Maxmosbey
Final Approach
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
- Messages
- 5,247
- Location
- San Juan, PR/Ames, IA
- Display Name
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I need to get serious.
I have had to make claims on my auto insurance twice in as many months. I'm sure that I'm going to be punished for it, but I made the claims anyway. The first was my wife got a huge chip in the windshield of her Solstice. We took it in to the dealership to get an oil change, and I asked the people in the service department if they would look at it and tell me what they could do. They said that they would have someone from the body shop look at it. So they called back a half hour laater and said that they could not repair it, so they needed to replace it. I asked them how much, and they told me $240. Now to set the stage, the car was at G...W.. Chevrolet getting all of this done. So I called up my insurance company, which is Allied Insurance and told them the story. The lady says, "you need to take it to one of our certified glass repair centers to get an estimate." I asked where a certified glass repair center was, and she said that there were several in Ames. So I asked if she might let me know the names of the places. She read off a llist. The third one was G...W...Collision Center. I say, "it is sitting at G....W.... right now. They are the ones that say that it has to be replaced." The lady became confused. She says that she thought that I had it somewhere getting the oil changed. I told her yes, I'm having the oil changed at the dealership. She says again that I have to take it to a certified glass repair centers. I said that G...W.. Collision Center is part of G...W...Chevrolet. She thinks about that for a little while, and then asks me if I want them to do the work. I tell her I do. She says that she will have to call G...W... Collision Center and see if they will replace it for what Allied will pay, or something like that. She calls back in ten minutes and says that they will replace the windshield, but warns me I will be responsible for $50. She doesn't tell me, she warns me. I say that is fine. So I pick up the car later in the day, and the bill says that I owe $50, and it shows that they charged the insurance company $301. What the heck, why can I get a better deal than the insurnce company? Does the insurance company not know that I could get them a better deal? Do they know that the collision center quoted me a lower price? The only think I can think of is that perhaps they are charging more because they have to do a bunch of paperwork for the insurance company, that they wouldn't have to do for me. I don't know though. That is just why my dentist told me he charges the insurance companies so much more than he does otherwise.
The second was last week. I backed into my housekeeper's car. I didn't hit it that hard, but somehow I broke a line to an oil cooler, and had to have it towed. I called the insurance company so they said that I would have to have it towed to an authorized collision center. I asked where there was an authorized collision center and she rattled of a bunch of body shops in Ames here. So my housekeeper picked one. I'll just call it XYZ body shop. I have done business with them before, and they are a good place, but they are a body shop. For a broken oil line I would think that they would send it to a garage, and I even suggested a particular garage, but what the heck. So I asked if I needed to call XYZ and have them come and get the car. The insurance lady said that they contracted with certain tow services, and that she would have one of their "authorized" tow centers send a tow truck to have the car hauled to XYZ. I said,"XYZ has a tow truck, why don't we just have XYZ come and get it", Nope, they would send someone. So an hour and a half later, a wrecker from the garage that I had recommended in the first place shows up to haul the car to XYZ. That whole thing just seems way more complicated than it needs to be. I have to think that they could save a lot of money if they wanted to. What the heck is going on with them?
The second was last week. I backed into my housekeeper's car. I didn't hit it that hard, but somehow I broke a line to an oil cooler, and had to have it towed. I called the insurance company so they said that I would have to have it towed to an authorized collision center. I asked where there was an authorized collision center and she rattled of a bunch of body shops in Ames here. So my housekeeper picked one. I'll just call it XYZ body shop. I have done business with them before, and they are a good place, but they are a body shop. For a broken oil line I would think that they would send it to a garage, and I even suggested a particular garage, but what the heck. So I asked if I needed to call XYZ and have them come and get the car. The insurance lady said that they contracted with certain tow services, and that she would have one of their "authorized" tow centers send a tow truck to have the car hauled to XYZ. I said,"XYZ has a tow truck, why don't we just have XYZ come and get it", Nope, they would send someone. So an hour and a half later, a wrecker from the garage that I had recommended in the first place shows up to haul the car to XYZ. That whole thing just seems way more complicated than it needs to be. I have to think that they could save a lot of money if they wanted to. What the heck is going on with them?