US Fidelis review: Rip Off 127

The facts are this when it comes to us fidelis, they have had some trouble in the beginning just like with any insurance company.When you call the BBB all they tell you is the complaints not how many people have signed up with us fidelis which has been aroun for 5 1/2 years and in the time they have to this date only 12 unresolved issues with the BBB.The BBB only gives you bad things on any one, call them up and ask about Wal-Mart you would be shocked by their answer. The fact is us fidelis is an insurance broker they sell warranties for other companies just like geico or progressive and i have personally looked into the companies that accually deal with the warranty and every one of these warranty companies have an A or better rating with the BBB, and they are backed by A+ insurance companies. So in short i am not disputing the fact that this lady at the top might have been screwed over (she might have or might not have) but saying that this company is a SCAM is completely out of proportion, Look people it is an INSURANCE company so of course they are gonna get a lot of guff from people and they were the FIRST warranty company to go on the television so of course people are going to say its a bad thing.Look all I'm saying is that you should not listen to what everyone says to you you should make your on assesment on this and go from there.

Check this article out from the St. Louis Post Dispatch. These people are totally scamming the public.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/8DFA55008D06B2888625759D00078E30?OpenDocument

To be quite honest, they shouldnt even offer coverage on all your piece of ### cars...early 1990s with 200k on them..be happy that they will even offer coverage for you..

I am completely satisfied with my warranty with US Fidelis. I have had two claims since purchasing this warranty a year ago and both of them have been paid in full. The repairs were over $2, 000. So, it's easy for people to jump on the bandwagon and complain, but it's really just a bunch of people blowing smoke up each other's skirts because they have nothing better to do with themselves. Don't knock it, if you haven't tried it.

The founder of this company is currently constructing a 20, ooo square foot mansion in st. charles, mo read it and weep

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/8DFA55008D06B2888625759D00078E30?OpenDocument

I purchased a warrantee for 2, 500.00 when I took my car in for a waterpump I was denied, I said OK refund my $ . At first they said no problem, then later came back and said, No we are not going to cover you or refund you, I guess the next step is court Hope fully I will be able to file in my home state of California. I am open to sugesstions

Dan
The California State insurance commioner is Steve Poizner: I would suggest starting there as well as the BBB in the state of CA.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/8DFA55008D06B2888625759D00078E30?OpenDocument

Thank You

And by the way, the car is a 2005 Cadillic escalade with 50k miles

dan
contact chris riley he is the companies New CEO said on the local news he was willing to talk to all unsatisfied customers...US Fidelis is all over the news in missouri right now for their unethical business tactics. I hope you fight for what is yours...they will give you the runaround but don't give in...

I just signed up with this company and am now reading these responses. I was told that I could get the Power Train Plus (5 yr coverage or an additional 100, 000 miles). I have a 95 Mercedes SL500 with 68, 525 miles. I was told I would have a $0 deductible, 24 hrs road side assistance, free tow and a rental car if necessary. They quoted me $595/yr x 5 yrs with $295 down. I was told that this plan is transferable to another buyer should I sell it in the future and that they would pro-rate the money I pre-spent with them and credit it back to me.

I asked a TON of questions and was told the following:
*Don't file within the first 60 days b/c they will not pay for it. After that, go crazy and file as much as you want. The 60 day period to to prove that the car is actually in working condition since they do not require proof of the current condition of the car or the exact odometer reading.
*It does not cover anything rubber such as tires, windshield wipers and breakpads.
*Does not cover oil changes
*Everything I was quoted will apply any where in the U.S.A.

I was told that it DOES cover everything else including transmission, engine, compressor, condensor, timing belt, A/C, etc. Or, as they put it "all of the expensive things" and that I could go to any mechanic of my choice for the repairs as long as the mechanic is "ASE approved"

I was told that everything is 100% refundable and that if I chose to not continue with the extended warranty, then they would credit me for the down payment and any other money I gave them. I was given a confirmation number and was told that I would receive an extended warranty card in the mail within about 7 days. ...I was also told that they have over 6 million customers and have been in business for about 30 years...and that they have a 99.6% satisfactory rating.

