Top 10 consumer complaints include debt, warranty scams

By The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS — If only there was a warranty against getting scammed.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox is warning residents to be careful of deceptive marketing campaigns for overpriced extended car warranties or offers to lower credit card or loan debts.

The warranties usually offer little additional coverage while the debt reduction is often a ploy to obtain information that can be used to steal identities.

Both the AG’s office and The Better Business Bureau in Western Michigan report a spike in complaints about misleading mailers or high-pressure telemarketing calls claiming their auto warranty was about to expire.

“They just show up whether you bought a new car or not, in hopes of catching people who are not paying attention to what is going on,” said Ken Vander Meeden, bureau president.

“It’s a solicitation, not against the law but it’s unethical.”

The rapidly growing scams were of the part of the Attorney General’s annual list of Top 10 Consumer Complaints of 2008.

The list was compiled from more than 19,000 written complaints and 83,700 calls to the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division last year.

Credit and financial concerns topped the list for the seventh year in a row.

Also high on the lists were complaints about gas price gouging, telemarketing, pricing errors and fraudulent e-mail solicitations.In 2008, complaints to the BBB of Western Michigan shot up 14 percent while inquiries fell 29 percent.

The latter is a sign people are doing their homework on a business, said Vander Meeden, adding the Web site now uses letter grades to rate businesses.