I bought a car for my wife on July 14, 2010. It came with a free limited warranty from First Automotive Service Corporation. When we test drove the car on July 12th, it seemed fine. Upon leaving the car lot on the 14th, the automatic transmission started to slip. I took my car to a local volvo dealership on the 15th and gave them my warranty information. On July 27th, the volvo dealership called and told me that my claim had been denied due to a preexisting condition. They also informed me that an adjuster with First Automotive had been there, authorized additional tests, and left without paying for them. There is no mention of a preexisting condition on my warranty contract, or anything that sounds even remotely like that. On July 27th, I called First Automotive and spoke to a claims department manager named Fred. He told me that his company had no legal obligation to pay me anything and was very rude. I contacted the Washington State Attorney General's Office, the Washington State Insurance Commissioner's Office, the Better Business Bereau, the Snohomish County Sherriff, the FBI, the FTC, my local media, and a few other agencies that I am probably forgetting. The Attorney General's office called me back the day after I filed my complaint. On August 10th, the owner of the car lot where I bought my car agreed to have it repaired at no further cost to me. On August 11th, I got a call from Buster, who is the claims department manager at First Automotive. He told me that First Automotive had no legal obligation to pay my claim, and told me that I needed to take my car back to the volvo dealership to get the claim approved because some "higher-ups" in the company had decided to do me a favor and pay my claim anyway. I told him that my car was being fixed, and that we could discuss my rental car expenses and lost wages. He told me that since there was no provision for either of those things in my contract, they would not be paid. On September 3rd, I recieved a copy of a letter sent to the Attorney General's office by Viki Winiger (one of the founders of the company) stating that my claim had been denied in error and that First Automotive was sending me a check for the diagnosis charges at the volvo dealership. No-one called to apologize or offer to pay my car rental expenses and lost wages. At the time of this writing, I have not yet recieved a check from Viki. I found the President of First Automotive's e-mail address on the internet and sent him an e-mail asking him why his managers denied my claim in error and asked him what he is going to do about it. I will update this post if I hear back from him.
I have read some other complaints on this site and others written by people who might be able to benefit from my experience and knowledge. Some people talk about getting a lawyer. First Automotive is not afraid of that, and the people who run the company are lawyers themselves who make a living knowing exactly what they can get away with and what they cannot. They have trained proffesional liars on their staff who will tell you (very convincingly, I might add) that you don't have a leg to stand on. If you find yourself in my situation, here is what I reccomend that you do:
1. Document all actions taken and words spoken by you and First Automotive complete with dates, times, phone numbers, and locations. Try to only document the facts and don't let your emotions make you seem like you are whining.
2. Don't believe the lies that you are told. Automotive Warranty companies will say things like preexisting conditions are never covered. That is not necessarily true. They must honor what is written or not written on your contract whether they interpret it as being legal or not. Common sense and honesty will prevail in the eyes of your State's Attorney General.
3. Contact your State's Attorney General's Office. Be calm and cool. Only relay the facts of your situation. Also contact the BBB, the FTC, your local media, the FBI, your State's Governer, and anyone else who might have any authority over business being conducted in your state.
4. Don't give up. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it most likely is a duck. Don't get discouraged by what representatives of unethical companies tell you. That is their job. Don't try to pursue civil action until you have exhausted all avenues for criminal action. You will have much more sucess reporting a crime than trying to sue a gaggle of evil lawyers. It is all of our responsabilities to protect out brothers and sisters from predatory, immoral businesses who make their living by robbing people of little resources. Do your part to make the world a better place by doing everything you can that is legal and just to shut down these organised crime rings who delight in watching you lose the rigged shell game that they have created to steal your money.
I hope this helps someone. Do not be taken for a fool. Stnad up for what is right. Imagine what a great country this would be if everyone did that.
