life.

/number doesn't show up on caller id so no complaint to consumer affairs
//did speak to the state, they're aware of the scam but can't find these guys.

hosalabad		2009-05-13 10:44:05 AM

Finally someone needs to go after these bastards. I've been getting my final call for a year and half now.

blazemongr		2009-05-13 10:45:21 AM

I got my (I think) third call from these bozos about five minutes ago on my cell phone. Fortunately, I had the instincts to ignore them even before I knew they were scammers, but I'm pissed by association at them on behalf of all the people who didn't.

Thisbymaster		2009-05-13 10:46:32 AM

I talk to them when I am bored telling them about my plans to blow up telemarketer centers and murder their children.

vernonFL		2009-05-13 10:47:59 AM

Man I am in the wrong business.

You mean I could make money calling random people claiming to be from "the warranty company"??

chicagogasman		2009-05-13 10:49:06 AM

I've been recieving these calls for about a year on my land line. A couple of weeks ago they started to call my private cell phone which I give out to nobody. They call at least twice a day. I've long since put myself on the national do not call list. When I have the time I like to mess around with them. Ask them questions about their sexuality and what they are wearing. I got one girl to give me phone sex basically. She said she was bored. I laughed.

anusofuranus		2009-05-13 10:52:01 AM

Damageddude //did speak to the state, they're aware of the scam but can't find these guys.

Ya know in Iraq they can zero in on a cell phone and send a missile down the signal path and blow the crap out of it....Why can't they find one here.

eggrolls		2009-05-13 10:52:34 AM

Chicagosman, I like your style.

Seriously, how stupid do you have to be to buy something offered by a random phone call?

SeamusFerrell		2009-05-13 10:52:42 AM

I once played along for a bit while bored. "The warranty expired on my car? Which one? The Porsche? Tell me more." Uh, my Porsche was a 1970 car (now sold and I am sad about that). Then I got bored and went off to find something entertaining to do.

wintremute		2009-05-13 10:52:57 AM

Simple answer: Caller ID > see number you don't recognize (or "UNKNOWN NUMBER") > ignore.

rigmort		2009-05-13 10:53:00 AM

Wait, which school has 175,000 miles on it?

Thisbymaster		2009-05-13 10:53:50 AM

chicagogasman: I've been recieving these calls for about a year on my land line. A couple of weeks ago they started to call my private cell phone which I give out to nobody. They call at least twice a day. I've long since put myself on the national do not call list. When I have the time I like to mess around with them. Ask them questions about their sexuality and what they are wearing. I got one girl to give me phone sex basically. She said she was bored. I laughed.

If they were doing this, I would be far more interested in being called.

geniusiknowit		2009-05-13 10:54:10 AM

Obnox: An '83 Tercel with only 175K? I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Those were dependable as hell. I dogged one for years and it seldom needed any repairs.

Agreed. Should be good for another 100k at least.

CruJones		2009-05-13 10:54:24 AM

wintremute: Simple answer: Caller ID > see number you don't recognize (or "UNKNOWN NUMBER") > ignore.

not effective on a work cell phone. Most calls I get I don't recognize

wh0mprat		2009-05-13 10:55:43 AM

I've been getting calls from 'my bank', several times a week. Apparently they're desperate to know how I enjoyed my last visit to a branch and whether I have enough life insurance.

Why do they always try to sell you products you really need to think about over the phone? Why not sell something you can pull the trifgger on in an instant? "Blowjob service? Twice a week, you say? And the Gold Package is 4 times a week plus a handy at lunchtime? And they come to me? Why yes, I'd love to sign up."

ihatedumbpeople		2009-05-13 10:56:29 AM

"Consumers often pay up thousands of dollars before seeing a contract and finding out that their money doesn't cover many repairs. "

What's the old saying...."a fool and his money shall soon part"? People are stupid if they front cash before seeing anything in writing, and for every 10 hangups these guys get some idiot is writing a check.damageddude: Even if someone asks to opt out of the calls or registers their number on the National Do Not Call List, the telemarketers keep calling. The FTC notes that these may be violations of telemarketing sales rules.

May be???

One day, while working at home, one of these called on my office line. Usually I hang up right away, but I was bored that day and I thought, -- "what the heck, I'm ready for a break and I have a speaker phone, I'll see what happens."

