Jay Catelli’s Alfa Romeo dashboard is defective. He has a warranty that covers interior damage, but the company says his specific part is on a secret exclusion list. Can he get the $14,000 repair covered? 

Q: I own a 2019 Alfa Romeo Stelvio SUV covered by a Mopar MVP MultiCare Plus Service Contract. This policy expressly provides protection for interior and exterior damage.

The dashboard in my vehicle is currently separating from the air vents, resulting in a significant gap. The interior section of my policy covers reconditioning, repair, or replacement of surfaces damaged due to normal wear and tear, including loose seam stitches, rips, and tears.

Despite these terms, Mopar has denied my claim. It says the specific part number is on an "exclusion list." However, my policy documents make no reference to an exclusion list by part number, nor do they list the dashboard as an excluded item.

I have escalated this to Alfa Romeo, a division of Stellantis, which also owns Mopar. Alfa Romeo issued my policy. It agrees that the dashboard should be replaced under the policy terms. However, the representative has been unable to secure an agreement from Mopar to authorize the repair.

The cost to replace the dashboard exceeds $14,000. Given the explicit terms of the policy and the absence of any referenced exclusion list in my contract, I'm trying to get this covered. I have written a letter to Stellantis North America Customer Experience but have received no response. Can you help me? —Jay Catelli, Swampscott, Mass.

A: Mopar should have fixed your dashboard. If your MVP MultiCare Plus Service Contract explicitly covers "interior surfaces" and "wear and tear," and your dashboard is doing a slow-motion separation, then it's an open-and-shut case.

Service contracts—often called extended warranties—are usually one of two types: inclusionary or exclusionary. An inclusionary policy lists exactly what is covered. If the part isn't on the list, you are out of luck. An exclusionary policy covers everything except what is specifically listed as not covered.

If you have an exclusionary policy, you read the fine print and checked the list. The dashboard wasn't on it in your case.

Then Mopar claimed that even though the dashboard isn't listed as an exclusion in your contract, the part number is on an internal exclusion list.

Come on. You can't be bound by a secret list of part numbers that you never saw and didn't sign. 

You did an excellent job trying to resolve this yourself. You kept a thorough paper trail. You contacted the dealership, which agreed with you. You contacted Alfa Romeo, which also agreed with you.

In fact, an Alfa Romeo representative told you she tried to reason with Mopar, but Mopar insisted the part was excluded. It is rare to see two divisions of the same parent company—Stellantis—bickering like this over a customer's repair. 

When you hit a wall with the normal customer service channels, you can usually appeal to a higher authority. I list the names, numbers and emails for the Stellantis executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.

You sent a certified letter to the senior vice president of North America Customer Experience at Stellantis. That was a smart move. But when you didn't hear back, you contacted my team.

You were looking at a bill of more than $10,000 for a problem you paid good money to insure against. That is enough to make anyone's blood boil—and apparently, your dashboard melt.

My advocacy team contacted Stellantis on your behalf.  A few days later, you received a call from Stellantis. A representative said the company reviewed your case and reversed its decision.

"Stellantis informed me that they reversed their initial denial and acknowledged that the leather dashboard should have been covered under the plan," you told me.

The company approved the full cost of the dashboard replacement. It's nice to see Stellantis standing behind its product, even if Mopar had to be dragged to the finish line. Next time, let's hope the dashboard—and the warranty—hold together a little better.

 Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/