DO IT NOW Financial Times - June 2013

I was quite pleased when my first call was met by an enthusiastic and very helpful sales representative on the other side of the line. The better part of an hour later, once we had covered all the basics with exceptional care and diligence, I was presented with a discounted premium of almost R800 less than I'm currently paying. Now that was time well spent I thought, until I asked the gentleman if he could send me the quote to work through before I made a final decision. His immediate response was that they do not send out quotes, but if I agree to an inception date for the first debit order, he would send me the relevant documents for my perusal. This should have set alarm bells off in my head, but I was so chuffed with my new and greatly reduced premium that I had negotiated, all by myself, that I happily agreed. The following day, a string of emails arrived, but I didn't have time to read the volumes and volumes of pages. So, I promised myself that I would look at them over the weekend. Needless to say, a full two weeks later I forced myself to sit down and that is when horror struck.

 

The content of the quote, or policy contract, was full of incorrect details. So much so that I totally lost heart and the thought of spending another half hour on the phone to correct the underwriting was just too ghastly to contemplate. I also realised that once the details had been corrected, my premium would probably end up being more in line with what I was paying my current insurer. Forced by the thought of the upcoming premium being deducted from my bank account, I phoned in to cancel my policy.

 

At the mention of the word ‘cancellation’ I was bombarded with questions, the tone less than friendly, about why I wanted to cancel. After stating my case, I was told to hold for an operator who would assist me with this process. After holding for almost ten minutes, I ended the call. I called again, only to have to explain my situation once more and then be placed on hold, again. At this point, and more than a little agitated, I ended the call. I called back a third time, but this time my mission was to obtain a direct number for head office so that I could speak to the Call Centre Manager, which I did. Thereafter, I must admit that I was assisted promptly with my cancellation, but what an unnecessary struggle it had been!