2012 Camry LE, purchased in Dec 2011. I had never bought an extended warranty on anything in my life but when I bought my Camry, I was given an offer that seemed too good to be true. An 8 year 75000 mile Toyotacare platinum bumper to bumper warranty that was fully refundable if not used.
When I posted that on this site, some expressed asceticism. I don’t blame them.
As soon as the 8 years was up, I called the dealership and was sent to the finance manager. He asked my name and the vin number. He told me he had no record of purchasing a car there and asked me to email him copies of all the paperwork I had. I sent him copies of the receipt. contract, warranty, title, current registration and the service records from the two years of free service at their dealership.
On dec 18 he emailed me back saying I needed my copy of the warranty refund application. I assured him that I had no such thing and he sent me a sample copy of that paperwork.
It was from an outfit called SGI (Signet Financial Group) and looked like something drawn by a third grader and offered by a fly by night used car lot. I told him I had never seen or possessed anything like that. He said he would send someone to get their copy from their dead files in storage.
Between Christmas and New Years I emailed him several times with no response. On Jan. 2 I called the dealership and was told by the dealership that he was no longer employed there. I lef voicemail messages for the new FM 3 tines that day with no callback. The next day I went to the dealership and oarked myself at a table in the showroom. A salesman went and got me the General manager who came out and gave me his card and said he would send someone to look for my paperwork from storage. He came back in 5 minutes and told me they did not have it because “As allowed by state business law, we throw out all our paperwork after 5 years and I can’t do anything for you because you lost your copy.”
I told him O did not know anything about state business law but that only an idiot would throw out an 8 year contract after 5 years. He offered to speak to the owner and called me.
Before I went to the dealer, I knew SGF has disconnected their phones and vacated their building in 2016 but could find no record of their bankruptcy. I had also verified with Toyota Financial that the dealership had purchased the warranty and Toyota sent me a letter saying that I had not used the warranty. The also told me that they were aware of their dealerships doing this at the tome but Toyota had nothing to do with it.
I read online that several car owners had sued their dealers over this and lost because the dealer was a disclosed agent of SFG and thus not liable.
No one at the dealership answered or returned my calls.
I first tried Call for Action, a local TV station’s investigative reporter and got a young woman who sounded like a high school intern and the dealership swatter her away like a fly.
Next I contacted the local branch of the NY State Attorney General’s Office and wrote them everything I poster here plus the fact that during the purchase I had told the Finance Manager that I was only boying it because it we a refundable TOYOTA warranty and that I would not touch a 3rd party warranty with a 10 foot pole. I added that I believe The finance manager pocketed the 3rd party paperwork because he knew I would have cancelled the warranty sale and he wanted the commission. I said, it is impossible to prove I did not get something but that is what I will swear to and the dealership has no one who was there to refute it. Their defense should be to produce their copy of what they say iI signed.
about 3 weeks later I got a call from someone who said he was the business manager of the dealership asking If I wanted to pick up my 870 check or have it mailed to me.
This dealership had a feature on their website called meet the staff. That feature is no longer there and the Business Manager who mailed me the check was a salesman a few short months ago.
I am not naming the dealership because I don’t know that the owner was aware of what one or more of his employees were doing.
