I received a flyer in the mail from Wes Staub Allstate Insurance Agency in Garland, Texas. The flyer was touting the fact that they could get my annual homeowner's insurance premium down to $529 per year with the replacement cost of my house at $151k. The exact words in very large type were Your Annual Premium Rate Estimate - $529.27. There was a disclaimer in tiny, almost unreadable print at the bottom stating this may not be the actual rate.
As I am currently paying $852 per year, this sounded too good to be true. I called the agency on 03-13-09 and spoke to a girl named Daisy. I gave her my information and she said she would get together an exact quote and call me back. When she called back, she said my annual rate would be $1206 per year with a replacement cost of my house at only $149k.
I asked her what happened to the $529 per year rate it stated on their flyer. She said that was just an estimate. So the actual quote was over twice the amount of the estimate quoted on the flyer. I spoke to owner Wes Staub and told him this was a bait-and-switch tactic and was dishonest. He defended his advertising practice of luring potential customers into calling him with this deceptive advertising by saying I get some business off these flyers.
I told him this bait-and-switch advertising was dishonest and that they are intentionally misleading people into calling them by advertising a very low rate and then switching them to the real rate for their homeowner's policy. Wes Staub was adamant about this business practice as being something that was acceptable to do.
I will be filing a compliant for deceptive advertising with the Texas State Board of Insurance and any other agencies I can think of. I would advise anyone not to do business with the Wes Staub Allstate Insurance Agency as Wes obviously feels it is OK to use the old bait-and-switch tactic on unsuspecting homowners.
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