Saturday, February 23, 2008

Customer Service Nightmare...

I'll try to make a very long story as short as possible. 5:30 pm we are driving down a road in daylight. My husband spots an owl. Being birdwatching/lovers we decide to turn around and check it out, me never having seen one in daylight, especially not as close as we were (it was on a pole at the side of the road). My husband turns around and pulls over to the side of the road, eases forward, and slips into the snow. Deep snow. We can't get it out. We're only 5 feet off the road. We call the insurance company. Agent #1 assures us they'll dispatch a tow truck, we'll get an automated message and help will be on the way. An hour an half goes by, we try calling back. Half an hour later, the sun is down, it's around 7:30 and we try a different set of options to try and get someone sooner, as a half an hour wait time on the telephone in 10 degree weather when you've already been waiting that long is unbearable. We select "stranded and not yet received help" and get someone. Finally, Agent #2 tells us that Agent #1 not only had our phone number wrong, but SINCE SHE COULDNT REACH US, SHE WENT HOME FOR THE DAY. She knew we were stranded, she didnt pass off the information, and left us there without help. (Nevermind that they could have checked our policy to find our phone number, as it's the only one we have)...

15 minutes later we call again, Agent #3 says that #2 has been on the phone and they can't get anyone in network to answer. 8:00 pm they finally find someone that can pull us out. Worst case scenario 2 hours. We get their direct contact number and numbers to call them back and talk to them, as they've been the most helpful at this point. Get a manager on the phone and get him to promise that he'll make sure Agent #1 is reprimanded for leaving us stranded for 2.5 hours and that they'll cover whatever it takes to get us out, tow company is to be pre-paid with a credit card so we don't have to deal with it. Call the tow company, they have all their trucks out, as soon as one comes in, they'll send someone our way. 9:30 pm, we call the tow company again, someone will show in 20 minutes...10 pm, they can't find us, somehow they got the wrong location information and they're going to keep trying. About 10 minutes later, get a call back saying that 'the road is too bad, they won't jeopardize the safety of their driver'. My husband goes ape $hit, gets out of the truck, I can hear him screaming. Something about the f'ing clear road he's standing on. Call insurance company again and complain. We've now been out here over 5 hours, it's gotten very very cold and we have no idea how much gas we have left, as the truck is on such an awkward angle. We can't stay out here all night. They say no one is answering except the one company that won't come for us. They are contacting the police. More ape $hit, what are we supposed to do? We know we're about 45 minutes from home, no family in the area, we assume we'll be spending the night at the jail in the lobby and waiting for the tow truck to try again in the morning light.

10:30 police officer shows up. FROM THE VERY TOWN AND ON THE VERY ROAD WHICH THE BIG ARSE TOW TRUCK COULDNT MAKE IT. We're pissed. The officer wants to know if my husband has been drinking. I almost go ape $hit and climb over the seat toward the officer. My husband, very calmly, says, no, we've been here for 5 hours, the tow company out of (town name) won't come to get us. Get this.. the very nice police man, says, I met her, she didnt even leave the city limits, she turned around, she didnt even try. He gets us to get into his very nice warm car. He starts calling and tries someone out of a town over an hour away. They are even farther away than that on another call. So he calls another person he knows who is out of town but headed our way and cancels the over an hour away guys. Tells them to bring gas so if the stations are closed, we can still make it home! He takes me to the bar about a mile down the road so I can go to the bathroom (yes, I should have taken off my clothes in 10 degree weather and wet the snow bank, but that's a lesson learned). Tow man comes in a regular truck and pulls us out. Guy says, I'll send you a bill, takes my husband's business card with our phone number and address scribbled on it. Profuse thanks.
We follow very nice police officer to the main highway. Right through the little town and on the road that the BATT couldnt make it on. The one cars had been running up and down all night long, cars stopping to laugh at us, and make sure we're okay. Help we refused because we believed that the insurance company was going to get us pulled out. (We got help offered twice from someone who may have actually been able to do it, once when we'd only been stuck half an hour, but he didnt have the right equipment, and once when we'd just been told the tow company was on it's way the first time, oh how wrong that was).. it was about a 3 mile drive on a near perfect road, that the BATT couldn't make it on. Profuse thanks to police officer. At last, the highway.
We made it home just after midnight. I heated some hot pockets as we hadn't eaten since noon while my husband called to make sure that SOMEONE was going to not only make sure Agent #1 gets at least her little tush chewed out, but also that the bill was going to be taken care of. Oh and that tow company who couldnt make it out of the city limits to help people stranded for 5 hours in 10 degree weather NEVER gets their recommendation again. Lots of B.S. later, we find out that we're going to have to be reimbursed, or work it out with our local agent, that if the local agent didnt pay, that they would see what they could do if we called back during normal business hours. We'd been routed through 3 different states on our phone calls. Everyone else we'd talked to had already gone home for the night, as it was past midnight. Duh... we know that dip wad we've been stuck on the side of the road for almost 7 hours.

It's now 7 am, I think I slept about 4 hours. I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm cranky, and I'm backdating this to Saturday for Blog 365. I think it's a pretty good reason, don't you? Oh and we never did see the damn owl.

11 comments:

Kelsey said...

What a disaster! I'm glad you are safe and warm now. Sheesh, that was quite the ordeal.

Anonymous said...

Now that is bad service. I can't believe that agent would just go home, without forwarding info; what a complete idiot. I hope she gets it good. And that tow truck driver, just too lazy to do the job, crazy.

Anonymous said...

All of that and you didn't see the owl!

Wendy said...

Oh my word! I can't even imagine!!! How bitchy and lazy can people be?!?

Anonymous said...

OMG! I am so sorry! I have been there and it is NO fun at ALL! Our insurance agent is a total &$#% too. I've waited 5 hours for a tow truck as well, but it wasn't in 10 degree weather! That makes me cold just thinking about it!

Unknown said...

That is one cruel owl! At least you had a little romantic time, right. :)

bichonpawz said...

OMG! Just reading it....sounds like...really awful!! Glad you finally made it out safe and warm...I can't believe you waited that long to go pee!

Ranni said...

OMG! I don't know what I'd have done. (or wanted to do anyway) Glad the cop was able to help you guys out. I wouldn't want Agent #1 chewed out, I'd want her job.

Lori's Light Extemporanea said...

Oh, have mercy! My blood pressure rises just thinking about it. I hope y'all write letters to everyone involved, copying to whatever supervisors you can and scream bloody hell.

Karina said...

Wow, what a nightmare. I'm not really sure how you managed to still keep as much composure as you did through this ordeal, I would have been out of my mind with rage. You're a better person than I.

Hey, check my blog later today, I've given you an award (it's not up yet, but will be later on).

Rebecca said...

That's absolutely horrible!! What insurance company was it?

P.S. Came here via Candid Karina! :-)