SCAM FOR CAR WARRANTY
Answered the call, it was a recorded message stating that the warranty on my car had expired and asked if I wanted to speak to a warranty specialist. I didn't respond and it hung up after asking twice.
Thanks 800notes. It's very good characterization of how these calls can ruin someone's life! You have to wonder what kind of sick individual would keep calling the same person knowing he has a big family that rely on him to work and put food on the table. Makes no sense. Even crazier is one of the callers was a brother from another who you used to fed too.
Ever hear about "a thousand times 'no' before you get a 'yes'"? The call centers are mostly automated, the labor is cheap, the cost of business is cheaper, and available technology neuters the industry law. Frauds don't care about your story, only for how quickly you will pay them.
What this crooked industry likes to term an "extended warranty" is really a service contract. These agreements are expensive window dressing for dealer vehicle sales. If everyone is convinced that you'll need so much repair coverage, you should avoid buying the stupid car in the first place and find one which smells less of lemon. The contract offers are wholly bogus when made by cold callers. Probably US Fidelis provided the most infamous example of the latter fraud before its principals were sent to prison in late 2012. The drones on the phone are in no way affiliated with your vehicle's manufacturer and are not "extending" anything apart from their bosses' greasy hands into your pockets.
This is a dangerous game which surges repeatedly now that breaking the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act is cheaper than ever. I couldn't help noticing something in Abbey's comment in February was familiar, the offer "to speak to a warranty specialist". That was the same language used by telefrauds in Florida, Transcontinental Warranty and Voice Touch, before the FTC got that crew whacked with a TRO and a judgment in 2009.
-- FTC links --
FTC Files Suit to Stop Illegal Robocalls Pushing Vehicle Warranty Extensions
Auto Service Contracts and Warranties