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Possible scam alert Young man just offered me 12 free oil changes from MAIN STREET MOTORS He is giving a laminated punch card to you that is good for the 12 free oil changes plus discounts on other automotive services. Says it is a tax related promotion. Only thing is you have to give them a check for $60.00 dollars that will be refunded after first punch. Several things rang my alarm bell. 1. It is after main street motors is closed. 2. I have never heard of tax related promotion. 3. I have never heard odf what amounts to over $600 in give aways. 4. The kid had sveral deposits in checks folded in his pocket If I am wrong adn it isn't a scam, it is one heck of a deal as he explained it.
42 responses total.
Main Street Motors is closed, ie out of business? That would be good enough evidence for me.
No main street motors Closes at 5:30, thus there is no way to verify the offer until AFTER you wright a check.
Ah.
To whom did he ask the check be made payable? If to an individual its obvious scam, if to 'main street motors' is probably a 'murphy' scam. Starting in the spring and lasting until late fall is the Murphy season. Recently they have gone more hi-tech. The way this particular scam usually works is a DBA is registered with a common name and a bank account is opened in that name at a small town branch where sometimes a sign is put up on a dormant property saying 'coming soon' and the name. After the checks with high starting numbers and ATM card arrives then the coupon books or discount cards are sold and the checks diposited daily and funds withdrawn daily until the ATM eats the card and its on to the next area usually after having 'papered' the area with the company checks. This scam, as do most, relies on people's greed. It works well because usually the people scammed first blame the business for which the coupon or discount card is directed at who will often as not accept the first couple presented especially if it is a major chain before their management realizes they are being scammed as well.
Main Street Motors is a good, reputable place. Why not call them and ask?
You wright checks on demand, bru? I have my bank print a whole bunch of them up and send them to me. It's much more convenient. ;}
(You can usually get them cheaper from independent check printing companies than you can through your bank.)
(Good point. Either way, it's more convenient to have someone else wright them them to wright them yourself. Writing them, of course, is a separate matter.)
Don't you mean "Wrighting them..."? You should try for consistent spelling...
No. Wrighting checks and writing checks are two different things.
So, how do you wright a check?
You get a blank piece of paper, you trim it to a pleasant size, you carefully write in the name of your bank, your account number, a unique identifier like a check number, and so forth. Make sure to leave blanks for the date, the amount, the recipient, and your signature!
That's sounds like the cheapest way of all to get a blank check, but it is damn difficult to get that computer-readable alphabet wrighten correctly.
So has anyone called Main Street Motors to ask about/inform them of a scam?
Sheesh. Void actually wants to talk about the SUBJECT!
Sorry. You and Rane can go back to squabbling now. ;)
I stopped in and they say it is a legitimate promotion.
Really!?! Hmm. Interesting. Lets say the jobber cost of a quart of oil is a buck (it is in fact less) so at 12 changes at 5 quarts each thats yer 60 bucks right there. It would be a deal even if the 60 bucks weren't 'refunded' on first use. So lets look at that. You don't use the card right away since you don't need an oil change. You get your first oil change in the first quarter and get 60$US back. Net cost to you 0$US. The corporation books the entire 60$US as revenue the moment it is diposited. At least two quarters later the refund check to you shows up as an expense chargable against income reducing taxable profit plus the earned interest income profit minus the amortized long term debt. Lets assume a 50% redemption rate (actual practice for whatever reason is far lower) so now you are at 30$US cost for 60$US debt. (The car is sold, the card is lost, the oil is changed someplace else, whatever.) Plus you have a constant stream of customers at retail for the cost of oil filter plus whatever other suggested retail cost maintenance needs to be done - tires, tranny fluid, cooling fluid, brakes, etc. I can see how this might work. I might even take advantage of such an offer. But I wouldn't invest in a company offering such.
Re #4:
Why is such a scam called a "Murphy scam'? Is it named after Murphy the
God of Things That Go Wrong If They Can?
Called them and they said it is indeed legitimate, but that they hired an outside business to handle the promotion.
Eric
I really appreciate you looking out for us, thanks for taking the time.
If you would, please enter this response from us.
I would like to personally thank everyone for their concern about
the V.I.P. Service Voucher.
