Getting a car dealership to pay up

QUEENS (WABC) -- If you've ever bought a car, you've probably considered a theft deterrent window etching policy.

That way, if your car gets stolen, you get paid thousands. One consumer signed up for the policy. But when his car was stolen, the insurance company wouldn't pay. That's when he called for Tappy Phillips and Seven On His Side.

Dante Calise has double trouble. First, his 2-month-old Nissan Pathfinder was stolen. Then, his theft deterrent policy, worth thousands, wouldn't pay up.

"I can't get anybody to return a phone call," Calise said.

If his car got stolen, the policy company would pay him $3,000 and the dealership would give him another $2,000. After his car was stolen, the insurance company said Nissan never paid the premium.

"They took my money, but they never paid the premium," Calise said.

So we went to the dealership and found the manager.

Tappy: "So he's not getting his insurance from the etch company."
Anthony Panarella, Nissan of Queens: "Alright."
Tapy: "Can you take care of that?"
Panarella: "No problem. I'm not aware of it, but whatever it is, I'd be happy to take care of it."

And Panarella was true to his word.

Tappy: "So it was pretty quick?"
Dante: "Yeah, you were here at 11, 5 o'clock I had a check."

Dante had received a check for the full $5,000. Nissan of Queens said they paid the full amount themselves and would get re-imbursement from the insurance company.

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