Originally Posted by Pairadocs
I probably should have waited a day or two before posting my experience, but I just called my "insurance agent" at The Villages Insurance Partners. The phone rang for some time, then auto hold came on. I expected that. I listened to 17 minutes of really irritating music, loud, strange, not your usual background music. Finally after 17 minutes what I thought was a receptionist came one, but no, just a human voice telling me how important they consider my call (yet strangely, nothing about staying on the line or how much longer the wait may be, but adding they are there for me 24/7. Again, strange message ?
I have been with them for years. Never heard from my agent since ! Never an annual call just to say "hello" and ask if I needed to reassess any policies, limits, etc. Have never encountered that with any other broker/agent/company, but thought, welcome to the new world of eliminate as much personal contact as possible. After another 7 minutes a receptionist answered. She asked why I called, said I would like to set up a person to person meeting with my agent, and explained since I've never had contact with him since, I was hoping she could look that up and give me his name. She didn't bother to cover her irritation that I did not have the information, but with a DEEP audible sigh, she said, well do you HAVE your policy number ? I told her I had my policy in hand, gave her the number, agent number (there was no name, only the agent number), address, etc. etc. She asked me to spell my name again. I did, slowly and distinctly. I do not have any speech or hearing impairments, and am used to giving such information slowly and clearly over the phone. Regardless of how many times I repeated it, she continues to confirm back adding a "P" to my name. I was very patient and just repeated, never said anything about how many times I had repeated it. She continued to tell me they have no record of me ( over 10 years their customer now. She continued to check and came back to ask my lot number. I gave it immediately. She checked on that and came back and said she'd found it. So I asked her to make the appointment, she VERY POINTEDLY ask me what I wanted to discuss with my agent ! I kept very calm and light but said, "well, actually there are several things I'm considering and it might get a bit too complicated to give an accurate synopsis on the phone, actually, that's why I called to get a sit down appointment."
This seemed to infuriate her, but I kept calm and friendly. She finally gave me an appointment, but was clearly "putout", perhaps over worked and there was a string of people on the phone "hold" system ? Then the real problem started. She asked for my phone number so they could call me if the agent had to change the appointment, etc. Understandable. But, I had to explain that I had just canceled my land line and was in the process of buying a new cell phone AND changing providers, so explained I was on my adult son's cell phone, but he would not be able to help her if she called him as he could not call me and relay the message. She went absolutely ballistic on me, as the teens say. HOW DO YOU EXPECT US TO GET A HOLD OF YOU if we need to, she actually she LOUDLY said into the phone. I said, well unfortunately for a day or two, you'll have to use email. Until I get the new phone activated, I am keeping my laptop on with my email up round the clock (reminded me of the career years...but I digress, LOL !) Another loud deep sigh, purposely not muted, and she said, is ____. gmail. com still your correct email address. I replied that no, I have never had a gmail address, and gave her my correct yahoo address I've probably had for 40 years ! Instead of saying just on civil word of, okay, thank you, "we must have entered it wrong", she very curtly said, "WELL that's what YOU gave us when you first became a customer." I assure you I have NEVER written down my email address on any form and added @gmail.com. But she became really angry then, asked ME if she should change it in their records. I said, "personally I would like to have it correct in the records, but I can't tell you how, or that you must change it." She said if I didn't tell HER what to do, she "was going to hang up" ! ! ! I said, I would like to have the email corrected in the records, NOTHING else, and she, HUNG UP ! I was left stunned. I am a very calm person, undemanding, and always understanding that people who work on the phone day after day do get so short tempered, but not having a phone for a few days, together with not being able to find my correct email, nor address, policy number, etc. just sent her into total explosion and a string of "you" messages, something I learned long ago should be avoided in conversations with clients; NO "YOU" didn't give us the correct information, YOU didn't spell your name correctly, YOU can't give us a phone number, YOU, YOU, YOU.
So now that I've vented on our Villages site, do I feel any better ? Not sure. Right now I am asking for RECOMMENDATIONS for an insurance agency that has offered you some civility, friendly communication, and where you don't feel punished for even being a customer. I'm not the entitled, demanding, type, but I really don't want any more of the attitude there. Who would others recommend ?
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