Anybody use 411cancer.org for car donation?
September 15, 2010 10:39 PM Subscribe
I'm considering donating my car to 411cancer.org. They have a mention on the Better Business Bureau but it's not clear what exactly it is. Does anybody have any experience with them?
A google search for 411cancer.org only brings up only a few results, one of which is this (google cache because the regular link is strangely blank). The complaint seems to have something to do with their promise of a vacation.
1. Have you used 411cancer.org to donate? How was it? What about their vacation offer?
2. If you used another donation service (in NJ), how were they?
3. Any pitfalls about the donation service I should be aware of?
I had a friend who donated a car and then the car was found abandoned and because the title hadn't gotten changed, my friend was responsible. This has made me a bit nervous about the entire process so sorry if I ask silly questions.
A google search for 411cancer.org only brings up only a few results, one of which is this (google cache because the regular link is strangely blank). The complaint seems to have something to do with their promise of a vacation.
1. Have you used 411cancer.org to donate? How was it? What about their vacation offer?
2. If you used another donation service (in NJ), how were they?
3. Any pitfalls about the donation service I should be aware of?
I had a friend who donated a car and then the car was found abandoned and because the title hadn't gotten changed, my friend was responsible. This has made me a bit nervous about the entire process so sorry if I ask silly questions.
Best answer: A quick WHOIS lookup shows that 411cancer.org is owned by the same person who owns http://877carcash.com/, which is also 1-800-we-buy-cars (Whois info). And they run a different car-donation service via that site.
Searching around on Google maps, I found this street view their physical location (interestingly, if you put in their address, gmaps puts you a few blocks off). Honestly, it looks like any small crappy used-car lot.
While having multiple domains names, the smell of black hat SEO and multiple brand names may just be bad brand control. It seems more likely to be sketchy to me. While they may be okay, I would personally go another route.
posted by thebestsophist at 12:27 AM on September 16, 2010 [4 favorites]
Searching around on Google maps, I found this street view their physical location (interestingly, if you put in their address, gmaps puts you a few blocks off). Honestly, it looks like any small crappy used-car lot.
While having multiple domains names, the smell of black hat SEO and multiple brand names may just be bad brand control. It seems more likely to be sketchy to me. While they may be okay, I would personally go another route.
posted by thebestsophist at 12:27 AM on September 16, 2010 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Oh, I was also going to say that they aren't listed at all on GuideStar. Which means they aren't a 501(c)(3) either, which also puts up red flags for me. If given the choice, I would always rather donate directly to a charity than through an unknown third party.
posted by thebestsophist at 12:31 AM on September 16, 2010
posted by thebestsophist at 12:31 AM on September 16, 2010
Best answer: You can try V-DAC. They're a vehicle donation program that has affiliations with lots of non-proftis, including NPR (they're the people who help CarTalk with their vehicle donations). You can search on their site for a charity near you.
I have known one person who successfully donated their car to benefit their local public radio station, but I don't know anything about v-DAC's BBB rating.
posted by bluefly at 1:50 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
I have known one person who successfully donated their car to benefit their local public radio station, but I don't know anything about v-DAC's BBB rating.
posted by bluefly at 1:50 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Here's the vacation offer part
You can check out the PDF "Diamond Vacation Certificate" here. What it entitles you to is the opportunity to use an "affiliated travel agency." It involves a "$29 redemption fee" and a nightly "room tax." The hotels involved are not mentioned.
I wouldn't go near this. Even if I did not want the vacation offer, I would be too frightened that 411cancer.org would pass along my phone number to the "Diamond Vacation" people...
posted by kmennie at 5:38 AM on September 16, 2010
You can check out the PDF "Diamond Vacation Certificate" here. What it entitles you to is the opportunity to use an "affiliated travel agency." It involves a "$29 redemption fee" and a nightly "room tax." The hotels involved are not mentioned.
I wouldn't go near this. Even if I did not want the vacation offer, I would be too frightened that 411cancer.org would pass along my phone number to the "Diamond Vacation" people...
posted by kmennie at 5:38 AM on September 16, 2010
Response by poster: Yeah, this is seeming much much more scammy than I realized. Thanks guys.
Also the donation is much more about getting rid of a car hassle free and less about charity (not that I'm against it) so I'll be looking into Cars for a Cure and V-DAC.
Any other recommendations would be great too.
posted by Brainy at 9:55 AM on September 16, 2010
Also the donation is much more about getting rid of a car hassle free and less about charity (not that I'm against it) so I'll be looking into Cars for a Cure and V-DAC.
Any other recommendations would be great too.
posted by Brainy at 9:55 AM on September 16, 2010
As far as getting rid of cars goes, my state has ways to protect yourself in the event that the new owner doesn't transfer the title. Here, we can just go to the courthouse and fill out something similar to a Bill of Sale that basically states that the car has been sold/donated, the transaction date, the sale price, and the name and address of the buyer. It offers a little protection in instances like the one your friend experienced. Give your courthouse a call and see if they have something similar.
posted by SamanthaK at 11:53 AM on September 16, 2010
posted by SamanthaK at 11:53 AM on September 16, 2010
Response by poster: Has anybody had any experience with Kars for Kids? I can't get their song out of my head and it seems like the advertising might be working.
posted by Brainy at 12:18 AM on September 19, 2010
posted by Brainy at 12:18 AM on September 19, 2010
Response by poster: Nevermind, google has proved that they're not much better. Sorry I tried google afterwards, I swear I had tried it before and just gotten a lot of noise and no real results. .
posted by Brainy at 12:23 AM on September 19, 2010
posted by Brainy at 12:23 AM on September 19, 2010
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posted by elpea at 11:10 PM on September 15, 2010