1 Year protection by Assurant... Appearing in my listings?

[lemarcheaupuces]

was checking my listings (other user name/different browser) and what do i see today under my starting price?:

1 year protection $1.99 from Assurant.

i am amazed at all the stuff i see in my listings when i look at them on a different computer/browser/user name...

funny that when i do the same search at home (by user name or item search), on my laptop/browser...

all that stuff is NOT there...

i see a problem with this insurance thing.

buyers thinking i am related to this company so selling their product?

surely don't want it to become my burden down the line.

also this insurance is really stretching.

offering a protection for a $12 piece of Jewelry (FP)????

when did this start?

i assume if Ebay does it, we have no say?

i assume it also is legal?

[mabbler]

Hi all,

  This seems as good a place as any to post this.  Do not trust Assurant, do not buy any protection plan, and if you are a seller, it's probably worth trying to get it to be removed from your items.  Even if it's out of your control as a seller, you don't want your reputation tied up with them.

  I'll save my extended story for a review, but the important clause in there is that if they determine that whatever you send them is counterfeit, they reserve the right to destroy it.  It turns out their definition of counterfeit is EXTREMELY loose.  I fortunately got my watch back from them, but I didn't want to risk arguing with them and having them just get annoyed and destroy the evidence.  Their main complaint was that the movement had no serial number on it... which is readily disprovable, and fortunately I had photos from right before I sent the watch in with the serial number clearly visible on the movement.  If I didn't have those pictures, and if I'd caught someone on a bad day who just decided to destroy it instead of send it back, there would've been nothing I could do regardless of its authenticity.

  Long story short, if the policy is cheap and you think you've got nothing to lose, remember that you might lose the very thing you're trying to ensure.  Even if you're sure it's authentic... even if the features they complain about are immediately evident in the photos on the listing... they may decide it's easier to call it a counterfeit than spend money having it repaired.  In all likelihood, you'll waste your time sending them something and waiting for it to come back in the same state.  At worst, you might have sent your item to its grave.  I got lucky and got my watch back, and they said they will refund the cost of the policy, but if they've got that clause in there saying that they reserve the right to destroy counterfeits, I wonder how many valuable heirlooms have been lost to their laziness and ineptitude.  Avoid Assurant at all costs.

[buyselljack2016]

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@lemarcheaupuces wrote:

just checked another item;

a sterling charm for merely $7...

the protection at $1.99 is there.

makes no sense to me...

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I wonder if it shows up on the chinese 'fine jewelry' listings?

Now THAT would be funny .........

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not sure about "fine jewelry", but I have seen it show up on batteries.

On my wife's account it keeps showing 1 "item in the cart" when there is none.  I believe this happens after using "the cart". There is a suggested method to get the false "item in the cart" to go away by adding a new item to the cart, and then removing it.

Now the crazy part. I click to add a $0.99 package of batteries to the cart. Up pops the option to pay $8.49 for the protection plan

[nowthatsjustducky]

Sounds like yet another way for eBay to inadvertently tell our customers, "Hey there!  We sincerely believe that all of our sellers are most likely thieves and snake oil salesmen?  How about you slip us a couple bucks to protect you from whatever they most certainly have up their collective sleeves?"

[dtexley3]

Leave it to eBay to pick the company with a 1 star rating from consumeraffairs.

[ekard]

I agree the checkbox for purchasing Assurant scam warranties should not be on the listing and plainly disclosed that they are from ebay and that ebay will not offer ANY Buyer protection. Check Assurants Feedback, thousands of negative feedbacks. Their warranties are not good.

[ittybitnot]

Their warranties are not good.

Probably not, but they are placed on a seller's listing without their permission or knoweldge.  I would not be surprised to find out that NOT EVERYBODY who views a listing sees that advert for the insurance either.   I saw it on a $4.99 jewelry piece the other day....and I am going..WOW...what the heck for?  

I hate it when ebay places that garbage on our listings...I remember getting a neg for NOT ACCEPTING PAYPAL CREDIT when I advertised it as an option....well, duh...no I did not advertise it...ebay did to LURE YOU IN...Same now with their unrealistic delivery dates, and the new super secret immediate payment required.  It will never end. 

[imakesugar]

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@lemarcheaupuces wrote:

i hope not too many buyers will fall for this non sense...

SMH,raising hand Me! Me! Writing Sucker on Forehead...

I bought a coffee pot a few manths back...used. The Seller packaged it in a box 2X's the size it needed to be totally stuffed with brown paper. it was not listed that the burner had a lot of rust and that the pot was NOT the original coffee pot. It barely fit underneath the basket.

The insurance was actually put in My basket with the coffee pot. It was a used Appliance, so I ordered the  insurance also for $1.99. 

I fugured with the box that was too way too big, probably shipped as over sized,and the weight of the stuffing the Seller did not make any money on it and since I had the insurance, I'd just let it fly and not file a claim. Normally I would have considered either sending it back OR see if the Seller would offer a partial return.  I found a  NEW glass pot at a thrift store for $7.00+, I scrubbed as much as possible the rust off of the burner. 

So, I guess the positive side of this is that it might save Sellers from chargebacks, and returns. 

Sugar.

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[mcdougle4248]

I have State Farm car insurance appearing on some of my listings.  I sell Christmas ornaments, so I think it is a far stretch in advertising imagination to think that someone shopping Christmas ornaments is going to stop and say "self you really should get that quote on car insurance today".

[kaywil1524]

Well read very carefully buyers, if you purchase a watch under 500 with any type of stones LOOKS like they won't be covered under this warranty.  

[jonathankirkland]

I've read nothing but negative rewviews about this service.

They apparently do not EVER pay on any claim. It is a 100% scam.

[pvcliff]

I'd never seen the insurance until I was shopping for a clock yesterday. I guess I don't have an "inquiring mind" -- knew it undoubtedly was another thing eBay was just sticking on listings, but didn't occur to me to look at my own listings. Maybe I will, sometime later...

[ozarkjoe]

Manhattan finance wizards are always crafting new alchemy to squeeze out more blood from a turnip.  There was a time when you could not buy a $10 set of headphones at Circuit City without the checkout clerk pushing an extra one year warranty for 60 cents.  It is a ripoff on numerous levels.

[mjbrayer]

Just my two cents. 

Within the past 7 months I've filed 2 claims with Assurant with both being amicably resolved. 

Both were smartphones that experienced hardware failures. The first claim did have a caveat wherein Assurant required that I purchase a brand new OEM battery to make sure ot wasn't a defective battery. (cost me $8 and a few extra days. 

My most recent claim was approved and paid within 24 hours. I simply filed the claim with proper, extensive proof/explanation and Assurant sent an eBay gift card immediately. 

The one change to Assurant from the first to most recent claim is that Assurant no longer has telephone access to claim reps. It's all done by email which was rapid and professional 

Obviously as with any "insurance" you need to be aware of the terms and conditions. And I agree that offering insurance on small value items is sort of "goofy"

My only disappointment is that eBay seems to have switched to Square Trade who, unfortunately, has a poorer set of reviews. 

JMHO

[castlemagicmemories]

Actually I believe Square Trade was here first.

Necro thread, 5/2016