In August of 2003, I purchased a new Toyota 4Runner from Covington Pike Toyota (now Wolfchase Toyota). I was reluctant to buy an extended warranty, but was convinced by their finance person because he stated that if I didn't use it, I would be refunded 100% of the $1,100 I paid for it. I took all the paperwork given to me that day and placed it in a fire box where it sat until just recently. When the car reached 6-years-old, I called to cash in my warranty, but was told the car had to be over 74K miles. I waited until it reached that mileage and called again. This time the person I spoke with acted surprised that someone had not contacted me, as it was their practice to proactively contact people whose warranties were coming due. As a side note, during this time I had mentioned my warranty refund to a client of mine who handles auto loans for many of the dealerships in the Memphis area. His words were, "Good luck getting your refund out of them". Well he was absolutely correct.
I went to Wolfchase Toyota with the paperwork in hand (again everything they gave me at purchase including the extended warranty paperwork). I spoke to a finance person, who looked at my paperwork and stated, you do not have the 100% guarantee certificate and must have it to receive the refund. I explained that this was everything I was given at the time of purchase and that it sat in a firebox since 2003, untouched. She then told me, "We keep all our paper records for 10 years; so I will look for our copy of your paper work". I didn't have time to wait that day so I left. About 30 minutes later, I received a call from another finance person, who stated that they had just recently destroyed all of their 2003 records (apparently they destroy them as the warranties come due). I then spoke with the general manager, who is obviously used to dealing with unhappy customers and very rudely made it clear that I wouldn't be getting a refund.
I'm sure that it is obvious from the price of my vehicle compared to the price of the extended warranty that this was a 100% refundable warranty. It may even be the case that they didn't sell an extended warranty in 2003 that didn't come with a 100% refund.
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