Crazy Motorcycle Warranty holds Couple Hostage
When is a "refundable" warranty, NOT refundable?
Navin and his wife Helen have been trying to cancel a motorcycle warranty for almost a year, so why is it taking so long.
Back in May 2007, they bought a motorcycle, a Yamaha R1, from "Crazy Freddy's" of Massapequa, Long Island. Along with the bike, they paid "Crazy Freddy's" over $800 for a five-year warranty to cover the bike.
But in October 2008 their motorcycle was stolen. After filing out a report with local police, they contacted "Crazy Freddy's" to cancel what was left of the warranty, which was listed as possible, according to the contract.
Navin says "Crazy Freddy's" told him that all he had to do was write them a letter, asking to be released from the contract and it would be done. Navin and Helen say they did that, but nothing happened. When they went to the shop to make sure their letter had been received, they were told by Jeff the Manager that he had "no authority" to cancel their warranty. They were told they now had to deal directly with "Freddy".
But whenever they called asking for "Freddy", he was never there. They were told either he had just stepped out, he was in a business meeting, he was on an extended vacation and so on and so on.
After several weeks of calling, they were told again that if they wanted to cancel the warranty, they would have to put in a written request. On that very day they faxed over their written request. A few weeks later they called to follow up and again got the same excuses. Again "Freddy" was unavailable.
Frustrated, Navin and Helen called Help Me Howard to resolve the situation.
Last week all three of them headed out to "Crazy Freddy's".
As soon as they entered the shop, they spotted Jeff the Manager, but he quickly disappeared.
Howard, Navin and Helen then approached the office manager and she quickly took care of them, confirming that the warranty company had not yet received their paperwork, but she would soon process it and clear the matter up in a couple of days. And by Monday morning it was.
Comments: 3
I have the same problem, I have been trying to return it for over a month and they keep giving me the run around. I have given them a bunch of sales, I have had 3 of my friends buy bikes from this place, and my friend Kevin is going through the same ordeal. Justice needs to be served here, this is the worst customer service I have ever recieved.
I have been through the same ordeal. I have been trying to receive a refund on my warranty for over 2 months on a bike I do not have along with not receiving a refund on the warranty of my current bike. Everyone is always busy when you call but the store is a ghost town when you go in. Fred does not call anyone, I am curious if he exists. This is disgraceful.
This company has countless complaints against it. They do not care !
The important point is that when you have any demand or complaint with a company, do all correspondance by Certified Mail with Signed Receipt Paid For. Sending regular mail or faxing something is a waste of time with this type of company. You must used Certified SRPF so that they cannot claim that they never got it.
Also remember in New York the consumer agency that can help you most is the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. They issue the license to the dealer to do business, sales and service, and will investigate any legit complaint against a dealer. Dealer must respond and attend hearing or will lose his license to sell vehicles. NYS Attorney General is a great help if your problem has to do with finance or contractual problem. BBB is pretty much worthless as an enforcement agency, they do nothing and the only purpose complaining to them has is to warn others. A company does not have to correct complaints to get a good BBB rating, all they have to do is respond ( even if the answer is no ) and BBB will give them a good rating. The only thing that hurts a companay BBB rating is if they do not respond to BBB. If they respond to BBB saying that they investigated and the customer is wrong, that earns them a good BBB rating no matter what the issue is.
Remember, Certified Mail for all complaints, and NYS Dept of Motor Vehicles and NYS Attorney General for complaints. No licensed motor vehicle dealer will ever ignore an inquiry from either of those two. All other consumer agencies are pretty much toothless.