Troubleshooter helps Cumberland County woman get car warranty refund
HOPE MILLS, N.C. (WTVD) -- Canceling a contract means not having to make any more payments, but for one Cumberland County woman, this was not the case.
It started with a call about an extended warranty for Eraina Lewis' 2006 Impala.
"They say, 'you know what? We can make it so it will be so fast, we can have it where we debit your account, we'll take out $150 and you'll make monthly payments of $118.75,'" Lewis said. "So it didn't seem like a real amount that day."
Lewis paid $150 down over the phone, but when the contract came in the mail she realized she would be paying $3,000 for the warranty.
"You start reading the fine print cause you have it on paper, and it's like oh my God, how am I even going to prove anything to this company for them to honor the warranty," she said.
Lewis says she decided to cancel.
"They say like 'at this point we have it on record, everything has been cancelled and you'll get your refund in about ten days,'" Lewis said.
But instead of a refund, Lewis was charged her first monthly payment of $118.75.
She called Omnisure as that's who was charging her to ask why they were still deducting payments.
"'Well in the length of time, we already have it tracked and so we already automatically took it out, but you'll get your refund, your down payment plus that payment,' which comes out to like $258.75," Lewis said.
She waited for more than two months, but the refund never came, so she contacted ABC11.
"It was just like instantaneously, I got results," Lewis said.
We got in touch with Omnisure, and a rep said they are the payment plan provider for the vehicle service contract sold to Lewis by All American Auto Protection. As the payment plan provider, the rep says they are not involved with anything related to the payment or denial of claims, refunds to the customer, the sale or cancellation of the vehicle service contract or anything else related to the vehicle service contract itself.
He adds they strictly handle the billing and collection of the monthly payments on behalf of All American Auto Protection.
A representative for All American Auto Protection told us the account was closed and they had mailed the refund.
Within days, Lewis got the full refund from All American Auto Protection for $258.75.
"It almost feels surreal. It doesn't seem like it's even, I haven't even cashed it," Lewis said.
"I'm glad you have someone that you can go to if you need them and they'll help you out. I never thought it would be Channel 11. I never thought it would be Diane Wilson. I never thought I would need them, and then it's just amazing the turn around."
Lewis advises everyone to do his or her research before agreeing to a deal over the phone. She believes what happened to her, could happen to anyone.
