Waited for a Break in my day to call the Claims people, finaly got thru around 4pm.
Still no record in their system of the Coverage.
Gosh this is a GREAT policey.
I guess tomorrow I will have to start getting pushy.
Called the Administrator who said to go ahead and have it towed in, then call them from the dealer. I stated that the policey said to call them BEFORE doing anything... so he put me on hold to check the coverage and came back to say YES towing was covered and they would dispatch same.
Transferred me to ??? who stated that there would be help within an hour.
1 hour and 20 min they called to say was I satisfied, NO, No one has arrived.
Put on hold... 15 min they say he's caught in heavy traffic, maybe 20 min more. OK (customers were coming in early for their appts and saying how light traffic was) 40 min they check again... Nope...... Put on hold... 20 min more he's doing a service call.... OK 3 hours and 40 min later they arrive and load Zippy up......
2 hours and 20 min later (15 miiles) Sarah from smart Seattle calls to tell me the car just arrived and the dude only knew it belonged to a "Chris" and wasn't sure of the phone #... Talking to me she came to realize who I was and exclamed "What? You did it again" She will call me tomorrow to let me know when I can pick it up. She was not at all happy with the proffessional level of the tow driver, nor I........
Hopefully I can find a way out to smart Seattle before my days appointments jam up in the afternoon.
So far, this Tire and Rim Insurance leaves much to be desired.
I know it is unusual, this early in the policey to have a claim, BUT if I were truly calling from the side of the Road I'd be toast .... it took 4 Days for a response.
Don't drop your AAA
Last time I did this... AAA was here within 40 minutes of my call and I was at the dealer within an hour or so.
I held out on this occasion and didn't involve AAA, because I wanted to see how this Tire and Rim Insurance handled things. So far they don't rate to high in my book.
I shall report what it ends up actually covering and what it doesn't.
Last edited by Chris Wurgler; 11-12-2009 at 10:07 PM.
Don't drop your AAA
Last time I did this... AAA was here within 40 minutes of my call and I was at the dealer within an hour or so.
Agreed - but also a tip for AAA calls: Tell them up front what kind of car you have and whether you need a flatbed. My wife needed a tow for our Explorer a few months back, and they sent a pickup. He arrived, "Yep, you need a tow truck. I'll call that in." An hour later, a tow truck arrives. "Oh, I can't tow that. " Another hour, another truck, "Wait, you have 4WD? We'll need a flatbed." After 4 hours she finally got a flatbed to tow the truck three miles to the dealer, who extremely graciously fixed the broken starter wire in five minutes.
Moral of the story: Flatbeds are more rare, so they'll send whatever's closest.
I called to have my Expedition towed after the lower ball joint broke. I specificly asked for a flatbed as it is 4wd and the front end was laying in pieces. The towing place is less than a mile away. They showed up with a standard tow truck and proceeded to hook onto the front wheels (which was only attached by 1 ball joint and the axle...) I told them I didn't think that was a good idea... well he told me he does it all the time and to shut up.... To make a log story short, A second truck (flatbed) had to be sent out after he snapped off the axle and dumped the truck in the middle of the street... The repair shop said that was the 3rd time a broken ball joint had come in with a damaged axle from that same towing place... I sent them the bill asking for them to pay for the damage to the axle. they said they weren't responsible... I'd like their job. take the money and no responsibilities... needless to say, they don't do much towing anymore. the word got out.
Well yippie, by 10:30am this morning the car was fixed....
BUT, I can't pick it up till a represenative from the Insurance Co looks at it.
They will call when I can come get it.
I had marked out at work till 2 thinking I would get a ride out there.
It's going on 3pm, no call
I'm booked this afternoon till 7 and all tomorrow...
Maybe Sunday I can get out there?
Great Insurance, I'm sooooo happy
3:42 PM, smart Seattle called and said I could pick it up and they would deal with the Insurance guys when they finally, if ever got there. Got a cancellation in my appointments @ 11:45 tomorrow, so will try getting a ride out there and be back by 1:30
Last edited by Chris Wurgler; 11-14-2009 at 10:08 AM.
I told them I didn't think that was a good idea... well he told me he does it all the time and to shut up....
... they said they weren't responsible...
I took a business law class a few months ago and one of the basics was that of expertise helping determine liability. If you're the average Joe, not necessarily trained or experienced in towing, and you hire someone who specializes in exactly that - they're responsible for damages caused by a mistake or bad judgement on their end. You trust them to know what they're doing, just as you trust a doctor to know what medicine to prescribe. Likewise, if your repair people managed to screw up the job through similar negligence, and you crashed as a direct result, they're probably liable.
I guess the Insurance adjuster finally showed up at the dealer's and couldn't really figure out why he had to check it out as they know the rims can't be repaired. Seattle smart said "fine can we get an approval #" Well, no, I just OK it and head office gives the approval # and they are closed now till the beginning of the week..... smart said hey the dude has been waiting 5 days and now you want him to wait a couple more, even when the work is done? Maybe we should be dealing with a different Insurance agency. We'r releasing the car to him and we will settle with you later.
Thanks smart center Seattle , you did your part.
I know this could have all been sped up if I had just used AAA to get my car out there, and smart center Seattle said they would deal later with the Insurance.I wanted to go strictly thru the Insurance and see how efficient they were with a new policey holder. Not too good, Hope they perform better normaly but I wouldn't have too much faith in them. Their Road side Emergency service is really half assed compared to AAA, you could freeze to death waiting for them.
smart Seattle dealer is Great in my book.
If you do need to call the Tire and Rim Roadside Emergency # and you are on a cell phone, DO NOT let them put you on HOLD, ask them to call you back when they are ready. They think nothing of putting you on hold for 15 to 20 min and if you are beside the road you could well have your phone battery go dead before your calls are completed. As stated before, you might want to keep your AAA as backup to this policy.
Last edited by Chris Wurgler; 11-15-2009 at 09:50 AM.
I guess the Insurance adjuster finally showed up at the dealer's and couldn't really figure out why he had to check it out as they know the rims can't be repaired. Seattle smart said "fine can we get an approval #" Well, no, I just OK it and head office gives the approval # and they are closed now till the beginning of the week..... smart said hey the dude has been waiting 5 days and now you want him to wait a couple more, even when the work is done? Maybe we should be dealing with a different Insurance agency. We'r releasing the car to him and we will settle with you later.
Thanks smart center Seattle , you did your part.
I know this could have all been sped up if I had just used AAA to get my car out there, and smart center Seattle said they would deal later with the Insurance.I wanted to go strictly thru the Insurance and see how efficient they were with a new policey holder. Not too good, Hope they perform better normaly but I wouldn't have too much faith in them. Their Road side Emergency service is really half assed compared to AAA, you could freeze to death waiting for them.
smart Seattle dealer is Great in my book.
If you do need to call the Tire and Rim Roadside Emergency # and you are on a cell phone, DO NOT let them put you on HOLD, ask them to call you back when they are ready. They think nothing of putting you on hold for 15 to 20 min and if you are beside the road you could well have your phone battery go dead before your calls are completed. As stated before, you might want to keep your AAA as backup to this policy.
Thanks for being patient with us Chris. The claim process is a bit of a pain in regards to tire/wheel claims. I finally got a call back this morning at 8:02 am and they authorized the payment.
Hopefully in the future we will be able to streamline the process as I have ruffeled a few feathers. My area rep and the manager from the warranty administrator have both been contacted and should be getting back to me hopefully in the next day or so.
Myself personally I found the entire situation unacceptable. It should not take 5 days to get someone to say "ok fix the flat tire".
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