I quickly got a live person and he said my car's warranty expired. As we have two cars, I asked "which car?" "You know, your car." "I have two cars." "The older one." "They're both the same age." This cat and mouse game went on for about another 10 seconds until the guy hung up on me in frustration. All in all a nice 60 second entertainment break. Pity that didn't stop the calls, but such is life.

/number doesn't show up on caller id so no complaint to consumer affairs
//did speak to the state, they're aware of the scam but can't find these guys.i>

Uh...send a fake check, see who receives/cashes it? If they're not in charge, they'll say who is.

jayhawk88		2009-05-13 10:57:26 AM

The other day I got one of these calls on my cell phone. About 10 seconds after, my wifes cell phone (same provider) got one.

Shortly after I left for somewhere, and my On-Star enabled Chevy that is now tied in to our family plan got a call. I had to laugh.

drb9		2009-05-13 10:57:59 AM

I got a call yesterday, so I hit "1" to talk to someone. I thanked him for getting in touch with me because my warranty was about to expire. This is an approximation of the conversation:
Him: What's the make, model, and year of your vehicle?
Me: 2005 Saab 9-7
Him: What's the year?
Me: Hey, by the way, how did you know the warranty was about up?
Him: Public data records.
Me: Oh. It's a 2005 [one year before it came out]
Him: What's the model?
Me: Saab. 2005 Saab 9-7.
Him: What's the make?
Me: Saab. I don't understand--if you have the public records, why don't you know what vehicle I drive.
Him: <click>

It was fun while it lasted.

gr8fultom		2009-05-13 10:58:50 AM

First time I heard this call I immediately thought...'it's a scam'... it didn't take me even 2 seconds of listening to figure this out...how pathetically stupid would a person have to be to pay up 'thousands' of dollars for this without knowing the details of the contract ahead of time...I just hate knowing I live in a world full of stupid people... and I mean apparently way more stupider than I ever imagined....

hurdboy		2009-05-13 10:59:13 AM

175k on a car that old? Amateurs.

/~250k on mine. It's a 2001.
//I'd buy another, but Chrysler quit making that engine. :-/
/Fark the warranty hocking calls, too.

Honest Bender		2009-05-13 10:59:27 AM

I work at a data center so part of my job is to answer phone calls from people who need something done to their server (colocation). We have an old fashioned rotary phone (bright red) for emergencies. Basically, the boss is the only one that calls in on that phone and it's usually only for VERY important issues.

One day the phone rings and one of the more senior staff goes over and answers it, listens for a about 30 seconds with a very serious look on his face, then hangs up the phone. "Ok everyone, listen up! The warranty on our car is about to expire!" We all laughed and went back to work.

/the end.

wh0mprat		2009-05-13 11:00:30 AM

gr8fultom: First time I heard this call I immediately thought...'it's a scam'... it didn't take me even 2 seconds of listening to figure this out...how pathetically stupid would a person have to be to pay up 'thousands' of dollars for this without knowing the details of the contract ahead of time...I just hate knowing I live in a world full of stupid people... and I mean apparently way more stupider than I ever imagined....

This does fill me with hope for my giant money-harvesting scheme.

theknuckler_33		2009-05-13 11:02:01 AM

I've never ever paid for an extended warranty for anything. Never regretted it once.

Bag of Hammers		2009-05-13 11:02:26 AM

FYI, There is a link to the Do Not Call Registry in the article.

ZAZ		2009-05-13 11:03:58 AM

did speak to the state, they're aware of the scam but can't find these guys.

I heard the scam was run out of Florida.

AntiNorm		2009-05-13 11:04:38 AM

jayhawk88: Shortly after I left for somewhere, and my On-Star enabled Chevy that is now tied in to our family plan got a call.

These people wardial. I have gotten several calls on my work line, and I have only ever given the number out one time (which was actually after I started to get the robocalls). Also, click this^{^} link and Ctrl-F for "caltrain":

I use Caltrain to commute. Caltrain uses unlisted phone numbers to access their loudspeakers on stations. A few days ago we all heard the vehicle warranty pitch all across the platform. Their calling robot called Caltrain station as well.

srtpointman		2009-05-13 11:07:39 AM

Actually the latest one is the "final notice" about debt consolidation for my credit card. Thing is, I don't have a credit card (well, a gov't card, but that don't count). The number that they called me from didn't receive incoming calls, unfortunately. It would be great to post that on Craigslist with the offer of gay sex to whoever could talk the dirtiest.

