Beware of Extended Warranties & Customer Service

While most people have no doubt experienced adverse interaction with customer service, what follows is a combination of unusually poor service along with a warning about extended warranties.

Prior to October of 2017, I'd never purchased an extended warranty for anything nor considered it. In that month and year, I purchased a 2-year old Hyundai Genesis coming off a lease. I opted for the extended warranty on this vehicle due to a previous experience with a center console screen failure on another vehicle. Failure of that console screen compromises the vehicle to some degree and the warranty price was roughly the cost of replacing the screen. The warranty purchased was Hyundai's CPO Platinum plan that covers practically everything.

In October of 2022, the vehicle started pulling violently to the right upon application of brakes above a certain speed, clearly a safety issue. Also, the passenger side rear speaker experienced a crackling sound, the front parking sensors would go off when I was stationary and the center console screen occasionally froze. More details follow in the timeline, though it took six (6) weeks to secure the appointment and there were contractual issues securing a loaner vehicle mandated in the CPO warranty. As I learned in the early stages of this ordeal, the extended warranty is not held by Hyundai but rather a third party, and this was the catalyst for a series of regrettable customer service failures (I'm being generous with the term "regrettable").  Warranty holders are at the mercy of these third parties, regardless of the servicing dealership's opinion.

In my case, the warranty company denied the 0bvious claim of the brakes and a problem with a rear speaker. The Timeline details the events from October 31, 2022 until 3/21/23  when I received my vehicle with all repairs completed. It's probably inaccurate to say all repairs completed since the warranty company denied the speaker claim. Keep in mind that the servicing dealership agreed with the necessary repairs for both brakes and speaker, yet were overruled.

At the conclusion of this ordeal, we have the following customer service breakdowns:

1. Warranty company refusing, multiple times, to honor the claim. Ultimately, they did agree to repair the brakes, though the Timeline will describe how we arrived at that point. The speaker was not repaired.

2. The local dealership service department was mostly uncommunicative throughout the process and would not return voice messages or emails. There were occasions, late in the process, where they were more communicative and flexible, though it was highly inconsistent throughout. They struggled also in their attempt to be a customer advocate with warranty company.

3. Hyundai North America customer service was a great mystery. They were engaged for over three (3) weeks, were initially unresponsive, and concluded that my claims were not covered under warranty — they thought I was claiming a regular/initial warranty when my case notes clearly stated otherwise. Then they tried to pass me off to another department and wanted me to start again. This was a catastrophic customer service failure and a complete waste of three weeks.

4. Hyundai North America CPO plan customer service was of no value even though they are the entity, at a national level, that is the contact for extended warranty plans. Surely Hyundai executives would be concerned about this.

On another note, I suspect my vehicle was likely outside throughout the entirety of the winter period (12/16/2022 - 3/21/2023) and not garaged as I would normally keep it.

As I noted to Hyundai and the local dealership, this regrettable event was a great opportunity to learn from customer service failures and review policies, yet I suspect there are no lessons learned. Consider also that Genesis is the premium brand for Hyundai and this episode is a classic case of brand destruction.  The lengthy periods where no one contacted me regarding status led me to conclude a total lack of care.  No one from the local Hyundai leadership (dealer) or on a national level ever followed up during or at the conclusion of this episode.

For the consumer, beware of these extended warranties since the company selling them may not be the one administering them and can well hold one hostage. In my case, there was a legitimate safety issue since, of course, brakes are important.

More details follow in the Timeline.

UPDATE 4/21/23: The parking sensor still goes off occasionally when stationary. The dealership contacted me after I filed a case with the MO Attorney General. Dealership insists the warranty product is Hyundai's and not a third party, yet cannot explain why neither the dealer nor Hyundai can make repair authorizations.

Timeline of Events

Oct 31 – called to secure appointment and was given a date 6 weeks into the future (Dec 16th).  During that call I requested a loaner vehicle anticipating a one or two-day repair interval.  I was informed that I could not be guaranteed a vehicle.  FYI – I have a CPO Wrap contract (Platinum) ensuring me a vehicle.

Over the next several weeks, I called several times about securing the loaner and could not be guaranteed a vehicle.  When I stated that I would be happy to drive a Nissan or any other vehicle, I was told Genesis CPO contracts require a Genesis loaner, which is why they could not guarantee it.

It was not until the week of the appointment that someone in dealer's cashier office agreed to secure a loaner.

Dec 16 – I arrived at dealership at 7am to drop off car and I was unable to leave until 8:15am.  It took 1 hr 15 mins to drop off car and get a loaner, which was not a Genesis as prescribed and was a Hyundai Sonata.  Cashier was very helpful in the process though she was encumbered by the lack of clarity in vehicles available and the lack of a porter to bring car to me.  She had to walk me to the car personally.

Dec 16 (4pm) – received a call from Service Advisor confirming the issues I noted (Right Front Brake, Right Rear Speaker, Parking Sensor, Center Screen).  They denied any problems with parking sensor and center screen and acknowledged a problem with speaker.  He indicated that due to the cost of the Brake repair, the warranty company would have to send an adjuster to dealership and that would not be until the following week.  This is curious that Hyundai’s warranty company does not trust the judgement of their dealer network.  Service advisor, though admitting the brake caliper problem caused the brake pad to wear prematurely, offered to sell me a brake pad replacement.  When I asked why the warranty company would not handle that, he indicated it was not covered by the CPO and said he noted the same thing to warranty company.