I finally asked him how the company makes money b/c it sounds too good to be true and he said that out of everyone who signs up, about 24% of the people never or hardly ever file, so 24% of 6 million people x about $2, 000 per policy= A LOT OF MONEY.

The person who I spoke to was named "TIM". He was nice, not pushy-----but I AM FEELING A LITTLE LEARY NOW THAT I HAVE READ EVERYONES COMPLAINTS. I GUESS I WILL JUST HAVE TO WAIT TO SEE IF I GET BURNED AND THEN TRY TO CANCEL THE POLICY AND RECOUP MY MONEY.

The founder of this company went to federal prison 19 years for counterfeiting and other crimes. He is from a small town in Garden City Kansas and there is a big article out there about Darain and Corey and Robert etc that tells about the earlier cromes. Big losers, always were

I have gotten letters and phone calls telling me my car warranty is about to expire and that I need to take action. I drive a 1990 Pontiac Bonneville...they're about 15 years late!

If I had one of the US Fidelis contracts…”I WOULD STOP PAYING THEM.”

I cannot believe how stupid I was to buy this warranty... They are the biggest joke and scam ever. I bought the warranty in October 2008 for My 2000 Toyota Celica GTS. Recently my car started having transmission problems, I went to the nearest Toyota dealership and they said they didn't have anyone that could tear apart the transmission (I live in a small town in Vermont, the Toyota was 30 min away in a not much bigger town) Toyota sent me to another place that specialized in transmissions, but they didn't want to work with a warranty since they only had one lift. By that point I was fed up and decided I wanted to cancel the warranty. When I called they told me I could use one of their repair facilities, which was not realistic considering how far away I would have to go, it would take more to get my car to one of their places than to just buy a transmission and do it myself. The lady said "let me talk to my manager" and told me she could bring my payments down from $125 a month to $72 by giving me a $400 discount. I agreed since I had some hope in finding someone to do my transmission. Well, I finally found one and they had to fight on the phone with US Fedelis for over 4 hours, and then to find out they want 5 proofs that I have changed the oil corresponding with how many miles I'd put on since I bought the warranty. I put synthetic in my car which allows me to go 5, 000-7, 000 miles instead of 3, 000 on normal oil so I did not have 5 proofs. Either my boyfriend changes the oil or I get it done in town, and we did have slips showing my oil had been changed but they were hand written by the local mechanic, nobody ever gets a print out. US Fedelis said they have to be computer generated. My mechanic told US Fedelis that the transmission has nothing to do with oil, oil has to do with the engine but they didn't care. The part that was gone in my transmission were the syncrows, a covered part, but I had to pay for the guy who tore the transmission apart because I didn't have the proof. I called to cancel immediately and they told me I wouldn't get my money back, and tried to lower my payments to $58 by giving me another $250 off! The guy on the phone said he was basically mathcing what I owed, I said I didn't car I wanted to cancel and that no more of my money would be going to them. I am a 20 year old college student who cannot afford to lose all this money, so I wrote to BBB and they are helping me but I wish I had looked at their "F" score and all the crap they put people through. DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY

THERE IS A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST US FIDELIS, SO IF YOU HAVE ANY COMPLAINTS, JUMP INTO THE CLASS ACTION SUIT! GOOD LUCK. GLAD I DID MY RESEARCH, BECAUSE I ALMOST PURCHASED ON OF THEIR PLANS.

I just canceled my US Fidelis and I am sure glad I did...I got this one week ago for an additional 60, 000 miles on my van 150.00 down---100.18 a month for 24 months...bumper to bumper, oild changes, breaks, thinsgs like that are my responsibility...no prob..Well today april 27, 09 they called and said the underwriters said I could only have it for 45, 000 miles, cause it was over 79, 000...TOLD THEM TO CANCEL...CHRISTAINS---LIERS___it appears I am a christian and thats what caught my intrest...well people its all a LIE! BIG LIE! stay away...

they are not christians...

