First off, I will say I did not get ripped off by this company because I didn't give them my business. However, my experience with them was enough to make me want to file a report warning consumers not to fall for their antics.
Back story... I received a call from this company at my work number, but decided I'd give them 5 minutes. Super nice representative transferred me to a "coverage specialist". This guy was also super nice. They informed me that they wanted to offer me coverage on my vehicle as they noticed my previous 5-year warranty with them had expired the prior year (I had purchased a transmission and engine only policy when I bought the car used from a small town dealer for that added protection). The new coverage would be full comprehensive but they needed a commitment by the end of the call and an immediate down payment of ~$400 (along with $215/month payments for one year for a total of ~$3000 for the policy). Thinking the immediate commitment and payment were a little much, I told them I wouldn't be able to make that decision without thinking it over. They then said they couldn't do that because it would be like contacting them only when I needed them... Which is not at all the case. I wanted to be able to think it over like I would a quote that I received for some house work. No, not with them. The guy asked me "Why would you want to gamble and not have the coverage when you had it before?" which was rude but I answered back with "I am more financially stable now, however this is what I consider an unexpected high expense that I'm not about to make a decision on right this second." He didn't care.
I proceeded to tell them that with my current family's unexpected major medical health needs I didn't know what the coming months would hold for us financially, so I'd have to pass on the offer. They then said they could take $200 off of the total price of the policy and immediately file a hardship to keep me "covered" (which I wasn't) and they could cut my payments in half and pay for two years instead of one. To which I said, thanks but no, I'd still like to review something before signing up for this. They told me I could see a sample policy online and I guess they'd wait for me to review it... I didn't get that far... I wanted to review MY quote. So they offered me another $200 off the price. I just said thanks but I'll take my chances for now.
Instead of them saying "Thanks lady. Call us when it's a better time and we'll see what we can offer you" which would've been the perfect end to the call, I got this: "So you want to take your chances with paying out of pocket costs on a high risk vehicle and pay more in the long run instead of being protected?", "Ummmm, yes", I said thinking this guy was the biggest A-hole. I stayed on the phone thinking this can't end this way. It did not get any better. This fellow talked over me when I was trying to answer his condescending questions. Then when I said "please let me finish", he says "well, you are talking over me!" Seriously, this guy acted so childish and desperate and like he just wanted to pick a grade school fight.
Let me just say that I reminded him my car is not high risk... It's 9 years old and has about 117k miles... No serious issues. My husband and I are proactive and preventive with all of our belongings. This company considers high risk to be anything over 100,000 miles and will try to convince you that you need coverage like it's the plague you are protecting yourself from.
This guy (I think he might have been an owner or something because he made a reference to "my business") proceeded to call me "sweetie" several times as if he were trying to talk me into buying a designer handbag or some crap. Our phone call lasted about 20 minutes too long because he refused to take my answer of "I can't make that kind of commitment right now." I just sat there not saying anything at one point and then finally got honest and told him I wouldn't buy a thing from him based on the entire situation. To which he laughed at me! I then told him that he was doing crappy business and I couldn't see anyone buying his services no matter how awesome the policy was... If you are looking for customers you better strive to make them happy. If they aren't happy you will not get their business.
I feel sorry for the guy because I honestly think they are desperate for business. Why would he keep trying to convince me I needed this coverage based on my circumstances? I said several times that I'd love to have the option to think about it and call them back; it's my loss if I don't, etc. And I even said 5 minutes before I hung up on him "this situation is really ticking me off. Why don't you go try to convince someone else of your services." and he still kept going. This wasn't just someone having a bad day people. This guy is genuinely doing crap business and thinks it's ok. All I know is his name was Nathan. I hope the rest of the "coverage specialists" for this company aren't like him but this is what I dealt with yesterday.
I honestly was going to call them back in a couple of months once things settled down for me... His comment to that was "well, everyone wants to come looking for help when they need it." Which doesn't apply to me but, again, he thought that comment was ok. Now, I'll avoid this company to no end and will share my experience with anyone who asks. Hopefully, they'll get their act together, but yeah, for now I'd rather pay a mechanic twice as much as I would've paid for this policy in total as long as the mechanic did honest work. I'd rather walk everywhere I needed to go and have no car than have this coverage! This guy was just clueless in running a business. Unfortunate, really.
Also, a note of caution with this company: at one point our call was disconnected and they called me right back but made it appear to be from a "local" number within my area code when before they called me from a Missouri area code number; I've heard to be leery of this in the past. Please just do your research and if anyone demands you have to make a decision over the phone concerning any amount of money, much less $400, then trust your instinct which I would hope would be not to do it.
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