CTaylor80		2009-05-13 11:08:40 AM

Strange how those 80s and 90s Japanese cars would last for freaking ever . . . but somehow I don't have the same impression about Toyotas and Hondas made after 2000.

My 98 Sentra has just over 145k on it, but I have the feeling that if I bought an 08 Sentra to replace it, the newer one wouldn't last half as long. Hm. It's probably all the cheapy plastic they make cars out of nowadays; there's plenty of plastic in my car, but it feels more solid somehow.

wh0mprat		2009-05-13 11:10:08 AM

Remember, all they're doing is is robocalling every possible combination. If someone picks up, they save that number and add it to their foul lists, which are then also for sale. If you press '1', you've confirmed that marketers can reach a real live human from that number. The warranty thing is just a sideline.

m0ther_farker		2009-05-13 11:10:23 AM

I talked to one of these guys and actually got them to mail me a contract and his contact info. I'll posty it up here when I get home for all to see.

randomX		2009-05-13 11:18:31 AM

I get 2 day day these days. I'm on the DNC list, I've spoken with the people on the phone and they've taken me off the list, etc. I would normally avoid answering the phone but I'm trying to get some form of employment (in a few different states), which means I can't ignore unfamiliar numbers.

The worst part is how they have hundreds of different phone numbers, there's no way to look at the number and recognize it as a spam number.

Tsar_Bomba1		2009-05-13 11:21:43 AM

About 2 months ago I started receiving these on my cell. Finally got to a point that when I saw a number I didn't recognize I wouldn't answer. They've pretty much stopped. The only thing that concerns me is the last time they called it came up as a private number.

I'm definitely going to fark with them if it happens again. Tell them I've got a 2007 Bugatti Veyron and go from there.

vroom vrooom...

www.eliteimports.us

Straelbora		2009-05-13 11:22:29 AM

I bought my '83 Tercel with about 85,000 miles on it. When it finally died, it had about 200,000 more miles.

Now I get why old guys wistfully reminisce about old cars...

Forced Perspective		2009-05-13 11:26:30 AM

I receive these all the time... which is odd, since I live in NYC and haven't owned a car for quite some time. I might try the, "Which car are you calling about?" gambit.

Frizbone		2009-05-13 11:28:55 AM

Hey my 1983 Tercel gets over 35 mpg and is now 100% exempt from emissions testing. Why would I want a new car now??

hockeychick		2009-05-13 11:34:39 AM

Not exactly a threadjack, but somewhat related:

In the last 6 months we're getting all kinds of collection calls for someone who must have had our phone number before we did. He apparently was a bad boy and has racked up quite a bit of debt. We've had our number for 10 years now so I'm not sure how these debt collectors are getting our number. I've tried getting phone numbers and addresses of these places to send certified cease and desist letters and complaints to the FTC, but the only numbers I get are "private caller" and no one will give me an address. Any idea how I can stop them? They're calling every day starting in around 7am central and it's getting annoying.

ScottMpls		2009-05-13 11:34:49 AM

chicagogasman: When I have the time I like to mess around with them. Ask them questions about their sexuality and what they are wearing.

I did something similar this past weekend when some chick called about my warranty, which won't expire for some time. Unfortunately, my GF walked in and I later had some "splaining to do." Whoops ...

Hercules_Rockefeller		2009-05-13 11:38:13 AM

If you get a call at work pull up the Family Guy soundboard and put them on speaker. Few things entertain an office more then a telemarketer trying to sell an auto warranty to Peter Griffin. Next time they get Stewie!

/Hi, my name is Peter and I'll be your nipple.
//pardon me?

grinding_journalist		2009-05-13 11:40:15 AM

Extended warranty? Why would I want to keep my 96 Accord with 215k on it? I'm waiting for the thing to die so I can get something new, but I refuse to trash a car that still gets me where I'm going.

cirby		2009-05-13 11:44:07 AM

I get these all of the time.

I'm pretty sure the warranty on my 1981 Honda motorcycle isn't renewable.

buried_alive		2009-05-13 11:45:49 AM

I get call from these farkers all the time. They say, "our records indicate etc...I ask them, well, since you have my records, what kind of car do I own? They say they can't divulge that due to privacy reasons. I mess with them if I have the time...told the last one I had a vintage Rolls...then they got pissed when I told them that I didn't after about 15 minutes on the call. The chick started screaming and swearing at me. Mission accomplished.

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