Outsourced assistance on the internet....re...VIN lookup

I submitted a vin number to an outfit online that offered a free basic report. I got that and it gave me the info I wanted (the year of the car basically) and when I saw it was only going to be $1.00 for a full report I went ahead and paid that. The report I got back left a lot to be desired (the reason for that later) but I decided to try their live chat answering system. Here’s the last part of that; this is after they asked for my account info (with them) and the vin # I was looking for.

I told them just to look at the acct info they requested for the ONLY request I had dver made and they came back with the numbef and asked me if that was the one I was talking about as being incomplete.

DUH ! It’s the only one I’ve ever placed with you and it was 10 minutes ago!

Anyway, “she” said I would be contacted by her superior. Here’s the last part of the conversation. My thought was maybe she was a machine so I asked her a couple of questions that might prove me right or wrong.

*****

Sherry: Brian will contact you via email.

you: will a text copy of the conversation you and I have had be maintained in your system so I do not have to repeat everything should I not hear from him?

Sherry: I am sorry but we do not save chat history.
you: OK, two last questions. In what country are you sitting now? What is the three letter word that is the opposite of DOG?

Sherry: Our customer support phone # is 1-855-482-6465. We are available 24 x 7.

you: I thought if you answered those two questions I would know that you are in fact a human being and not a machine. Can you answer those two questions?

Sherry: For office location questions please contact customer support at 1-855-482-6465. We are available 24 x 7.

Sherry: GOD.


Thinking maybe this was a human being as a computer  would have trouble coming up with the answer GOD (reverse of dog), but the fact she kept spitting out the phone numbers and never told me where she was (probably overseas somewhere) always ticks me of (being out of country).

See post #2 for why I didn’t even know the model year of the car I was looking at on a lot.

I was looking at a car on a closed used car lot....a lot that sells cars donated to a charitable organization....and all I had was the vin and license plate number.  I was one letter off the other day when I sourced the California DMV so today when I had the right number I tried this commerical outfit first. 

My goal was to find out what year it was as it looked the way it did many years running. Of course I was hoping for current mileage too so I could go in armed with good info when it came time to actually talk turkey with the seller.

All the basic report and the $1.00 report showed were year, etc. No mileage...it showed the mileage it originally had on it when it was bought in 2007 which was 6 miles.

More later.

Okay.   Thanks for the second post.


I was thinking you might be an idiot paying to get year of vehicle from VIN when the year is in the VIN......

But unless its a GM I always had to look it up on my secrete decoder ring too.

App that you take a picture of the vin and it gives you he history and blue book of car.  Unfortunatly I canceled it so I can't help you out and run it for you.

Okay.   Thanks for the second post.

Yep, my main rant in the posts above was just about "talking" to what I thought was a machine. Those folks work from a script whether its computer help desk or whatever and they sound so robotic sometimes I think I am talking to a computer...hence the questions I asked "her".

After I paid the $1 (not $15 or $20 or whatever from carfax) I did go ahead and look it up on the California DMV and got basically the same info.

I think what is happening here is that the charitable organization hasn't done anything with the paperwork they have and therefore nothing can really pop up (mileage, etc). I will know more on Monday or Tuesday I think...if they open !

Tell em you want to see the Car Fox...he'll get this straightened out. 

Car fox kinda sucks.

They reported my Cougar was fine when in actuality it was totaled, two engine's and an unresolved electrical issue.  None of my service records showed either.....

Car Fax is a scam. The commercials brainwash people to think that if a dealer doesn't want to furnish a Car Fax report (at $39.99) that they must be hiding something. Deceptive marketing...in today's age...imagine that. 

Notice lately they have been saying "While nobody knows everything about a vehicles past"...

Working in the auto industry for a few years, I can tell you guys that Auto Check is definitely more reliable than CarFax. Insurance companies actually report their info to Auto Check which was developed by Experian for the insurance industry initially for insurance companies to check the VIN on a universal database.

Info is based on a bunch of hours of training at 3 different dealerships.

Hence the lawsuit...

thecarconnection(dot)com/news/1083776_carfax-sued-for-50-million-by-120-u-s-dealers

Carfax would have been better off saying no comment.