Everyone who buys a warranty from US Fidelis is a ###. If you think i am being unreasonable, but one from them. They arte the worst company on the market right now. Forty atterney generals are suing them allready, and they will not be in business for long. The ower of the company is building a 17 million dollar house. It has indoor bowling, indoor pool, Etc... But most people who buy a Warranty from them are screwed. Either way, if you buy something from anyone without seeing the contract first, you are a ###. If you think that this world if full of people who want to help you, you are mistaken. This world is full of people making money of your stupidity. Read the contract before you buy, and if your contract is not what you paid for, cancel through your credit card company. Then call the atterney general in your state.

I called them to get information on their warranties. What he quoted me was way beyond my ability to pay. When I told him this I started to get the old strong arm treatment. My radar kicked into overdrive and I told them I was no longer interested. He acctually started to argue with me. Told me if I disconnected the call the offer he made me would not be repeated. I said "Fine by me." And hung up. A week later he called me back with the same offer. These guys are liars. And from I'm reading, crooks.

There are always two sides to a story. If the company provides proof that over 20 million dollars were paid out in 2008, obviously there are people who are not unhappy with the purchase they made from the company. But who wants to hear anything positive? Who bothers to go online to report good things? Is there a board for "good buys" and not just "rip offs"? Please remember when reading all these comments, most of these people only called in and never actually bought the coverage. Happy people rarely take the time to report on how happy they are. . . about anything! When was the last time you took the time to go to a blog and report something positive? If you have, then that's great. But in all reality, most people do not. When they do, people say they are liars and accuse them of being employees.

I once reported a complaint to the BBB on a dvd rental company that deducted over $300 from my debit card in one month (about 12 different charges on 12 different days)! I had rented only 4 movies from their "dispenser" at $1 a piece. I tried calling that company many times, emailing them, etc. with no response. I tried to dispute the charges, but found out that b/c the funds were already gone, I would have to take it up with the company. I couldn't reach the company, so a friend suggested I should file a complaint with the BBB. I filed a complaint, and again, no response. I thought maybe my complaint didn't go through, so I filed another complaint. They finally replied and would only refund $25 of my money. I asked them to provide records of how I could possibly owe over $300 on 4 movies that had been returned. They would not provide me with anything. The BBB closed the case b/c they felt it had been settled. So, I filed another dispute. I wasn't going to give up. Then I filed another and another and then again another. I was really surprised that the BBB would let me file the same complaint over and over. As a matter of fact, I would just copy and paste all the info into the subject box. I used all the same info, with the same email, phone #, etc. I never got my money back and I was never given a reason why my debit card was charged on 12 diferent days for a total of about $300, nor was I given proof of the charges. The point to this story is. . . the BBB has absolutley no control over the complaints. They do not require you to even be a customer of that company. You can go to the BBB today and file a complaint against any company you want, even if you are not a customer. . . even if you have never even heard of the company! You don't have to proove that you are using accurate info, you don't have to proove anything at all! You can file the same complaint 500 times if you want. After my experience with the BBB, I have no faith in using them as a reliable source. If you take the time to look at the complaints against US Fidelis, there are a very small amout of complaints saying they did not pay out claims. Many of the complaints are about phone calls (US Fidelis does not call customers. If you are receiving calls through an automated dialer, it's not US Fidelis. There are many other warranty companies out there), junk mail that people didn't like, etc. I get offers everyday in the mail to refinance my home, buy a new car, etc. They are all very misleading. . . I guess I should file a complaint with the BBB. I get calls everyday from companies trying to get me to consolidate my credit card debt and I don't even have any cc debt. . . maybe I should file a complaint. I didn't like the misleading advertisement by a big franchised furniture company stating that if you buy $500 in furniture, that you will get $500 in groceries! It sounds awesome! However, you had to spend $100 in groceries every month and send in your receipts and then they would send you a $25 gift card each month for 20 months, but only if you mailed your grocery receipts in every month. AND, all the receipts had to be from the same participating grocery store. I guess I should have filed a complaint with the BBB! We can say that many things are misleading. To one reader, an ad can be very clear. To another reader, that same ad can be very misleading. It's just a real shame that the media is so focused on the handful of unhappy customers and employees of this company and REFUSES to address any of the happy customers and employees. The today show was given a list of customers that had given their permission to be interviewed and comment on the purchase they made from the company, but the today show didn't want to hear from them. There were probably over 500 employees that would have loved to comment on and give their side of the story the day the Today show was at US Fidelis, but they didn't want to focus on that.

