National Electronics Warranty / MaxAssurance Warranty ripoff abused & mistreated Sterling Virginia

I read, with interest, the complaint against National Electronics Warranty and Max Assurance. In this case I have some familiarity with the specifics of the problem.

Recently, an escalations specialist and myself had occasion to have a conversation regarding this specific printer and the difficulties caused by Market West for the consumer. At that time, the escalations specialist was extremely upset that Market West had chosen "... to hold the printer for ransom..." as she put it.

I know this particular escalations specialist well, and have watched her struggle repeatedly with repair servicers who are more interested in a quick buck than making an honest appraisal and repair. It would seem, on the surface, at least, that this is just another one of those cases. On the surface . . .

Here's some of the background. National Elecronics Warranty, (N.E.W. for those that work there) does not actually perform repairs. Obviously, in this case, Market West did the repair, or didn't - depending on how you look at the situation. N.E.W. has a policy that any of it's repair servicers provide a 30 day warranty on any work they perform. When the consumer's prnter was returned not funtioning properly, Market West was under agreement with N.E.W. to take the unit back and fix it correctly, without charge to N.E.W. or the consumer.

Market West, on the second go-around, apparently could not re-create the consumer's problem with the unit, so it submitted a bill to N.E.W., saying that they had been forced, by N.E.W. to spend labor time on the unit unnecessarily. Of course, N.E.W. denied Market West's claim for an additional service fee. How did Market West respond? Did they look at the big picture? All of the thousands of repairs that are referred to them yearly by N.E.W.? No, they decided that instead of abiding by their agreement with N.E.W. and instead of admitting their own inability to duplicate the consumer's problem, they insist that the consumer pay for the non-existant repair.

All that being said, what has happened to N.E.W.'s involvement in this case? Well, the escalations specialist has already begun the process of a buyout for the consumer, which is probably completed by now. The buyout means that Market West can go whistle Dixie for their $150.00 and N.E.W. will re-imburse the consumer for the cost of a new printer or the cost of the old printer, whichever is a lesser amount.

In the mean time, however, there are behind the scenes changes that situations like these create. N.E.W. has contracts with hundreds of repair companies throughout the world, and simple agreements with thousands more. The choice of which service center to refer a consumer to is made by the customer service representative that answers the consumer's call to N.E.W. Often, depending on where the consumer lives, there are several choices as to which to refer a consumer. Since N.E.W. practices what is referred to as a culture of accountability where each customer service representative takes ownership of each consumer's problem and is trained to resolve that problem, can you think that there will be many more referrals to Market West if there other options?

OK, so that change came a little too late for Jessica's problem. But, companies like N.E.W. aren't so different from regular human beings. We learn from our mistakes, or we suffer the consequences. We've learned from this one, and hopefully there will be no more complaints like Jessica has. I certainly hope, by now, Jessica has a brand new printer and she is slightly less angry for the inconvenience and frustration this episode has caused for her.

If, Jessica, or any other consumer has any questions or further concerns, N.E.W. is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, even on Holidays. The whole reason we are there is to answer your call and resolve your problems. That is the nature of our business, that is why we exist. I for one, like to think that we do the best job possible, and we are always striving to improve.

Thank you for your time.

Only after filing the initial report with Rip-Off Report, I did get results.

Market West did send back the Multi-Function machine, and it was finally fixed.

I don't think I would have recieved results had it not been for Rip-Off Report. I am sincerely grateful for the employee who responded to my report, and to the people who manage this website.

Finally, a place for consumers to get real results!!

Thank you!

It sounds to me as though this printer was under the manufacturer warranty and was not even covered as of yet by the extended warranty company of N.E.W.