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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Insurance company at fault

Daddy-O and I have the same insurance company; it's the place where I used to work as a telemarketer. I've always had great customer service from there. It's a nationwide company but we have a local agent- it's the guy who owns it, one other agent, and a receptionist. This same nationally recognized company also has another agent in town so these 2 guys are competitors.

Last month I called to speak to the head agent, the owner, the boss, but he was busy. I left a detailed message. I just wanted to know why Daddy-O's insurance went up. Again. For the third time in three years. He's not happy, and I wouldn't be either. And no, he didn't do any property improvements for the house to increase, no claims, no speeding tickets on the car, no wrecks, and no claims there, either. So, why does it keep going up?

I called to find out and left a detailed message. Daddy-O, unbeknown to me, also called the same week I did and had to leave a message, too. Last week he got another bill which reminded he didn't hear back and he said something to me; which reminded me that I didn't get a call back either. I was pretty pissed off. We both called and we both got the blow off? That's not good.

I also worked there and even though I worked evenings and weekends I knew that life insurance was the bread and butter of the business. I also know that any time I've called the agent with a question about my life insurance, I get a call back immediately. The agent has my home, work and mobile numbers, as well as my email. I've even received a text from him in the past. But this time I heard nothing. I thought it was pretty crummy that I get a fast response on the Life insurance money maker but can't get a response about a simple auto or home policy question. (I also know how important life insurance is because the owner agent called me last December to see if I would buy a life policy because he only need 2 to meet his 2011 goal. I did because I like him and had always been impressed with his customer service.)

So I picked up the phone and of course the owner agent was on vacation. I asked the girl who answered to have him call me back. She asked if she could help and I told her no because I spoke with her last month and she didn't help me then, nor did she ask head agent dude to call me. I also told her my father had called, too, and no one called him back either (or helped him).

At that point she wanted to know what was going on and I told her all we wanted to know was why his insurance kept increasing. I told her I expected better customer service than this, and to just have the owner call me. She said there was no reason for me to wait until next week because the owner was VERY busy next week and she didn't know when he would have time to return my call.

Excuse me?!?

I told her I used to work there and I know the drill, and that he should make time to return customer calls. She the proceeded to get shitty with me, saying that I wasn't there during the day to understand how busy they were, and that I just didn't have a clue. *screeching halt* Wha???? Yes, she really said that.

I told her I knew the owner was busy but whenever I called with a life insurance question, which is the big money maker, I had a response immediately and though this was just about an auto/ home owner policy, I still expected the same customer service.

She then yelled at me and said that she took it personally that I thought they treated life customers differently than others, and that they treat all their customers equally. Since she yelled at me, I yelled back and said if that's the case, then they must be treating ALL the customers pretty crappily if this was her example!

I told her she could find out the answer or not and call Daddy-O back, or not. I also told her I didn't like her being yelled at. I also told her I didn't think her boss would like that she yelled at customers, especially if it meant that I took my car policy, my renter policy, and BOTH of my life policies. And oh yeah, if I go, then my boyfriend would also take his car and renter policy, and father would take his home owners and car. And instead of finding a whole new company, I'd be more than happy to transfer to his competition right there in town, where I would get good customer service.

She got quiet and said she would take care of it, and hung up.

About an hour later I had a voice mail from her saying she had an answer to our question. She also called and left father a message.

I'm just pissed off. I keep waiting for the owner to call me and either apologize or chew me out. (a whole defending his employee thing...) He hasn't yet but then again she would have to tell him that she yelled at me first, and she knows I'm pissed and will take the insurance policies and run so maybe she's keeping her mouth shut about the whole thing.

I don't like having to deal with situations like that but I was not going to take her telling me I don't know anything AND then yelling at me.

I'm still pissed off about the whole thing. Maybe I'll pull my policies anyway.

Mags

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