car dealership won't honor warranty

[spegetteo]

Minnesota: A car dealership replaced the transmission in my car, which should have been covered by the warranty, but they refused to acknowledge that, so I had to pay $4K (on my credit card) to get my car. I notified the credit card company that I wanted to dispute the charge and I believe they were legally obligated to refund my money and allow the parties involved to resolve the disputer. The credit card co refused to do that. Should I sue the credit card co in small claims court or the car dealership?

Thank you.

Marc Anderson

 

[Mass_Shyster]

You should sue whomever issued the warranty, assuming the repair, performed by the dealer, should have been covered.

 

[FlyingRon]

If this is a new car and covered by a manufacturer's warranty you should pursue this with the manufacturer. The dealer will be able to provide (or you can look it up) the name of the district representative to follow your case further.

You're sort of wrong about the credit card company. If you notify them in writing that you are disputing the charge, they'll put the charge in abeyance (i.e., you won't owe interest nor will that amount be considered delinqeunt)) until the charge is investigated, however, I suspect highly that absent some "additional warranty" feature of your card, they will find against you. The charge is indeed valid.

 

[Zigner]

What reason did the dealer give for not honoring the warranty?

 

[sandyclaus]

Minnesota: A car dealership replaced the transmission in my car, which should have been covered by the warranty, but they refused to acknowledge that, so I had to pay $4K (on my credit card) to get my car. I notified the credit card company that I wanted to dispute the charge and I believe they were legally obligated to refund my money and allow the parties involved to resolve the disputer. The credit card co refused to do that. Should I sue the credit card co in small claims court or the car dealership?

Thank you.

Marc Anderson

The credit card SHOULD be reluctant to honor a dispute. You voluntarily paid the charges. Sure, you were probably told that you couldn't have your car back if you didn't pay, but that is an issue between YOU and the car dealership. It would be unfair to make the credit card company do the work of accepting a dispute and giving you the money back when they have nothing to do with your dispute.

I'm with Ziggy. You need to find out WHY the dealership is refusing to honor the warranty you believe should have covered the transmission repairs. Maybe the mileage is out of warranty now, or perhaps the transmission isn't covered as you believe it should be.

Ultimately, your issue now IS and SHOULD be with the car dealership to find out why the warranty is not being honored and then pursue them to get your money back.