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Review 10/22/2009
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My independent evaluation of this company is solely my opinion and based upon my experience with the company's phone representatives that offered warranty product on my Chrysler. Others experiences with the company may differ from mine.
After receiving a phone call in the morning from a representative that worked for (what I assume) an independent call center based out of Irvine (as stated by the rep) with the telephone number 949-486-7598 with the following website: www.customerwarrantyservices.com, I willingly provided my consent to be contacted by an independent warranty representative at a later time during the day. The independent warranty company would turn out to be Direct Protect Warranty.
The phone reps (totaling approximately 3) during that phone call were courteous, upbeat, pleasant and very professional in demeanor. My initial phone rep would explain the perks of the warranty (which I took careful notation of while he was speaking which were a $100 deductible, the full retail value of repair services paid by Direct Protect Warranty, free towing, free roadside assistance, free car rental up to 5 days, the transmission, timing chain, radiator, drive axle's, water pump, were only some of the components covered under the warranty.) I would be able to take my vehicle to any dealership and it would be covered for 5 years or up to 100,000 miles. They also said that they were rated with the BBB and their rating was an A rating. Of course it sounded wonderful! Who wouldn't want protection on a $35,000 car for the next 5 years?
However, because of my financial circumstances the $195 down payment and 18 month interest free installment plan of $180 was a bit outside my budget at this time because of being self-employed after my layoff this year and I informed the rep that I wouldn't be able to afford the cost of this program. The rep was very understanding and asked for my permission to bring another rep on the line to look at discount options which I thought was proactive. The rep who was dispatched on the line said that because I was prior military that I would qualify for a discount. However I let him know that a down payment wasn't within my budget at this time and the monthly installments were out of my price range. He asked me,"how will you make a decision without first hearing what we can offer you?" I was firm about what I had believed that the warranty wasn't within my budget. He then asked me the following question,"If your vehicle breaks down what are you going to do?" If this question was to make me think and also overcome my objection it felt a bit rehearsed and somewhat callous of the rep to make the assumption that I would purchase such a warranty with a hefty price tag based upon the notion that I would be pressured by my fear of that "what if" question, especially because I know my vehicle is new, is maintained and won't most likely happen anytime soon.
I politely told him that I had a change of mind and that I appreciated his time, but at this time I would not be taking advantage of the warranty offer and disconnected the call. I received a call back to my surprise, but allowed the call to rollover to my voicemail. The rep left a courteous message and also informed me that he would be able to offer me the warranty at a reduced cost because of my military background. He offered the program at $125 down payment and 18 monthly installments of $125 and told me he would honor the offer provided I return his call within a timely fashion. This sounded great of course to anyone who owns a luxury vehicle.
I decided to review the complaints against the company and also check with the BBB. Well, here I am reviewing the company. It turns out that after my review there are some discrepancies in their claim about having an 'A" rating with the BBB. It turns out they have an "F" rating. That says enough for me. To misrepresent the facts about their rating is to commit an incredible error as it implies that the rep assumes the customer is too gullible to prove the claims they make about their rating with the BBB or just to ignorant to know exactly how to do it. It's obviously very simple to check against the BBB and fortunately for me they made that blatant claim about their bogus rating. Be forewarned. As a consumer this proves one must do their homework first. If a company values your business and theirs they won't devalue it by puffing ratings up or using tactics that devalue their services. Do your homework.
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