State_Farm

I am writing this letter to complain about several aspects of the State Farm claims process and the lack of meaningful support and customer service provided by your company. The issues and areas of concern are as follows: Initial Accident Claims Process My accident occurred on August 19, 2010, at approximately 5:35 PM in the City of Los Angeles (near the intersection of Ventura Boulevard & Stern Avenue). I tried calling my local agent’s office however, his office had already closed for the day and I was directed to select an option for State Farm service. After waiting on hold for approximately 30 minutes, I then had to describe my accident in detail spending another 30 - 45 minutes on the phone all the while asking for a tow truck and help in locating a rental car. The State Farm employee was very polite and professional but I soon found out that even though I had Emergency Road Hazard coverage for my vehicle, all this meant was that I had to call for my own tow truck and submit a claim for reimbursement from State Farm at a later time. (This was of no help to me at all.) I knew I did not have rental car coverage on my policy however, the State Farm employee I was talking to advised me that she could not even help me locate a rental car and that she would have to transfer me to someone else after she completed interviewing me. (This was also of no help to me as most rental car locations in the area where I was located had already closed or were in the process of closing and time was of the essence if I was to obtain rental car in time.) After a considerable amount of time, I finally had to cut off the State Farm representative on the phone and I told her I need to secure a rental car as soon as possible. The State Farm representative stated that she would transfer me to someone else that could help me and she advised that a claims adjuster would be contacting me at some point to discuss my accident further and to ask further questions. (I was advised of this fact on several different occasions by several different State Farm employees however, no State Farm adjuster ever contacted me regarding my accident.) Lack of Follow-Up During Claims Process During the entire process, from filing my claim to the completion of repairs on my vehicle, I was only contacted by phone once by someone from State Farm. This contact consisted of a very brief phone call from a State Farm representative who advised me that “after market” parts would be used in the repair of my vehicle, that her notification was required by law, and that a State Farm adjuster would be contacting me to ask further questions and to discuss my claim. No one else from State Farm (including my local insurance agent) ever contacted me regarding my claim. I did receive some paperwork via the mail from State Farm regarding various required notifications under California law however, the only other contact from State Farm was a letter dated September 6, 2010, from the State Farm California Auto Reconsideration Coordinator, stating that your claims department had completed their investigation and had made a determination regarding my claim. Again, no State Farm adjustor or investigator ever made contact with me in regards to my accident. Poor Customer Service Provided By “Premier” Vehicle Repair Facility Since the accident did not occur anywhere near my home, I asked the State Farm claims representative for a referral to a repair facility. One of the recommended “Premiere” repair facilities was Folks Auto Body, 6705 Reseda Blvd., Reseda, CA 91335, (818) 881-7151. I called Folks Auto Body on the day following my accident and arranged for them to pick-up and inspect my vehicle. Early on Friday, August 20, 2010, I advised “Arthur” at Folks Auto Body that I needed to find out how long the repairs were estimated to take since I had rented a car and needed to have an idea of how long I might need the rental so I could calculate costs. (Called Folks Auto Body immediately upon their opening on that day since time was of the essence.) By mid-day on Friday, August 20th, I still had not received a call from Folks Auto Body so I called and requested to talk to a supervisor. I was advised that everyone was at lunch and the receptionist stated she would leave a message. The one and only call I did receive back from Folks Auto Body was later in the afternoon on Friday, August 20th, from a “George” who gave me a verbal estimate regarding when my vehicle “might” be ready. I advised him that I wanted to have a good idea of when my vehicle would be ready as I was renting a vehicle at my cost. During this discussion it became quite obvious that the only concern “George” had was to rent me a vehicle from his company as he kept stating that he could give me a deal on another rental. During the following days, Folks Auto Body repeatedly failed to call me to give me updates or even to respond to my calls. On the day that my car was first promised to be ready (I think it was Tuesday, August 24, 2010) I called Folks Auto Body to see what time it would be ready so I could arrange a ride to the facility and I needed to return my rental car to avoid additional charges. At this time I was advised by “Arthur” that the wrong radiator had been sent and that additional time would be needed to get the right part. During the conversation, I got the impression that Folks Auto Body had had this knowledge of the wrong part for at least a day and I asked why I had not been notified of the delay since my car had been promised by that afternoon