By Bob Difley
I received the following email from reader Jim G. and thought it worthy of passing along:
“Hi Bob; I wanted to pass along some information which might be of interest to fellow RV’ers, I regularly read and enjoy your blog posts and if you deem appropriate please pass this along to someone else who can get the word out.
“My Class C RV is powered by a Ford E-450 with a V10 engine, very typical I believe for that type of rig. About a week ago I received what appeared to be a legitimate notice that stated my original power-train and engine warranty, 3 years/36k miles, is about to expire. The letter which was addressed to me includes information about an extended warranty and provides a telephone number to call for information and price to extend the warranty. Trusting that this was sent by someone affiliated with the dealer or service center I placed a call, they had my name/address on file and connected me to a customer service rep. When I explained that the Ford Cut-away van is attached to an RV and has a V-10 engine, the rep. stated that for some inexplicable reason they no longer offered extended warranties for V-10 Fords. I asked repeatedly how and where they obtained by personal information, she could not or would not provide an answer other than to say their marketing firm obtains the data from dealers, insurance companies, etc..
“I decided to do a Google search on Car Safe, located in Missouri and found a BBB rating of F, as bad as you get. The BBB site provides a list of complaints which includes questionable advertising, bait and switch, failure to honor the warranties, etc., etc..
“I know many fellow RV’ers, have the same Ford E-450s with V-10 engines and do not want to see any unsuspecting folks fall victim. If you feel this is worthy of a post on RV.net please feel free to do so and/or pass this along.”
I checked out the Better Business Bureau’s website for the company Jim refers to, Car Safe, and am including this information below:
BBB Rating
Based on BBB files, this business has a BBB Rating of F on ascale from A+ to F.
Factors that lowered this business’ rating include:
- Length of time business has been operating.
- 131 complaints filed against business
- Government action(s) against business.
- Advertising issue(s) found by BBB.
- Business has failed to resolve underlying cause(s) of a pattern of complaints.
Factors that raised this business’ rating include:
- Response to 131 complaint(s) filed against business.
- Resolution of complaint(s) filed against business.
- BBB has sufficient background information on this business.
The BBB has received numerous complaints regarding this company that sells extended service contracts. Complainants primarily allege misleading sales and advertising practices, poor customer service, failure to cover needed repairs, difficulty cancelling a policy and obtaining a refund, and that the firm made harassing calls or sent harassing mail solicitations even after they asked the company to stop.