The calls are incessant. They come to home phones, cell phones, and office extensions — even to numbers listed on the national Do Not Call registry.
An electronic recording issues a dire warning: "Your vehicle warranty may have expired" and refers you to a sales representative who attempts to sell you extended warranty coverage.
But when questioned about the warranty company, the representative immediately hangs up. The number left by the caller on the recipient's caller ID yields a disconnected line.
"It's like a virus," said Tucson resident Sharon Maddy, who was surprised when she started getting the calls several months ago because both of her cars have long been out of warranty coverage. The calls came to her office phone, which is on the Do Not Call list.
"They're just snubbing their nose at the rules," Maddy said.
People are also reading…
The rash of auto-warranty-sales calls has been a nuisance for many people in Tucson and throughout the country, said Kim States, spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona. Unfortunately, there may not be much that people can do to stop them.
The numbers called by the telemarketers seem to be picked at random, without any previous knowledge about a customer's actual car or warranty, she said. Since the callers are apparently ignoring the Do Not Call list, registering may not provide relief, she said.
Tucson residents who have received the calls also report little success in asking the warranty-sales representatives to take them off internal lists. Mostly, the sales representatives just hang up when asked, call recipients said. Even when the recipient is told to press 2 to be removed from the list, it usually doesn't work.
"We can understand consumer frustration," States said.
She recommended that people report the calls to the Federal Trade Commission.
Lawsuits target Missouri firm
Among the likely culprits are a group of auto-warranty service companies in Missouri, particularly National Auto Warranty Services, also known as Dealer Services, at 100 Mall Parkway in Wentzville, Mo., according to the Better Business Bureau.
The company was sued this year by Verizon Wireless for being behind an "an illegal telemarketing campaign," according to court documents. Florida-based Explicit Media Inc. was also named in the suit, filed July 14 in federal court in New Jersey.
Verizon said the companies are responsible for nearly 3 million unsolicited calls to Verizon subscribers throughout the country, made in violation of Federal Trade Commission telemarketing regulations as well as the Do Not Call registry law.
The companies used "spoofing," a method of masking information, to hide outgoing call numbers, a violation of the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, court documents said.
The Missouri company was also named in connection with shady telemarketing practices in a suit by a New Jersey-based company using the same names — National Auto Warranty Services and Dealer Services. The suit, filed in December, alleged that the Missouri company was previously called Big Time Productions Inc. and stole the New Jersey company's names.
The New Jersey company said it was notified about the Missouri company using "abusive telemarketing practices," according to court filings.
Missouri's attorney general sued the Missouri company in March for deceptive advertising practices. The Better Business Bureau lists 650 complaints against the company over the last three years. Approximately 17 percent have been resolved.
"Rogue elements" blamed
Representatives from National Auto Warranty Services said that up until Friday, they did engage in national telemarketing but are not responsible for the anonymous barrage of calling in recent months.
"People have been getting bogus phone calls from rogue elements" claiming to be National Auto Warranty Services or Dealer Services, said John O'Connor, a spokesman for the company. He said the "rogue" businesses are conducting a phishing scheme, using auto- warranty sales as an excuse to steal credit-card information.
National Auto Warranty Services people always identify themselves, he said, and they use "legitimate numbers that can be called back."
The company, which also sends out mailings, decided to halt its telemarketing operations Friday out of concern about the confusion, O'Connor said.
"There's no one company out there that we can point to," O'Connor said. "They lurk in the dark. There is no way to track them down. If there was, we'd like to put them out of business."
O'Connor would not comment on active lawsuits. He mentioned that National Auto Warranty Services is planning to change its name, but he would not discuss that further.
States, of the Tucson Better Business Bureau, said she doesn't know of any Southern Arizona consumers who actually bought the warranties, but has heard that the products may be suspect.
In any case, consumers should never give payment information to warranty salespeople without seeing something in writing, she said. "If you agree to purchase an auto warranty over the telephone, you really have no idea what you're agreeing to," she said.
What to do
If you receive unwanted calls from telemarketers, here is what you can do:
• Get your phone number on the national Do Not Call list, www.donotcall.gov.
• Report the caller to the Federal Trade Commission, at www.ftccomplaint assistant.gov.
• Contact the Arizona Attorney General's Office at 1-800-352-8431.
• Visit www.ftc.gov for more information about telemarketers and warranty sales.