Annoying Car Warranty Robocalls Blocked by a Judge

Every day until recently, I got one of these stern-sounding messages on my answering machine: "Your car warranty is about to expire and this is your last chance to buy an extended warranty." Common sense told me that Volkswagen would send me a letter instead of a robocall, so with annoyance I would simply hit delete each time.

Turns out millions of other Americans were feeling my pain, and something is finally being done about it. After receiving nearly 30,000 consumer complaints, the Federal Trade Commission filed suit against two companies and their executives on May 14, asking a federal court in Chicago to halt a deluge of as many as a billion automated, prerecorded calls and freeze the assets of the companies.

The Associated Press reports that U.S. District Judge John F. Grady issued temporary restraining orders against Transcontinental Warranty Inc. on May 14 and Voice Touch Inc. on May 15.

Officials say the calls have targeted consumers regardless of whether they have warranties or even own cars and ignore the Do Not Call registry. They say telemarketers have misrepresented service agreements consumers have to buy for warranties that come with the price of the car.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. had asked for an FTC investigation into what he described as the scam of "robodialer harassment."

"These calls are annoying, but worse, many Americans have been fleeced," he said. SOURCE: AP

Turns out a robodialer made the mistake of calling Senator Schumer's cellphone.

Meanwhile, the companies have raked in as much as $10 million as a result of the deceptive calls and mailings, which falsely gave people the impression that their car warranties were expiring, reports the New York Times.

Did you get the calls too? Did you ever call the telemarketer to see about your warranty? Share your views and experiences below.