There is a proverb -“The proof of the pudding is in the eating”. This holds true for any customer’s experience with an auto insurance company. I would like to share my recent experience with 21st Century. On an unfortunate night in August 2006, while I was returning home, I had to halt at a stop sign. I was also waiting for the through traffic to pass by so that I could take a left turn to my home. Meanwhile, there was another SUV driver who was standing perpendicular to my car, to take a left turn. Due to his hasty action, he banged my car on the driver side and fled without stopping. All I could get was a glimpse of his car number. This incident happened pretty late in the night, that I did not want to risk my life, to file a police complaint.
However, I called up 21st Century on the same night about the accident. The next day was when my woes started to unfold and I got to taste the bitter side of the 21st Century claim adjustors. A lady named, Antonietta Dankowski called me up that morning. Her voice was so curt and she never was patient to listen to what I had to tell. She was angry with me as I had not filed a police complaint the same night. Her interrogation went in a way, as though I was the culprit in the accident. However, in reality I was the victim. I did reply to her stating that I’d to ensure my safety before I could even think of filing a complaint. The irony is that 21st century caption goes as “Good People To Call”. I beg to defy that their CEO must change this caption.
Being in the service industry, 21st century must focus on selecting claim adjustors who treat customers with respect and care. I also called up the police to file a CR report. I later contacted Antonietta’s boss and raised my concern about her handling of my case. I also mentioned that I would like to deal directly with him. For she hardly has any people skills and did not know how to treat customers with respect.
As my driver side door was damaged, I had decided to drop my car at the body shop. They told me that it would take one week to fix my car. I was asked to pay my $500 , once my car was fixed.I was given a rental car by 21st century, during this time. At the end of one week, I called up the body shop to find out whether my car was ready. It so happened, that they had forgotten to call me, even though they had fixed my car the previous week.
I was in for a shock, when the rental car company wanted to charge an extra $25 for dropping the car late. I did reason out with them, how it could have been possible for me to drop the car, if no one had called me up. The rental car company and I had to
inform 21st century to settle this dispute. After a month, I received a letter from the subrogation unit that they’re discontinuing any attempts of recovery from the other party.
There was no information on who was at fault or whether they found a match with the number plate etc. I had to contact the claim adjustor once again, demanding a detailed explanantion of why my case was closed without providing a detailed analysis.
Later, a lady from the subrogation unit called me up and said that I was not at fault. I did let 21st century know that if I was not at fault, why should I pay my deductible. I had requested them to reimburse my deductible amount.
Finally, last week, I received my check. It is sad that 21st century is interested in getting the money from customers, when we renew our license policy. Maybe, they should also spend some time in focusing on how to retain loyal customers.
I filled out a customer survey stating that I was absolutely displeased with their service, especially the way my claim was handled by them. Ever since, I filled out this survey, their customer loyalty department has been after me, to get some details on why I’m planning to switch to another insurance company.
There is no point crying over spilt milk. If only 21st Century knew how to treat customers well, they would have been in a much better situation. In short, I would say “21st Century- Bad People to Call”. Beware !
Reference:
- “21st Century – Bad people To Call” can be found at www.associatedcontent.com
