Thank You for Your Participation

Is it bad that I am excited that I got a survey in the mail this week?

I honestly don't mind doing surveys and generously giving my opinion to people who want to gather data on stuff...but I usually don't get excited about them.

Why the excitement this time?

Because this is a customer survey to rate my insurance agent...and I get to tell them what I really think of him and hope that they will chastise him severely for making a customer so dang mad.

For your benefit...I will explain:

I have been a customer of a certain insurance company since I was 16 years old. I am now 34...that means I have been a loyal customer of this company for 18 years. I really never had any complaints about the company and felt that they usually took care of things and they gave me discounts because I had a good record, had been with them for so long, had multiple policies, etc.

Then...I moved to Idaho. I went in and talked to the only agent for this company in the Rexburg area. He wasn't there...but the lady at the desk took care of everything and things seemed be smooth and no problem at all. That lady resigned at some point and then...the trouble began.

Every time I called the agent...he would say he needed to call me back and it would usually take a couple of days before he would. I figured he was just busy and that at least he called me back so it wasn't too big of a deal. As we were getting ready to leave Idaho, I needed to talk to him about my policies. We were trying to decide whether to sell our townhouse or rent it out while we were gone. I had no idea what that would do to our insurance so I called him. He said he'd have to call me back. I waited...for...2...weeks...and...he...never...called...me...back. So...I called him. He said he didn't have the data on that. I asked him to take a guess...I just needed a ball park figure. We went back and forth for weeks with me calling - him not calling and me getting really frustrated. After all...I had my house and 2 cars insured with them...even though I'm not a big client...I'm still a customer...right?

In the end we decided to keep the townhouse and rent it out. So...I needed to change our homeowners policy to a landlord's policy. I called and talked to his new front desk girl. She said she'd have him call. He didn't. I called and got him on the phone. He said, that he was with a client and would need to call me back. He didn't. I call...he doesn't...he leaves town...I get really mad and tell the front office girl that I want some help or I am switching to a new company...he calls and says he'll call back when he runs the figures...back and forth - again and again. We were now getting to the week before our move and needed to have our policy changed. I called again. No response. In desperation...I sent my husband to the office to talk to the agent. And...you guessed it...he had everything taken care of the next day.

Everything except for canceling our homeowner's policy...and then they sent me a statement saying that they were going to report me to our mortgage lender because I hadn't been paying my homeowners insurance. But that is another long story and this post is already getting too boringly long. So...the long and the short of it is...it took a while...but we got that sorted out too.

Now...you are surely asking...why haven't we just changed to a different company?

Because...we live in Arizona right now, not Idaho. But...when I get back to Idaho...you better believe that I will be looking for a new agent.

This brings me back to the survey. And why I can't wait to fill it out.

I wonder if they will be "thanking me for my participation" when all is said and done...

Have you ever been frustrated by an insurance agent? What did you do about it?