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Smart Choice Extended Warranty

The company offering this policy, National Warranty Insurance, has been declared insolvent.

Kathy of St. Charles MO (10/20/03):
I did use the warranty last year on an emisions problem. Smart Choice paid their portion and I paid my $50.00 deductable. This year my battary light came on. I took it to my mechanic and they said it was the altinator. They called the warranty company and they told me Smart Choice had gone out of business. Now my car has had other work done and it looks like my computer is malfunctioning. I will be out another $500.00 it looks like. The place I bought my car from says they will pay half the cost minus the $50.00 deductible. I say what deductible, I have no warranty, but am still paying for one as it is added into my car payment.

I bought the extended warranty because I work for a not for profit organization. I thought if my car had any problems I could afford a $50.00 deductible. Now I am out already since Sept, 2003 around $700.00. The place I bought the car from is trying to sell me another car to get out from under the warranty. I still have 20,000 miles under the warranty but only one and a half years to pay off my car. That deal does not appeal to me. They would never give me as much as is needed to pay off my car and who has the money for the sales tax and who wants another 5 years of payments?

Gail of Fayetteville NC (9/18/03):
I purchased a new 2002 Envoy from Bleecker GMC in May of 2001. I purchased a Smart Choice Warranty at that time for close to $1700. I did not know or was not informed by Smart Choice that they had filed bankruptcy. I thought a company must inform policy holders if they declare bankruptcy. I traded my car before the policy would come into effect and am due a refund. What recourse do I have to try to recoup some of this money? Can I hold the dealership accountable for some of this?

Gail could try suing the dealer in Small Claims Court.

Michelle of Patchogue NY (8/15/03):
In January 2001, I purchased a Suzuki Grand Vitara from Malstrom Suzuki in West Islip, NY. In addition, I purchased a Smart Choice extended warranty. In August 2003, my car needed repairs totalling around $900. All of the repairs should have been covered but when the service mechanic called for authorization, the company has liquidated and no payments will be made. The company and/or Suzuki should stand behind what they sell and refund my money.

I had to take time off of work and will have to pay a $900 bill that I already paid for a warranty to cover.

It's not Suzuki who sold Michelle the policy, it's the dealer, who you can bet made a handsome commission at the time. Michelle should insist the dealer cover at least some of repair costs. If they refuse, she should sue them in Small Claims Court.

Brian of Colorado Springs writes (5/30/03):
I purchased a '97 Tahoe from Pinebelt Chevrolet in NJ, in Dec. '02. Included in this purchase was an Extended Warranty from a company called Smart Choice 2000. The price of this warranty was $1800.00 to cover basically any problems I would have with the Tahoe for 36,000 miles or 3 years.

On May 25, 2003 I was driving from Colorado Springs to Lubbock, TX towing a 4x8 U-Haul trailer to take my fiance to graduate school. About 30 miles south of Amarillo the car begins to smoke and I noticed when I stopped the transmission fluid had dropped out of the car. I called the roadside number and they sent out a tow truck to take us to the nearest Chevy dealership, Midway Chevrolet. All this occurred on Memorial Day so we were stranded for two days until the service dept could evaluate the repairs. I gave all warranty info to the service advisor.

Later the advisor calls me back tells me that the transmission has been burnt and needs to be rebuilt and it would cost $2200.00. He also contacted Smart Choice and they informed him that they could give him an Authorization number but could not guarantee payment on the job. He was given a phone number to call for some investment company. So I call Smart Choice and spoke to a rep named Seth, who was extremely rude and had no desire to help me with my situation. He basically informed me that Smart Choice only services the contracts and this investment company covers the financial end of all the contracts. Seth's suggastion was to pay for it out-of-pocket and "HOPE" they reimburse me.

Then I make a phone call to the investment company and you cannot talk to a human and the mail box they send you to is full. After all this we are sitting in Amarillo and have no way of getting this trailer to Lubbock, and my fiance has class starting on the 27th. The service from this company has been completely unacceptable and I suggest any who is offered this company RUN LIKE HELL!!!

Financial consequences are $2200.00 for a transmission that should have been covered on the plan. $45.00 for a hotel room in Amarillo and $40.00 for late fees from U-Haul.

As Brian probably knows by now, the company is insolvent and if has not yet been reimbursed, it's probably too late.

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