My towing and service company, which has been in business 14 years, became contracted on Dec. 14 to service members belonging to Allstate, Signature, and GE Motor Club. As a service provider, we have always attempted to service all customers to the best of our ability. Since becoming a service provider 2 years ago, my area has been through at least 4 region managers assigned by the motor club to help the providers with billing issues, zip code territory, etc. Up until May I hardly had any issues that would require me to contact my region manager.
As per our original contract in 2009, we could only charge $32 for a hook-up, the first 5 miles are towed for free for the motor club, and $2.50 per mile afterward. I contacted my new region manager, Bill Dolan, in May to request a raise because of the diesel fuel increase to almost $5 per gallon. I had only asked for an $8 raise per hook-up, a price that I did not find unreasonable. After discussing the issue with him, Mr. Dolan informed me that I would not be receiving any additional money. Feeling that this was unfair given my reasoning, I tried contacting Mr. Dolan's boss, Jeremy Kline, with no answer. I left a voice mail asking him to please return my call. After over a week with no returned call, I emailed both Mr. Dolan and Mr. Kline attempting to discuss this matter further. I only received an email from Mr. Dolan, who again stated no raise would be given but that he would reduce my zip code territory, which meant I would have lost money. I emailed back stating I did not wish to reduce my area, and never spoke of the raise again.
In June I noticed that I started receiving several calls a day for areas that I do not provide service in. These areas require permits to service legally, and I do not have such permits. Again I called Mr. Dolan about this matter, because it was being marked badly against my company for not providing service in those areas, since they were listed as my areas. After attempting to contact Mr. Dolan for about 2 weeks, he finally returned my call. I explained my concern to him and asked him to please remove those areas, since I never signed up for them in the first place. His response was that he felt I should obtain the permits because he wanted me to service those areas. Unfortunately, it is not as easy as it sounds. It costs several hundreds of dollars and time to obtain those permits, and I honestly was happy staying in my area, not having to travel several miles outside my area to receive $32. We ended the call with my belief that the problem was resolved, as Mr. Dolan is the only person who can add and remove zip codes.
Since July I had tried to contact Mr. Dolan and Mr. Kline several times to discuss the zip code territory problem, since Mr. Dolan never removed those added zips. I have had employees of Allstate send emails every week to Mr. Dolan asking him to contact me for billing issues and zip code territories. Mr. Dolan never returned 1 phone call or email.
On Dec 9 my phone completely stopped ringing for tows and services, which had never happened in 2 years. On the 10th I called the call center to find out the reason. After being on the phone for 1 hour, they stated that I was no longer a provider but could not explain why. Since it was Saturday, I would have to wait until Monday for the explanation. Monday morning I started attempting to call Mr. Dolan again, with no answer or call back. After several hours I called another region manager. He seemed upset, as I was not in his area, but I had to call him to be given an explanation for my termination. The system stated lack of acceptance of calls since Dec 1, which meant I was not accepting any services for the members. The region manager then asked if I had been given a call from Mr. Dolan about this problem or been given a trial period to raise my acceptance. When I told him the story, he emailed Mr. Dolan asking him to call me and stated that I should have received a call about this matter before my termination. Several hours and voice mails later, I had not received a phone call back.
Finally, while attempting to call again, Mr. Dolan answered the phone. He stated that I had only accepted 4 out of 30 phone calls in 7 days. I of course disputed that number, since I am the only person who answers the phone 24/7 and I know that I did not do what he was saying. I then asked him why he had not returned any phone calls since July. I was informed that he felt I was a waste of his time and he did not feel like speaking to me about any issues I may have been having. By the end of the phone conversation, Mr. Dolan asked me what I wanted him to do for me. I requested to be reinstated as a provider, since he refused to show me the proof of his claims and since I was terminated for "not doing my job" when it is clear he is the one not doing his job (with proof). He told me he would never be reinstating my company as a provider. At that time Mr. Dolan hung up.
I contacted Allstate Motor Club Corp. and explained the situation. The next day I received a phone call stating they had contacted Mr. Dolan and would stand by his decision. I asked if they saw the proof behind the termination, and they stated no. So now here I am, after being a dedicated provider for 2 years and losing my job for no reason.
Now the truth for the members. I have read several complaints about the service providers not reaching the members in the time frame given. The truth is it is not always the providers' fault. I have had members who have been lied to by the call center. I have said I would be there in 60 minutes, but the member was told 15 minutes. 20 minutes later I am getting phone calls from the member who is upset that I was not there yet.
The truth: several times I have provided service to a member and sent the invoice to billing for payment, and have been told the member does not have any coverage, even though I was given an authorization number for payment. After calling billing several weeks in a row, I will finally receive payment. Providers do not like working for free, and that is what Allstate tries to do, hoping providers will not catch the non-payment so Allstate does not have to pay out.
The truth: the call center gives bad addresses and phone numbers to the providers for the member. I guess they think service providers have a crystal ball to tell us where the member really is.
0 comments