It's been a long time since I had to make an insurance claim. I know, I write about the topic all of the time, but it hasn't been since 1985 that I had any firsthand experience with adjusters. Well that all changed a few weeks ago.
I was driving home from the office and this big semi approached, with smoke billowing out of his vertical stack. We were on a single-lane highway and all of the sudden, BAM! Something hit the glass in front of me and at first I thought it was a shot from a BB gun. But no, it was an exhausted stone from the vertical stack that did a number on my windshield.
So the next day I called my insurance company. What else does one do when they're left with a nasty (and I mean really nasty) gouge in their windshield. Now you know, this is not a major issue to insureds who have been involved in a serious accident. And I also know that my old 1995 Jeep is not a major priority to many…but it is to me, because it still runs fine (Thank you, Chrysler!).
So I called my agent, a nice man. He instructed me to call the 800 number and advise the adjuster, who would take care of everything. Well, I called and got this nice, patient woman on the phone who advised that I could either take it "in" and have it fixed, or, if I wished, they would come to my office and evaluate the situation. I opted for the latter. Out they came the very next day, but advised that they couldn't repair it satisfactorily because it was right in my line of vision.
Their advice was to have a technician come out (again, to the office) and simply replace the windshield. I thought, "Yeah, sure! Maybe they'll show up in a week or two." Not so. They said they would be there the next morning — and they were. The next morning, my receptionist called and informed me that, "They're here!" (You would have thought it was her car!)
OK. So what's next? The nice man informs me that they're replacing the entire windshield right then and there, no charge, and no deductible. He'd leave the receipt with a zero balance on the front seat. "Would you like your wipers replaced while we're here?" he asked. I said no, not bothering to ask whether there would be an additional charge or not, since the wipers were OK. Anyway, no new wiper blades. "Would you like us to lock the car when we're done?" (They think of everything.)
"Yes, please."
Bottom line: This was not a major accident. No thousand-dollar repair bill. Very little inconvenience. Just excellent service. My God! There really is such a thing.
I forgot to mention that when the first technician said he couldn't patch it, I had to make a call back the customer service department. The second lady I spoke to told me they would be out between 8:00 a.m. and noon. I told her I sleep in and don't usually arrive at the office until 9:00 a.m. "Fine," she replied, "I'll note not until after 9:00 a.m. They arrived at 9:37 a.m. and left at 10:04 a.m.
I know, we didn't have to go into arbitration or anything like that. But good service is still good service. And prompt service is part of the deal and greatly appreciated. Bet you'd love to know who my insurance company is, but I'm not telling. Let's just say they were on my side.
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