First things first, it is not a scam! Main Street Motors has been in
business for over 16 years and we take great pride in being the most
honest business you will ever deal with. Secondly, you are buying the
voucher from University Promotions, and Main Street Motors does not get
any of the $59.95, nor do we have anything to do with refunding the money
when the card is filled, (not after one use) Also the card needs to be
carefully read, it tells you exactly what to expect (like 4 oil
changes not 12, you pay for the oil filter), it is spelled out very
clearly so please take the time to read the back, it tells you all of the
guidelines.
The third point is Main Street Motors is trying to grow in a hard
business climate, and poor economy as is everyone in todays business
world. Would we make some great offers in order to attract new clients?
Of course we would, we need more clients in order to realize our goals
and dreams. We are here to serve and we aim to please. Thanks again for
your concerns.
Jay Williams
Vice President
Main Street Motors
P. S. Thanks to Larry Kestenbaum for sticking up for us.
Cool.
I actually recieved a call from main street motors today, adn they explained what was involved, adn that they were getting multiple calls regarding the offer a the people selling the service were indeed making mistakes as to what was offered and how you get your money back. they also iontended to meet with them and discuss the failure. They also informed me that they give free lifetime oil changes for a cost of $179.00 (life of the car) or one every 300 miles or three months. This is a seperate offer from that mentioned above.
That's 3000 miles, I'm guessing?
I'm guessing too. I'm tempted anyway, thoguh.
re: A 'murphy' scam. There are a clan of irish qypsies that live in the south that are notorious for a number of scams. Every spring they set out on road trips to fleese the greedy. The old style scams of 'paint your house or barn for free, you pay only for the paint' is one of thier signature scams. They were profiled on 60Minutes and other places years ago and I occasionally run across references especially with respect to thier modernization.
This is off topic, but I wish I could get places to put the correct amount of oil in my car. Everywhere, including the Honda dealership I bought it from, overfills it by half a quart. I fret about this because on some cars it can lead to blown crankshaft seals, though I don't know if that applies to Hondas specifically. Since my car doesn't use a measurable amount of oil between changes it's always overfilled.
Those oil change deals sound too good to be true. If you're religious about oil changes--as my wife is--you could save a lot of money.
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<russ swaps mynxcat's safflower oil for extra-virgin olive oil>
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gull, how do you know they put too much oil in? They may be charging you for an amount rounded up to the next full quart, but not putting in more than the manual indicates.
Because it consistently reads above the 'full' mark on the dipstick, by about half the distance between the 'full' and 'add' marks. Since I know the 'add' mark means to add one quart, I've come to the conclusion that the crankcase has half a quart too much oil in it. The manual specs 3.5 quarts for an oil change with filter. I suspect the pump guns they use to fill the crankcase only let them add oil in one quart increments. Either that or they really are putting in 3.5 quarts, and there's half a quart of oil staying in the engine every time it's changed. There *is* an oil bath for the camshaft that never completely empties, but I'd assume Honda would take that into account when telling you how much oil to put in when doing an oil change.
Make yourself a sign out of some kind of hard plastic saying "please 3.5 quarts only, or I'll track you down and eventually kill you". Attach it to the fill cap.
I bet the underpaid drones at the oil change places would ignore it anyway. The real solution would probably be to start doing my own oil changes.
For what it's worth, on my Honda, the correct dip-stick reading technique involves unscrewing it, cleaning it off, then dipping it in (and *not* screwing it in), then withdrawing it & reading it. Screwing it in would cause it to read high. So far as getting the old oil out goes, there is supposed to be a 2nd drain plug forward on the front 2 cylinders, which should be drained to get absolutely all of the old oil out.
Hmm. My Honda's dipstick isn't threaded, it just slides straight in.
Re #33:
Are you checking the oil with the engine hot or cold? It may make a
difference.
When you get the oil changed, they should show you the dipstick with the
fresh oil up to the full mark.
As far as I've been able to tell, they show me a dipstick with the oil *over* the full mark, but at that point it's a bit late to do anything about it. It's also hard to be sure, because fresh oil is pretty clear. And yes, I'm checking with the engine cold.
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