Deceptive mail advertising quickly lands in my recycle. One warranted attention, and complaints.
    EWS -- Vehicle Division mailed me an "IMPORTANT VEHICLE NOTICE" for my 2008 Honda. The front listed a Customer ID No. and Deadline Date: Jan 8, 2010. The back had: "Call Now to Activate your Vehicle Service Contract." Below that in bold, underlined words: "Your Risks: If you choose NOT to take action, you will be FINANCIALLY LIABLE .." Liable for what?
"Any repairs that are necessary after your warranty expiration date." The notice offered help: "ACT NOW"  You still have time to ACTIVATE extended out-of-warranty vehicle coverage." I decided to call after that prodigious deception.
    Mr. Harris answered and asked for my customer number. I asked, "Am I a customer?"
    "No," he said, "they're giving you the last chance to extend the warranty, so, how many miles on your car?"
    Based on my stated mileage, he proposed a 5-year, 100,000-mile warranty with a $260.50 down payment (after a $200 first-call discount), and $130.25 for 18 months, a total of $2,605.
    He advised me to buy, saying it's, "The smartest thing you can do. I guarantee you, you go into a dealer and they'll run you through a wringer at more than a $130 a month."
    I declined and called Sheri Freer in the finance department at my dealer, Apple Valley Honda. Based on the same mileage she quoted a similar payment plan that included Washington sales tax. Her total was $1932.12. Mr. Harris never mentioned taxes, and still quoted almost $700 more.
    Freer said they'd never hire a third party to contact customers. "If the warranty is ending, you may get a call from me as a courtesy." 
    Freer told me, "Companies can get owner and the VIN number from Washington's DOL, but they don't have the mileage or the warranty date."
    Using owner and VIN numbers from state information for marketing purposes is illegal, according to Mary Lobdell, in Washington's Attorney General's office. She is overseeing Washington's two-year investigation with 39 other states on deceptive marketing practices for vehicle service contracts.  "There are all levels of deception in these cases, " she said.
    My notice implied a relationships with a customer, the manufacturer, a final deadline, a final chance, and that it's a warranty. EWS marketed me a service contract from an insurer, not a warranty. The insurer must be registered with Washington's Office of the Insurance Commissioner. EWS, actually Endurance Warranty Services, LLC, is not registered with the OIC, so I called back. A man said EWS is a "warranty broker," and that my quote would be insured by Royal Administrative Services from Massachusetts.
    Royal is not registered on the OIC site, so late yesterday I emailed Royal asking if they were authorized to sell in Washington.
    Endurance is accredited with the Chicago BBB since March, 2007. The Chicago BBB rating is a C, with details about 55 complaints in the last 36 months, 38 of which have been resolved in the last year. Five were irresolvable.
    Lobdell said the investigation is impacting the industry. "The business works, as companies have admitted, when marketing outruns the refunds, which they have to keep low."  Some insurers are failing as contract sales generate less cash. 
    I filed complaints with Washington's Consumer Protection Division and Chicago's BBB, but Lobdell advised me to also file with the Illinois Attorney General.
    A commenter on the Town-Hall for the automotive website Edmunds.com admitted giving credit card information to the EWS sales person. After trying to revoke it during the call, the representative said, "that could not be done." The frustrated victim accuses an unknown, unscrupulous dealer employee of providing information, which is unlikely.
    Lobdell said the state has tightened regulations around companies authorized to obtain vehicle information for research and statistical analysis, but she believes there is still a leak to the industry, perhaps through another firm.
    These incidents make me feel like an elk in a herd crossing Alaskan tundra, trailed by wolves. Aging toward frailty, I increasingly fear these predatory firms tracking me and my information. The good news is our Attorney General's office is investigating, but my complaint to the Consumer Protection Division is the only one against Endurance.
    Our initial defense is accurate, registered complaints, more publicly available. In the meantime we can alert people and save the evidence.