Those of you who only called the company for a quote and say you don't like pushy sales people. . . . did you file this same complaint on a board about the dealership you purchased your car from? No one ever complains about pushy car salesman. It's expected. No one complains when the dealership tries to be pushy and sell an extended warranty. . . . which are backed by the exact same companies that US Fidelis uses. Sears home improvement uses the pushiest sales people around! Just call them for a free quote on new counter tops or cabinets. . . you haven't even seen pushy!

I will admit, US Fidelis has had some pushy sales tactics. The truth is, when someone sees the commercials for the first time, they call for info and out of curiousity. They then decide they don't want the coverage. A month or two later, something happens with the car and they now want a warranty. They call back, say everything is good on the car and buy the warranty. They drive around for 30 days and 1000 miles (this is a standard grace period before you are able to file a claim) and on day 32, they file a claim. The claim is denied b/c the mechanic believes it to be pre-existing. Mechanics know the difference between a car that has been overheating for 1 day or for 30 days. The claim gets denied and then the customer is furious and files complaints with the BBB and attorney general. This happens every single day. If you buy a warranty and your car is running just fine and you keep your receipts from your oil changes and maintenance records, you will never have an issue. This is no lie. This is why that over 20 million dollars in claims were paid out last year. If they did not pay claims, how could this be possible? The company has over 270, 000 customers. Only 895 complaints have been filed in the last 36 months. According to the BBB, this is an "F" rating. In reality, even if all of those complaints were from actual customers, that would be less than 0.25% of the customers. However, many of those complaints are not from people who have ever purchased anything at all from the company.

If you are interested in buying a warranty, do some actual research and find actual facts. Not every car will qualify for bumper to bumper. Ask questions about what is covered and what is not. No one will lie to you. You will put a down payment down and then have 30 days to look it over! Read it through. If you don't like it, call back and ask more questions. If you don't want it, be firm. Remember, everything is negotiable! Did you walk into the dealership when you bought your car and pay the price on the window? I hope not! When you were walking away, did the salesman offer you a better price? Probably. Same thing with warranties. Even if you buy a warranty from the dealer, the price is negotiable. . . . the car salesman make profit on the warranties as well as the cars! Don't take the first price you are given on anything. You can negotiate pricing on just about anything from anywhere! Furniture, appliances, cars, home improvement, warranties. . . .

All these people that say how great usf is.
If their so satisfied why would they be posting(looking) on these boards?
And so aggressively?
Because their usf employees.

It's unfortunate that more satisfied customers like "Warranty Facts" and myself do not post onto these review boards more often. I think the public deserves to get a more well-rounded view of customer experiences with US Fidelis. Most people's complaints are with the pushy sales tactics, but that is a way of business, perfectly legal, and I guess it must be the most successful sales method that they have since they keep using it. If you see through the sales tactics, and you purchase the warranty, you will be happy to find that after the 60 day wait period, they have come through on all claims that I have placed. Their tactics in the past may have been a little pushy, but now that their new CEO has taken over, US Fidelis has been very professional.

I feel your frustration, particularly in this scenario when the terms have not been carefully made clear to the you.

