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I Hate GEICO Insurance
I'm writing to express my deep displeasure with the service I recieved yesterday from GEICO.
I have just returned from an extended overseas stay. Unfortunately, due to a forwarding error on my mail, I did not recieve my bill for renewal at the beginning of this year. This error is entirely my responsiblity and I place no blame on GEICO for this. However, I do object to the extortionist policies that GEICO seems to have in place regarding reinstatment of lapsed policies.
I understand that GEICO required me to purchase a new policy because of the lapse in my insurance. I do not understand, however, why the company should take this opportunity to resell me a policy that offers reduced services at nearly twice the price! My credit record remains spotless, as does my driving record. I offered to make the delayed payment - an option which my health insurance company offers me, but GEICO does not. In spite of the shocking increase in fees, I continued to be interested in reinsuring with GEICO and requested a rate quote and a payment schedule.
Again, I continued to consider using GEICO until I asked about cancellation issues. Immediately following my inquiry, the staff member informed me that the payment schedule that she offered me initially was no longer available and I would have to pay the entire six month premium in full. At this point, my interest in continuing with GEICO was still intact, but rapidly disappearing. I asked to speak with a manager, who also refused to offer me a payment plan and continued to state that I would have to pay the entire doubled premium up front to be reinsured.
Naturally, I have chosen to go with another provider, one who offered me coverage that is still above my previous rate, but is over 200 dollars a year LOWER than GEICO's reinsurance rate. I can not for the life of me understand why GEICO should choose to lose a customer with an excellent driving record, a history of regular payment, one who has carried a GEICO policy for several years. I was willing to offer concrete proof of my absence from the US. I was willing to make the overdue payment in full and pay for the next few months. I was even will to reinsure at the outrageous rate offered, but when treated like a credit risk and common criminal by GEICO based purely on my inquiry about cancellation, GEICO left me no other choice but to go straight to a competitor.
Rest assured that complaints will be filed with any number of consumer advocacy groups about this poor treatment.
Your former customer in Seattle,
PM
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I hate Northwest Airlines.
I'm writing to express my extreme disappointment with the quality of service I've been receiving from Northwest Airlines as of late.
I've been traveling with Northwest for many, many years now. Unfortunately, the decline in service has been something I now come to expect. I realize that concerns in the industry have made cost cutting necessary and there are certain amenities that seem to have disappeared almost entirely. The toothbrushes, the hot washcloths, the real flatware, the drink cart parked outside the galley so that a dehydrated traveler can get plenty of liquids on their journey have all but faded in to oblivion. There are, however, some things that this passenger considers as included in the price of their ticket and when these services are not provided, some compensation is in order.
There are two specific things: a meal and in-flight entertainment.
On my flight to Amsterdam in December, I was served a dinner that was not just unpalatable, it was inedible. The entree, which was supposed to be a vegetarian lasagna, was served lukewarm. Furthermore, it was undercooked, except where the "filling" had turned to a sort of thick glue. My meal reminded me of nothing so much as the containers of paste used in kindergarten classrooms. I requested another meal but was told that the plane was loaded with only one meal per passenger and it would not be possible to get me something else to eat. On a short flight, this is annoying but manageable, but on a transatlantic, this is totally unacceptable. I expect to be fed as part of the cost of my ticket. I do not expect a gourmet dinner, or even something to my liking, as I have learned that quality in an airline meal is not guaranteed. I do, however, expect the meal to be hot and if not tasty, edible. This meal was neither.
On my return flight to Seattle, I was seated in a location with a broken headset jack. Again, my expectations here are, I believe, in order. In-flight entertainment is included in the price of my ticket. On a full flight such as the one I was on, it was not possible for me to change seats to get a working connection. While lack of diversion on a flight is an irritation, it becomes especially crucial when seated next to a fellow traveler with a number of offensive opinions on women, Jews, Americans, and any number of minority groups. Should that fellow traveler also have an inclination to drink, making them especially talkative, a passenger is left with little escape besides the repeated phrase, "I disagree with your opinion, sir." The in-flight entertainment provides escape not just from the tedium of a long flight, but from the forced companionship of one's fellow travelers. I'm sure all Northwest employees can sympathize with the need to get away from all those annoying passengers, myself included.
The general discomfort of overcrowded planes, overworked staff, and overtaxed budgets is something I have reluctantly accepted when traveling with Northwest Airlines. The lack of basic services, however, is not acceptable. Because Northwest Airlines failed on both legs of my itinerary to provide me with the basics included in the cost of my ticket, I request a refund of some, if not all of the frequent flyer miles used in the purchase of this ticket.
Thank you for your speedy resolution of this issue.
Your customer in Seattle,
PM
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I Hate GEICO, Part II
Again I am writing to express my deep dissatisfaction and disappointment with the service I have recieved from GEICO. "Too little, too late" best sums up the service I received.
On Friday afternoon, I received a follow-up call regarding my cancelled policy. Apparently GEICO had seen fit, one week after my request and one week after I was compelled to purchase insurance through another provider, to reinstate my policy at the initial rate. GEICO should know as well as anyone that driving without insurance is illegal, and your delay of a week in offering me a reinstatement is totally unacceptable. Note that one of GEICO's inital objections to reinsuring me was your assumption that I may have been driving around uninsured. Yet, you delay one business week in deciding to reinstate my policy? This gives me one more week to drive around WITHOUT INSURANCE and does not resolve the issue in the timely manner I requested.
Furthermore, the person that contacted me assured me that 24 hour service was available, yet a reinstatement was not available when I called. If a review was required in order to offer that reinstatement, that information was not passed along to me. I would very much have been willing to leave my car undriven for the days it took to approve a reinstatment had that been offered. Instead, I was offered an increase in my rates by 100% along with a reduction in service.
Again, I must state my objections and dismay. As a steady customer with an immaculate credit rating and a clean driving record, I can not understand the poor treatment I received at the hands of GEICO. This poor treatment has cost me money, time, and has cost you an ideal customer.
At this point, I feel that GEICO is responsible for the increase in rates I have been forced to pay by compelling me to purchase another policy. I would like to be compensated for that increase and I feel I deserve an apology for the inconvenience and poor service I received at the hands of your representatives. At this point, I remain unable to feel this issue has been handled effectively and unable to return to GECIO as a customer, to recommend GEICO as a service to others, or to reconsider my plan to submit a formal complaint to the insurance commissioner and a number of consumer advocacy groups.
NOTE: A complaint was filed with the state insurance commisioner today.
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