The Penn Warranty Corporation
Complaint 126359 Details

Hi. My name is Kimberly, I am a single mom of three beautiful kids. I am currently dealing with a huge hassle with a fraudulent warranty company and am hoping you can help not only myself, but also prevent others from having to go through the same thing as I am.

I purchased a used car on February 19, 2011. I purchased a 36 month “Gold Contract-Fully Insured-Unlimited Mileage” warranty for $1495.00. The warranty company, THE PENN WARRANTY CORPORATION, has been nothing but fraudulent and as of today, I am still without a car going on three weeks!

The first incident happened on April 04,12. The window motor on my rear passenger window went. When I called the warranty company to find out how to go about getting it fixed they said just take it to a certified mechanic with a copy of the warranty and they would cover it. Well apparently the motor is covered, but the regulator was not. Lucky for me it is one unit in my car. But no, because they only cover the motor they would only make a partial reimbursement payment AND because they found a part cheaper somewhere else they would only cover THAT amount (never telling me this was a condition!). So out of $228.92 and my $100 deductible they only initially covered $45 for a part that was said to be covered in my warranty. I tried to complain to the dispute dept. but they don’t talk to you, they send you a form. All said and done they ended up sending me $119 dollars to make it right, but this is just a small example.

June 5th, 2012 my transmission went, leaving me stranded in Lakewood Ohio, an hour away from home. I contacted the warranty company and asked what I had to do to make sure they cover the whole repair, knowing what drama it was to get a window repair partially covered. Heather, a rep from Penn Warranty Corp., said to take it to a certified mechanic and as long as I let the warranty company find the used transmission for the repair shop everything will be covered. This of course is not written in the contract. It states they will pay up to $2500 with $100 deductible.
I had it towed to Ganley Ford. Towing was $60, and a diagnostic was $120. They agreed to use the transmission that the warranty company finds and I think all is going to be ok. I get a call from Ganley the next day saying they found this used junkyard tranny with 106,000 mi. and it was going to cost me an ADDITIONAL $800 to have it finished?! I call the warranty company and cannot understand why this is happening, all I should have is a $100 deductible. They said labor costs too high, and a bunch of bad noise how certain things are and are not covered. In my warranty it says it covers, “Case and all internal parts…”
At this point, my father gets involved and we spend days back and forth with the warranty company, and Ganley and finally the warranty company recommends we take it all the way down to Jim and Sons Transmission in Cuyahoga Falls. So I had to pay the $180 just to get the warranty claim transferred. So here we are $200 in the hole, and still no repairs and no car. Jim and Sons gets the car and there is a $176 diagnostic testing, and $450 tear down which the warranty company requires but says they won’t pay? Jims says they will work with me. Warranty company still only trying to pay $900 on a used job all said and done, leaving me with nearly $500 more on top of the other things they say they won’t cover. I still have to pay and my $100 deductible. So, I get a lawyer. He goes over my warranty and has been fighting for this to be covered based on the fact the warranty says it should be. The used transmission the warranty company provided has a cracked housing and Jims refuses to put it in. At this point we are over two weeks, no car, no repair, and no cooperation. The warranty company finds another transmission clear down in Cincinnati and expects Jims to go get it, not knowing if it’s another dud (for $440? It probably is!) And there is a $50 core charge and $150 fee to pick it up and of course, Warranty Company won’t pay for either of those. So Jims says this is stupid, we found a good used transmission in Akron for $800. Warranty refuses to cover more than $600. They also say they cover up to 5 hours of labor when this is clearly a longer job than that, and won’t cover the full $75 an hour labor cost that is allotted in my warranty. Labor is $88 at Jims. Why did they recommend them if they wouldn’t cover the labor there and parts needed when in the warranty it states, “”cost” means the reasonable and customary charges for parts and labor necessary to repair or replace the parts covered…” I am at my wits end. Here I am a single mom, I do not receive child support, I do not live off the government, and if it weren’t for my father lending me his car, I would have been without a car for going on three weeks now. And the best part, in the warranty they claim to have rental car included but after rereading that part, for this three week period they would only have covered $25 on a rental. Thank god for my wonderful father! But what about all the people not fortunate enough to have a father like mine? Now this is where I am at, my lawyer said it seems we are going to have to come up with the money for the repair and sue just to get what we paid for, a warranty to cover what it claimed it did. How many people have almost $2000 laying around to wait and hope for reimbursement? I am so frustrated and don’t know what to do next!