The Annual Beagle Business Awards (The Buddies)
As is our custom (beginning today) Buddy Beagle and I have conferred on the best and worst personal business experiences of the prior year (Koufax is busy watching the Dog Channel on cable). After a tough evaluation, punctuated by pizza and pupperoni, here are our awards:
Outstanding Business Practices in General and Specific: Amica Insurance
Headquarters: Lincoln, Rhode Island
Amica does not use agents, and provides exemplary service in every area over the phone and by mail: making policy changes, claims, general information, company communications. Specifically, this past year the company made an error in its calculations creating a lower than proper premium on some policies. The company sent a letter explaining the error, and said that instead of trying to recollect at the moment, the increases and extra payments would be seen in future bills. They apologized for the inconvenience.
When I wrote to the president telling him how well they had handled the situation, he wrote me a personal letter thanking me and telling me this was the reaction they had hoped for with their customers.
I’ve been with Amica for 30 years: house, cars, umbrella liability. They are unceasingly pleasant, supportive, and responsive.
Most Reprehensible Act by an Uncaring, Customer-Deaf Monolith: Shell Oil
U.S. Headquarters: Houston, Texas
I’ve been a Shell customer for 40 years, have never failed to pay every month’s installment in full and have never been late with a payment. We have a wonderful Shell station two minutes away, where they give the dogs biscuits. My monthly bill can easily run to $800 or so in these times.
A few months ago, my son rented a truck to move to Los Angeles. I gave him one of our Shell cards to use along the way. In the meantime, my account was paid in full, and I was filling up two Bentleys and a Mercedes SUV, while Shell continued to raise its prices. Suddenly, our cards were no longer valid, and I’m getting dunning calls from the company (some idiot credit card company in Devils Breath, North Dakota or somewhere handles their billing). I was informed I had a $1,000 limit, it had been exceeded, and I had to make an immediate payment, even though my bill wasn’t due for a couple of weeks.
Talking to Shell was like talking to an actual shell on the beach, except at least there you can hear intelligible sounds. Despite their rabid increases in price, they never bothered to raise my limit (which I had no idea existed) over all those years, referred me to the “small print” and told me I’d have to submit an application to raise it and get a credit check. The individuals were rude and ugly, talking as if I were some kind of debtor’s prison candidate.
Letters to their executive offices went unanswered or answered by form letter.
Shell, and their moronic collection company, have Buddy’s and my vote for the dumb-ass, stupidest management in existence in 2011. The odds are they’ll be a prohibitive favorite to repeat in 2012 for many of you.
© Alan Weiss 2012. All rights reserved.