however, Arthur had no answer as to why I had not been notified (even though “George” had previously advised me that Arthur was in charge of my repairs and was responsible for making sure I was notified). I was promised that my car would be ready on the following day by 2 PM. When I called Folks Auto Body on the following day (around mid-day) to arrange to pick-up my vehicle, I was then advised that my car would not be ready until 4PM and I was advised that Folks Auto Body would pick me up if I needed a ride to their facility. I arranged to leave my place of work early and arranged for a co-worked to give me a ride from downtown Los Angeles to my mother-in-law’s home in Reseda so I could await a call to pickup my car. I had called Folks Auto Body three more times during the day to make sure they were going to pick me up at my mother-in-law’s house and I was repeatedly assured by Arthur that it would take twenty minutes or so but someone would be by to pick me up in time to pick my car up at 4PM. (When I talked with Arthur, I advised him that I had to leave that afternoon for my home in Big Bear Lake and that time was of the essence due to an appointment I had to keep.) I waited for over 2 ½ hours with no return calls from Folks Auto Body and no one from Folks Auto Body ever showed up to give me a ride. I arranged to get a ride from a family member to Folks Auto Body where I arrived shortly after 4PM. At this time “George” advised me that he didn’t know anything about my waiting for a ride and Arthur stated that he told me it would take time and he acted like he had never told me someone would show up in twenty minutes to pick me up earlier in the day. It was also clear by the position of my vehicle in the Folks Auto Body lot that it had been ready for a considerable amount of time and no one at Folks Auto Body had bothered to call me despite my advising them that time was of the essence. At this time, I advised both George and Arthur that I was very unhappy with their company’s service and that they had repeatedly failed to give me updates or return my calls. I talked to “Arthur” of Folks Auto Body on several occasions during this process where he stated he would call me back and he never returned any of my calls. The one and only call I did receive from Folks Auto Body was the call I received from “George” on Friday, August 20, 2010. Unresponsiveness of Local Agent & His Office Staff (Very Poor Customer Service) Between the week of August 24, 2010, and the first week of November 2010, I called my local insurance agent’s office (D. J. Mathews, 21011 Bear Valley Road Suite 1 Apple Valley, CA 92308, (760) 247-8848,) on several occasions (at least 4 times) asking about why an adjustor had not contacted me and inquiring about how to make a complaint regarding the so-called “premiere” repair facility that State Farm had referred me to. On the first occasion, I talked to a female who stated that an adjustor would be calling me and if one did not in the next couple of weeks, I should call their office back. I was also advised by this female that State Farm would be sending me a survey to fill out regarding the repair facility so I should just wait for the survey to arrive in the mail but that if I did not receive one to call her office back regarding that issue as well. I called Mr. Mathews’ office at least three more times talking to two or three different females all of whom stated that they would make sure that someone from the State Farm claims office called me back regarding the failure of an adjustor to contact me and the fact that I had not received a survey regarding the poor service received from Folks Auto Body. As of Friday, November 26, 2010, I still had not received a call back from anyone from State Farm and I still have not received a customer satisfaction survey regarding the “premiere” repair facility I used. On this date, I called my local insurance agent’s office to express my dissatisfaction with the service of his office and discovered that his office was closed, so I left a message on his answering machine indicating my dissatisfaction with the service provided by his office and State Farm. On Monday, November 29, 2010, I did receive a call from a Mr. McNamara of State Farm who advised me that State Farm does not send out customer satisfaction surveys on their premiere facilities and that he could take the information over the phone. I advised Mr. McNamara that I could not discuss the matter over the phone as it was too involved, I did not have time, and that I would write a letter to State Farm regarding my complaint. I called my local agent’s office on the morning of Monday, November 29, 2010, to ascertain what the insurance premium amount was for my vehicle as I fully intend to take my business to another insurance company due to the poor (non-existent) service I have received. The female I talked to stated she was unaware of any message left for her office. Later the same morning, my wife advised me that our local agent D.J. Mathews called our house regarding my complaint advising that he also had not received my message left at his office. Mr. Mathews advised my wife that he had called me at work but that I indicated that I did not have time to talk to him which was untrue as I did not speak with Mr. Mathews at all on this or any other day. In fact, I have never talked to Mr. Mathews at any time in my life. Based upon this experience, I am very unhappy with State Farm and am actively looking for another insurance company to do business with.