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Federal Judge Shuts Down Car Warranty Robocallers

consumerist.com — "Oh hell no!" Federal District Judge John F. Grady told a marauding group of car warranty robocallers who managed to annoy pretty much everyone over the past few months. The judge slapped two Florida companies with an immediate restraining order and froze their assets, which should be enough to finally end those maddening robocalls.

Who dugg this? Made popular May 17, 2009

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  • faskippy, on 05/16/2009, -1/+103Why bother getting on the do not call list, if a bunch of disrespectful idiots are just going to do what the hell they want to anyway? They ought to charge those asses 1 count for each and every person they called that had requested not to be disturbed.
  • 2Six119, on 09/10/2009, -1/+74If I ever meet Judge John F. Grady, I'm gonna buy him an ice cream
  • franklymister, on 05/16/2009, -1/+64Here's the CEO of the scam company: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/christopher-d-cowart/6 ...

    These con artists even have a legitimate-looking website: http://www.tawarranty.com/contact_us.php

    I hope they end up in federal prison.
  • TheBigBad, on 05/17/2009, -3/+48The warranty on my car just expired. What the hell am I supposed to do now?
  • Megalomatthew, on 05/17/2009, -1/+42***** FINALLY! That Judge deserves a medal!
  • Wrathernaut, on 05/17/2009, -0/+41Christopher D. Cowart =
    Chris The Coward

    That's got to be a joke, or the best coincidence all year.
  • scottydawg, on 05/17/2009, -1/+41The warranty on my car expired 18 years ago.... yet they kept calling.
  • kahoona1, on 05/17/2009, -1/+38I think the worst calls are the ones where they call you and put you on hold...like wtf?
  • Metalcard, on 05/17/2009, -0/+34Heh, I dont even own a car and I would get a few calls a week from these people. Glad to see its being stopped. Now, if only they would stop the one telling me, "Its the perfect time to refinance my house" I'd be ecstatic. I rent by the way.
  • jedicor, on 05/17/2009, -1/+32There actually used to be a very nasty scam by a company called onHold that did this. Except that they actually signed you up for their service with your approval. It went something like this:

    *ring*
    <You> Hello?
    <Sales Rep> Hi, my name is Lisa. I'm calling to see if you'd be interested in signing up for On-oh. (she muffles the phone a second, then comes back)..sorry about that. As I was saying. OnHold. Do you mind if I put you onHold?
    <You> Yeah, whatever, lady. (click)

    You just signed up for her service. A local judge reamed them a new ***** for it.
  • lovestospooge, on 05/17/2009, -0/+29Federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison?
  • melophobia07, on 05/17/2009, -2/+30THE FACTORY WARRANTY ON MY VEHICLE ISN'T EXPIRED DAMNIT!
  • Khast, on 05/17/2009, -1/+25Hello, we are calling to let you know that your manufacturer's warranty on your 1978 Ford Fairmont is about to expire....

    Dear warranty sales people;

    I know times are hard, but none of the vehicles I have ever owned were under manufacturer's warranty when I bought it...calling me up and telling me that my warranty is about to expire is my #1 tip off that you guys are full *****.
  • michelspc, on 05/17/2009, -0/+22If I ever meet Judge John F. Grady, I'm gonna buy him ice cream, a prostitute, and a beer.
  • Ja50n, on 05/17/2009, -1/+23i don't even have a car and they called me constantly...
  • pintomp3, on 05/17/2009, -2/+23Why is the judge interfering with the free market?
    /s
  • rnawky, on 05/17/2009, -3/+22Because if you're on the do not call list and a company calls you, you can file a complaint.
  • troyallen069, on 05/17/2009, -0/+18My answering machine has like 20 calls from them already and I'm on the no call list too
  • asgardshill, on 05/17/2009, -0/+18I just told them that I would be happy to take out their extended warranty product on my '68 Dodge Dart. For some odd reason, they never called again.
  • IntruderII, on 05/17/2009, -0/+16The situation is much more complex than it appears.

    I know for a fact AutoOneWarranty is one company a part of this, and they hired a proxy in Canada to do their robo-calls so they can claim they aren't responsible.

    The big-dogs in this national scam planned their escape route a long, long time ago. The only people the legal system will likely catch are scapegoats, though I hope I'm wrong.
  • STARTSOMETHING, on 05/17/2009, -0/+16If I ever meet Judge John F. Grady, I'm gonna buy him a beer.
  • tgc1, on 05/17/2009, -0/+16Nuke them from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
  • hagiaso, on 05/17/2009, -0/+15Don't worry. Hitting 2 did absolutely nothing.
  • FrequencyX, on 05/17/2009, -1/+16f I ever meet Judge John F. Grady, I'm gonna buy him an prostitute.
  • angrygoatee, on 05/17/2009, -1/+16FINALLY! Get'm JFG!
  • Dotcommer, on 05/17/2009, -1/+15CONTACT THEM! Spam the ***** out of them! DDoS Attack them! Something! Make them pay god damnit.
  • inactive, on 05/17/2009, -1/+15Kill it, kill it with fire!!
  • psyberjay, on 05/17/2009, -0/+13Is this the one that goes "This is the second notice that the factory warranty on your vehicle's expired...."
    Glad to hear they shut them down.. they were annoying as hell...
  • SoCalCove, on 05/17/2009, -0/+13Finally something is being done on this. My work's nextels kept getting called by this, it was a pain the as# when you cant tell if it was a critical work related call when you were relaxing at home, only to find it was one of those stupid robocalls.