I called USFidelis to get a quote and the person who helped me was very helpful...not pushy at all. The reason I considered them because a friend of mine has a warranty with them and has been pretty happy with their service.

Well... Let's put away the "Warranty Facts" for a few minutes... Let's look at the owner & founder!

He is a convicted FELON who has served time in prison for theft, burglary, check-forgery and counterfeiting! Now... Do YOU want to buy ANYTHING from someone like that? Okay... You STILL do? Look at all the complaints that CONTINUE to roll in even after the new CEO is in place. MSNBC has declared them as a rip-off as well as other news magazines. (Not just Internet forums!)

See below!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/30364192#30364192

LMAO All the people that have psoted ANYTHING positive about US Fidelis are from the general location that the companies home is. If the poster has a positive thing to say about them and is from St. Louis, St. Charles, St. Peters, O' Fallon, Wentzville or Lake St. Louis, it is probably either someone who works for them or the crooks that own the place...nice try loosers!

If you pay for something, you must get something in return. It's the law. Otherwise it's a scam. In USF's case, you are purchasing a contract. You get your contract in the mail...after you've paid the down payment. You got what you paid for...a piece of paper, not what's written on it. You bought a blank piece of paper. I can get a ream at my local stationery store for about 4 bucks.

Do these sales people say "You are purchasing a contract that says you have coverage for 'five years or 50, 000 miles' for only $250 a year"? The magic words here are "that says". You can buy anything that says anything.

It's the same as saying, "You are purchasing a contract that says you are helping build the Atkinson's 20, 000 sq. ft. mansion and you get nothing in return".

You're purchasing a contract. They're providing the goods because it says "Contract" at the top. Do you get where I'm going with this?

I totally agree i just had a experience with them and they are liars they dont do what was told to you by the salesperson all i want is my money back and i'll be find. Dont buy into the BULL

Rusty Wallace has sold his soul to the devil by being the front man for this company. I have had the most unpleasant experience with this company's "customer service." If you call them they apparently store your number from caller id and will relentlessly hound you just to get you to send anything from you. They started with asking for a couple of grand up front to finally just asking me to send a hundred bucks or so. I kept being passed from a sales agent to a manager to someone else, each being able to make an exception for me. How nice. But when I read cites like this one I chose not to throw my money away. So I politely said no thanks. This is a very unusual company and the oddity of the people I talked to at this company is something I hope I never have to confront again. I am contemplating changing my cell phone number so I can avoid their sales calls. They are the only telemarketer I have ever had on my cell phone and i have used a cell phone for 15 years. When I asked them to stop calling sometimes they would say ok and sometimes they simply said no. Needless to say they kept calling. When I told them i had registered with the "do not call registry" I was told "good luck with that." Normally I would say buyer be ware. But in this case just calling is dangerous.

http://www.bbb.org/stlouis/business-reviews/extended-warranty-contract-service-companies/u-s-fidelis-inc-in-wentzville-mo-310016763

BBB for US Fidelis.

To: "Warranty Facts"...you work for US Fidelis. I am sure you are one of the owners or in management. Blatantly obvious with all your scripted jargon.

HEY nicholasd---USF is being sued in a class action lawsuit. The Atkinson brother's were served a subpeona to appear in Jefferson City *state capital* to show records to the State Insurance commisioner; they accidently forgot to show up. 90 percent of our nations state attorneys general are investigating them *40 out of 50 states*, I could go on and on and on. They are CON ARTISTS. The owner is an EX CON who did time in the federal pokey for counterfeiting among other things. He just found another way to con now. Hides behind the Element church who so conveniently happens to "RENT" space from their building.

