In my post last week I went off on my recent experience getting my car repaired after being hit. I was very frustrated, mainly, at how long it had taken for my car to be repaired. My frustration was compounded by how much I'm being charged for my insurance coverage. I think paying $3000+ per year would make anyone testy.

Anyway, I don't need to rehash what I wrote last week. Today, I was surprised to receive a call from Geico in response to my post. There was a very nice fellow named Tom who wanted to make sure that Geico did everything they could to make sure that my experience was not a typical example of what to expect from Geico. Granted, the negative aspects of the experience were primarily due to the length it took for the repair shop that Geico had urged me to use to fix my car, which is only indirectly attributable to Geico. The Geico agent involved, named Rick, was very nice and very professional. Towards the end of the conversation, I asked Tom how my blog had come to Geico's attention. He went on to explain that they had a team that does web searches with some software the technical explanation of which I don't remember. I was just beginning to feel special that my blog seemed important enough to warrant a phone call. Then Tom explained to me that my case had been forwarded down to him from the office of the Vice President of Geico, who he described as the guy who would become CEO if the current one were to retire. So, the Vice President of Geico read my blog. Or was at least made aware of it. Well, I hope he reads this one because Tom's phone call made me think for a moment.

After a pleasant conversation with Tom about how concerned Geico was that I had a negative experience (and probably more concerned that I shared such experience), I did what I would do in any such situation: I stopped to consider if I had been entirely fair. I told Tom that I had posted a blog that was very favorable of my experience with Geico more than a year ago. Upon looking back at it now, I realize that I had neglected to mention Geico's name in that post, instead merely referring to them as "my insurance company". That's not fair or consistent of me, right there. I threw their name around when complaining, but failed to identify them for the positive experience. I encourage anyone who may have been swayed away from Geico by last week's post to read the one linked to above from last year as a counterpoint.

All of this being considered and said, however, I'm still going to have to look elsewhere for my car insurance, because Geico did hike up my rates from around $640ish per 6 months to well over $1550 per 6 months. I wouldn't pay my own mother that much for car insurance. I've already been quoted by several companies for less than $720 per 6 months, so who wouldn't switch? So, to be fair, I'm leaving Geico due to their rates, not their customer service.

Reference:

Post from April '07 extolling the virtues of Geico Here.
Last week's rant Here.

NOTE: Spell check's suggested replacement for the word Geico? Gecko. I bet that's where they got the idea for their mascot.