    And if my work's mobile phones were called, I can imagine the lines from other works getting tied up on this junk. Wonder if the police departments and fire departments got these as well.
  • SaladCactusKing, on 05/17/2009, -0/+13They called me every day and at one point i went to the operator and said "I don't have a car, so my warranty can't expire" and then they called again a half hour later.
  • theghoul, on 05/17/2009, -0/+13Awesome. Now could they do something about the "Credit Card Services" lower rate scammers?

    * They ignore the Do Not Call list
    * Its a robo-call that starts off "There may be a problem with your credit card"
    * They spoof caller ID
    * There is no fricken way to opt out.

  • codyman, on 05/17/2009, -1/+12And I thought Best Buy constantly nagged you about getting an extended warranty but these guys seem to take the trophy on the nagging
  • Cainsable, on 05/17/2009, -0/+11I always pretend to be interested and waste as much of their time as I can. They get really pissed off once they realize you are pulling their leg. I have to say I really enjoy it. I guess I am just immature, at least that is what one of them told me. ;) Oh well.
  • drivin98, on 05/17/2009, -0/+11Damn, his number's unlisted. I really, REALLY wanted to return the favor.
  • inactive, on 05/17/2009, -0/+10those idiots called my fax line: over and over and over.

    They deserved the ear-splitting scream of my fax machine
  • velveetaavenger, on 05/17/2009, -0/+9I was told that the factory warranty on my '76 Maverick "may" have expired...
  • inactive, on 05/17/2009, -0/+9Maby they can do something about the fire dept., fraternal order of police, religious zealots, political parties, and charities next.
  • takemo, on 05/17/2009, -0/+9A couple of times, I tried to get the person on the other end to listen to my plea for them to stop calling, but they always hung up the moment they realized what I was about to say.

    As if I was wasting THEIR ***** time.

    I expect a machine dialing numbers to be annoying, but the operators there must be the biggest ***** on the plant.
  • Entroper, on 05/17/2009, -0/+9If I ever meet Judge John F. Grady, I probably won't recognize him.
  • o76923, on 05/17/2009, -2/+10Because the do not call list has a million exceptions. Non-profits, political organizations, and anybody you gave your information to can call you. So, its not really a do not call list as much as it is a placate the public list.
  • Maddoktor2, on 05/17/2009, -0/+8Hah! The same thing worked for me with my '87 Chevy Astro.
    When she said, "I'm sorry, but that vehicle is too old.", I asked, "What about my '89 Crown Victoria?"
    She hung up. Can't imagine why...
  • proto, on 05/17/2009, -0/+8Anyone remember this story from 2005?

    'Russia's Biggest Spammer Brutally Murdered'

    'Vardan Kushnir, a notorious russian spammer . . . was found dead
    in his Moscow apartment on Sunday . . . He died after suffering repeated
    blows to the head.'
  • takemo, on 05/17/2009, -0/+8No. It doesn't. Seriously.
  • WallyAnti, on 05/17/2009, -0/+8This is simply war-dialing/port scanning applied to human brains. They were simply scanning for vulnerable ports(simple brains) who would be gullible enough to fall for their blatant FRAUD game. The fact that they got away with it for a week makes me question the competence and integrity of our justice system.

    I think the time has come for us to re-evaluate what we will legally tolerate from advertisers. They should be publicly humiliated stockade style whereby I can kick them in the nuts every time I feel like one of their ilk is trying to ***** me. Perhaps an unintentional vasectomy would result thereby taking this type of trait out of the gene pool.
  • fafaforza, on 05/17/2009, -0/+8Two _Florida_ companies? Really? Why does it seem that all the scam artists are based in FL? I think any company that is based there should be automatically investigated. That right there is starting to become the biggest red flag for fraud.
  • blumer, on 05/17/2009, -0/+8If I ever end up in front of Judge John F. Grady, it'll probably be because of an incident involving ice cream, a prostitute, and a beer.
  • dxprog, on 05/17/2009, -0/+8I always found these calls mildly entertaining. You see, I don't have a car.
  • diggadigga, on 05/17/2009, -0/+7They ***** disturb my sleep. Every time I request for them not to call me again and they do. This is a ***** scam. They people should be in prison for years.
  • whateverHeSaid, on 05/17/2009, -0/+7Named in the restraining orders are:

    Christopher D. Cowart, the owner of Transcontinental
    James and Maureen Dunne, the owners of Voice Touch
    Damian Kohlfeld, an owner of Network Foundations

    I'm sure these folks would all appreciate a call right now wishing them all the best. Perhaps around dinner time?
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