EVERYONE PLEASE READ THIS...go to stltoday.com and do a search on US Fidelis. This is the St. Louis Post Dispatch news website. When you are done there, go to www.ksdk.com and search for US Fidelis and www.kmov.com and search. These are two TV networks in the St. Louis area. US Fidelis is about 30 minutes from St. Louis. Be sure to look at the raw footage on the tv station that has a helicopter flying over Darain Atkinsons mansion which has a price tag of 17 million but probably at 30 million when finished. Complete with an underground passageway; what in the world? To hide all his money? another counterfeiting operation?

Ray...just wait until file a claim. You will see what we are all talking about.

I ordered a contract this morning... but then I saw the [redacted]s and the BBB rating of F! I called back immediately to cancel and kept being put on hold. I've spent over an hour on the phone and still haven't gotten it cancelled. What a scam! They spent the first 20 minutes trying to talk through the bad reports and ratings, but I told them I just wanted to cancel. Then they said I had to talk to the account resolution department, I spent 30 min. on hold and then got a recording that there were 47 customers ahead of me. Oh my gosh! So, I called back and demanded to talk with a manager... I've been on hold for over 20 minutes, still no one there to talk to me. I'm not giving up and I'll be sharing my story with everyone I can.

Ummm...wow! I wish my husband and I would have done research before we bought the extended warranty through US Fidelis for our 2002 Jaguar. My husband purchased this for me December 2008 since he was deploying to Iraq and knew that I would need some kind of warranty for my car. The down payment was $195 and they promised not to take it out until Jan 1, 2009. Well, they took it out right away. My husband called them and raised hell and they refunded the money and also told us we would not have to pay any kind of deposit whenever we needed to file a claim. They took the $195 out on the 1st like they had originally promised. We've been paying $126.61 for the past 6 months and I just had to use the warranty for the first time this week for my alternator. They came through on their word and I didn't have to pay a deposit and they covered $450 of the $585 job. The rest I had to pay out of pocket because the repair shop I went to only used their brand of alternators and US Fidelis found a cheaper one...so I had to pay the difference...not bad, I don't think.

I don't remember how much our warranty is...I know it's $2, 000+..I'll have to ask my husband. I really, really hope they don't try to screw us out of anything else like everyone else has posted about. **keeping my fingers crossed**

They never pay the full amount. They always "say" they found one cheaper. That is part of their scam. You are lucky they paid what they did. Most times they find a way to get out of paying their claims. I saw it happen too much. I used to work there.

Obviously, the person who made the original posting is going to be PRO company as they are most likely a management person whose paid big money. Or in public relations, hired to make positive comments throughout websites like these. Many times they will pose as customers of USF. Again, I know; I used to work there.

In my last post I did not mean to say the "ORIGINAL" poster was USF.

I am referring to people like RAY and others who are fully satisfied and those who are claiming tha US Fidelis pays 100% after the deductable. I am sorry for my mistake.

You can purchase these warranties directly from the manufacturer at 1/3 of the cost. When you are purchasing from US Fidelis you are paying them BIG money just for them selling it to you. USF will take you to the cleaners! Again, I used to work there. Saw it first hand.

If they rip people off so bad then why are they still in business? why doesn't the govt. step in and shut them down? I think the govt. should be there to stop folks from scamming us to death. but guess what, we pay 40% income tax to them yet they don't provide us with that protection, makes you think huh? businesses should be regulated by the government once complaints are made of foul play and failure to meet contractual requirements. Example: Comcast.

I called them today to get a quote, man the guy was pushy.. I told him I was just interested in a quote and wanted to know how much it costs, he told me for a 2000 nissan sentra, 171K miles he could give me a 5 yr or 100K miles for $2595 or $519 per year. So what does it cover, well he was very sketchy with these details, powertrain, water pump, alternator, a/c... well let me see, I would need $519 in repairs a year. If that was the case, I would be getting rid of the car ! Then I wanted to see how much for another car, the guy would not let up on the first car! I explained I just wanted information, how about this other car... Finally after the guy would not listen to me, I said thank you for your time, good bye and I hung up ! And this company is a NASCAR sponsor ! The driver should crash the cars so it cost the sponsor more money !