The trade group representing brokers of extended auto-service contracts today released a 20-page Standards of Conduct guide that prohibits many of the deceptive marketing practices that, according to consumer groups and regulators, have become synonymous with the industry.

The group, called the…

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster’s office announced today that it has filed suits against six companies selling extended auto-service contracts and alleged that the firms, all located in suburban St. Louis, tricked consumers into buying so-called “extended warranties” through unfair…

Reporters being summoned to press conferences in Kansas City and St. Louis tomorrow are told that Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster will announce new enforcement actions his office is taking against companies selling extended auto-service contracts.

Nanci Gonder, a spokeswoman for…

With bogus blogs and shill comments seemingly on the rise, it’s not surprising that there’s finally a name for these deceptive corners of the Internet where product marketers and public relations flacks pose as real people: it’s the fakeosphere.

Estimated to…

Extended auto-service contracts probably aren’t worth the money, according to a story in the December issue of Car and Driver.

The magazine conducted a secret-shopper sting on St. Charles County’s three biggest brokers of so-called extended warranties: Wentzille-based US Fidelis; St. Peters-based…

In Saturday’s Savvy Consumer column, I wrote that a trade group representing firms selling extended auto-service contracts will soon begin auditing and evaluating its members,  and then giving its imprimatur to those companies that demonstrate consumer-friendly business practices.

The Vehicle Protection…

Click on the image to check out our map of area service-contract brokers.

I’ve been tinkering with the online map of St. Louis area service-contract brokers, and there’s a lot more information on the biggest local firms selling so-called “extended warranties.”

The…

A reader called today to chide me about Tuesday’s blog post about US Fidelis suing a competitor over copyright infringement. The caller, who wouldn’t give me his name, took issue with this graf:

(US Fidelis knows a thing or two about…

US Fidelis, the big Wentzville-based broker of extended auto service contracts, last week filed a federal copyright-infringement suit alleging that a competitor has swiped its sales pitch and and a portion of its trade name.

The suit, filed Thursday in St. Louis,…

Consumer scams involving debt collection and predatory lending topped the list of the 10 most common consumer complaints in 2008, the National Association of Attorneys General announced this week.

“With the recession and increased foreclosure rates, consumers need to be on high…