Insurance - speaking to a real person!

[Orcade-Ian]

The insurance on my latest steed - the Forza runs out mid April but because of this forthcoming trip to Germany and Austria, I wanted to increase the mileage for the next policy and add EU breakdown cover.  I logged on to the 'portal' and tried to find contact details - I won't say the company name but apparently you only have to make 'One Call'  - except you can't!  They send no reply emails, there is no phone number and if you receive a text, you can't reply to that either.
So you request a chat - for the last few days i've been number 48, 37 and today 22 in the queue.  I eventually got through (27 mins) and told them I don't want to renew and not to do any auto renewal.  They then tried to re-quote cheaper but I gave up and ended the chat before I got abusive.
All my classics and the Super Cub are with PJ but they said when I was buying the bike that they would not be competitive - hence a separate policy.

After lunch today, 4 minutes after picking up the phone to PJ, I'm sorted and they will include the Forza with unlimited mileage and EU breakdown cover for a very good price.

Hopefully I will escape ever having to deal with these 'Chat' systems again where you can feel your blood pressure rising and your life ebbing away!

Too many rants used up today, will have to borrow some from next week!

Ian

[Skoti]

Aye Ian,

I've been with PJ for a few years now for my UK registered bikes.
For many years I used to be with Carole Nash until I had a similar experience as you.

I do wonder if doing insurance business directly with well informed people may catch on again rather than via web sites with idiots...

 

[Orcade-Ian]

I hope you are right Skoti,
Although I'll be 75 when I'm away on my trip, I can normally find my way around computers and automated systems but this last experience has made me all the more determined to kick against this and just vote with my feet.  I've only scratched the surface in the original post of the problems I've had with these numpties and the number of wasted hours trying to sort things out - right from the first dealings with them and should have just bit the bullet with PJ.  They (PJ) were very fair to say they wouldn't be competitive but if you include the time wasted and stress involved, it would have been worth any extra even back then.

This shite goes right across the board - energy, telecomms, councils, healthcare and much more - we need to rise up and put a stop to it,

Ian

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Back in the day there were a few small Privately run  Insurance brokers in Derby - pretty much all gone today. It appears we lost the local brokers to the likes of Direct Line & Mr Meerkat. PLC's have taken over and prices have risen to pay the shareholders.

AI has a long way to go judging by my Banks Chatbots.

[Laverda Dave]

I was with CM for over 20 years. Carole was fantastic but when it was sold to one of the big boys prices doubled within a couple of years.

Going back to Ian's original point, I had to contact Nectar yesterday due to a problem with my card. I had to use the 'live chat' function. After 45 minutes of endless texts to an overseas call centre I gave up and closed the chat down with no result. Had I been able to speak to a real person on the telephone it would have been resolved in 5 minutes!
My local council has now removed the reception and telephone operators desk from the civic centre to 'save money'. You now have to call a main telephone number where it is all automated and use the keypad to navigate to the department you wish to speak to. When you finally get there nobody answers the phone because nobody works in the council building anymore as all staff now undertake 'hybrid' working, in other words they work from home.
Is it any wonder the country is broken and it is impossible to get anything done anymore. Meanwhile the goverment (no matter who they are) are in the pockets of the major corporations and allow massive profits to be made and paid to mainly overseas shareholders at the expense of service to customers.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Too true Dave - I'm with NFU for our cars. Great old fashioned service including the office being shut on Saturday afternoons & all day Sunday.