I bought a bumper to bumper warranty from the company to cover repairs on a 2003 Chevy van, which at the time had 95, 000 miles on the odometer.

Several months after buying the package, I had to replace an intake manifold gasket, which the company refused to cover. Upon reading the fine print, I discovered that the gasket was only covered if the manifold itself was damaged and had to be replaced.

Shortly after, the water pump went, and after two days of 'considering' the company gave a credit card number to my repair shop to cover the cost of parts and labor. That gave me some degree of confidence that this might be a legitimate company.

Several months later, I started having transmission problems, and took the truck in to the repair shop to have the transmission adjusted. After examining the truck's transmission, the mechanic told me I would need a new transmission. The shop called the Auto Repair Warranty and was told that they would only deal with their customer. I subsequently called the company and informed them that the van had been taken in for routine adjustment and replacement of fluids, something required by the service regimen, and that at that point it had been discovered that the transmission was in need of replacement.

Travis Gannon at Auto Repair Warranty said their 'board' was considering the claim. I have had extended warranties on every vehicle I have ever bought, and never had to wait for a 'board' to consider a covered repair. In the meantime, I was asked to send in all my maintenance records, which I did.

One week later, I called Travis Gannon back to see what the status of the claim was, and at that time he informed me that because I had an all-wheel-drive vehicle, the repair might not be covered. Nowhere in my warranty does it state that it covers only two-wheel-drive vehicles. It clearly states that a 4-wheel-drive transmission is covered. Travis Gannon claimed that the transmission in my van was different from the one in a two-wheel-drive vehicle.

I took the van to a second shop, to get another opinion. Mr. Transmission is a nationwide company, specializing in repairing and rebuilding transmissions. Their diagnosis was the same as that from the first shop, and the cost of replacement was the same...just over 3000 dollars. By now, the truck had been down for over three weeks, and I had a road trip coming up, so I had to get the job done. I could drive the van locally, but a highway trip was not an option.

So the long and short of it is, I paid 1100 American dollars for a worthless piece of paper. It appears that, if a repair exceeds the amount of the premium, this company simply refuses to pay the repair. I intend to send off any future repair bills until the odometer reaches the 150 thousand mile mark, or the end of four years, whichever comes first. At that point, I will post the total on the Web, so that any future victims might think twice about dealing with these scam artists.

If anyone is starting a class action suit against this bunch of swindlers, I will be pleased to join.

If you are a new or used car buyer and are seeking a legitimate extended warranty package, stay away from this 'family' business. It is nothing but a scam.