Dec 19 (week of) - I called about the vehicle multiple times and left messages, since dealership did not call me to advise of status. I was informed that warranty company had not gotten back to the service advisor with repair approval.

Dec 26 (week of) - Called again multiple times and left messages (dealership did not call me) and was told the warranty company rejected repairs.  Service advisor said he requested warranty company return for another visit.

Jan 2 (week of) - No communication from dealership despite messages left for service advisor and service manager.

Jan 9 (week of) - After another call to dealership, I was informed by service advisor that warranty company guaranteed another adjuster would visit to inspect vehicle.  This was after voicemail left for both advisor and manager.

Jan 14 – Contacted Hyundai North America (HNA) and assigned case number (20855897). I sent very detailed case notes on issue and was specific this related to an extended warranty.

Jan 20 – Reply from HNA who assigned case to National Office. Agreed to work with local dealership.

Jan 26 – Reply from HNA that they left message. Called them and was unable to speak to my case manager. Left message.

Jan 27 – Reply from HNA that they left message. Called them and was unable to speak to my case manager. Left message.

Jan 31 – HNA said they tried contacting dealer and left voicemail for them. Asked if  if I had called the warranty company.  I questioned why I would be required to do that.  My relationship is not with them and candidly that is dealer's role, not mine.

Feb 3 – HNA left message asking me if vehicle had been repaired, instead of calling dealer themselves.

Feb 3 – replied to HNA that I did not have vehicle

Feb 7 – HNA sends message that they cannot reach dealership and have left multiple messages and emails and have sent notification to escalation team. I replied to email.

Feb 7 – contacted dealership owner (voicemail and email) who forwarded my email to service manager.  Service manager emailed me to relate that three inspectors visited and inspected the vehicle over the course of the previous 6-7 weeks and denied the failure of the caliper. Service manager said he would follow up with a "regional" manager.

Feb 8 – HNA acknowledges receipt of my email. HNA said the dealer service manager called to confirm they contacted me on 2/6 and that another agent from Hyundai Protection Plan has come to inspect vehicle.

Feb 8 – Dealer service manager called again and said that 3rd inspector agreed there was a problem with brake caliper, but the dealership wrote up the problem on the wrong side. He also reported that they could not replicate the static on the rear speaker and suspected there might be a loose connection causing problem.  He also asked if I knew how much time/miles I had left on CPO wrap warranty.

Service manager spent much of the conversation complaining about the agents/warranty company.

Feb 9 – Notified by HNA that my repair is not covered under Hyundai new vehicle limited warranty. (Vehicle not new and this was an extended warranty issue all along as detailed in my initial request on Jan 14). HNA requested I call another department instead of transferring case notes. Several interactions that day once again telling me I have no warranty coverage. I asked for escalation to supervisor which was denied. When I asked them to transfer my information (including my writeup) to correct department they said they could not do so.  Wanted me to start the process from step one with the “proper” department.  This led to my having to start over with a new department.

Feb 9 – spoke with dealer service manager who said they would replace brake caliper, replace brake pads and address the speaker issue.  Projected return of vehicle was targeted for middle of following week, approximately, Feb 15th.

Feb 9 – contacted Hyundai North America CPO (HNA-CPO) program to inform of problem w/dealer with detailed notes.

Feb 15-Feb 20 – no contact from dealer

Feb 21 – requested email update from service manager and dealer. No response.

Feb 22 – HNA-CPO responds. Indicated they’d take action with dealer by engaging District Manager.  They asked for VIN, which I gave the same day. They did not assign a case number and used the same case number as previous.

Feb 23 - requested email update from service manager and dealer. No response.

Feb 27 – requested email update from service manager and dealer with demand of notification of status by close of business day. No response.

Feb 28 - requested email update from service manager and dealer with demand of notification of status by close of business day.

Feb 28 – contacted HNA-CPO for an update. No response

Feb 28 – dealer notified vehicle ready. No customer service contact to apologize for lengthy interval. Brake pads not replaced as promised. Passenger rear speaker not replaced despite dealer confirming initially it needed replacement. Brakes are now noisy.

Mar 2 – dealer exchanged vehicles to replace brake pads, received same loaner. No contact from Hyundai NA.

Mar 15 – picked up vehicle from dealership after it was deemed complete. Brake pads installed and front rotors resurfaced. Brake noise continues. This noise not present when I delivered vehicle on 12/16/22. From 3/2 until 3/14 there was no communication on status. No follow-up from HNA-CPO either. Emailed service manager about problem and he replied inquiring about retrieving vehicle.

Mar 16 - vehicles exchanged once again, received loaner.

Mar 21 - Vehicle returned. Curiously, the dealer said that the rear rotors were warped. To my knowledge, I was not having any issues with them when I delivered vehicle on 12/16/22. They also suggested that the front brake rotors were warped even though on March 15 their service ticket said they resurfaced rotors. Though not stated in the ticket but noted by service advisor, the front brake pads they installed evidently had a defect.  Minor customer service issue related to having to wait for cashier to have me sign loaner vehicle agreement. When several minutes elapsed after cashier left the office, I ventured to look for my vehicle. After looking in front lot, I returned to ask cashier, who was back in his office, about my vehicle's location. He did not know. I signed the loaner vehicle agreement to close it out and went to look for my car again, which I found on the back lot.

HNA-CPO never contacted me again after initial acknowledgement on Feb 22.