Customer Service is the Priority—Maybe in Other Industries

Has anyone given much thought to how the CEOs of insurance companies would react if they knew how their policyholders were being treated at the hands of some third-party administrators (TPA)? As a former employee of a glass shop, I witnessed some extremely poor treatment of customers at the hands of the customer service representatives. In a service industry, I would expect such treatment would be unacceptable at any link in the customer service chain. I would find it hard to believe that insurers would tolerate such treatment of their policyholders to save $20 on a glass claim. However, in the auto glass repair and replacement industry, the poor treatment of consumers at the hands of some third-party administrators is the rule and not the exception.

For starters, I remember being placed on hold, sometimes in excess of twenty minutes, while the customer service representative “educated” the customer on why they should not bring their car to our shop. The treatment was especially harsh when the customer was reporting the first notice of loss in our shop’s lobby. These calls always ended with a bewildered look and, in many cases, just plain anger. Fortunately, with the in-shop calls, we always retained the customer.

So we shall return to the question at hand. Why would CEOs of insurance companies allow their customers to be subjected to such abuse? Is it truly that they do not care? I doubt it. But I have not had the opportunity to ask them. It has always been my understanding that securing a new policyholder is costly. It has always been my understanding that an insurer must also retain that insured for a period of years to make that policy profitable. So again, assuming that this is true, why would insurance companies place the retention of a policyholder at risk for a few dollars?

In this industry, customer service should be priority number one. But it is not. The point of contact between the shop’s customer and the TPA is not the only point of contention. With the introduction of the “windshield bullies” nonsense (which I maintain that in and of itself a fraud) and the call by some insurers for inspections of windshields, the opportunity for consumers to get their automobiles properly and timely serviced has become even more problematic. More and more, I am taking calls that tell me that the inspections are taking an inordinate amount of time. The service that all of us provide to the consumer should be made as convenient as possible from the reporting of the claim to, at a minimum, the point where the consumer has been serviced and on their way.

Will there be any improvements in this industry in the area of customer service, especially as it appears that more and more, the insurers are dancing to the tunes of the TPAs and not vice versa? Recently, the Independent Glass Association announced the initiative to develop technology standards in the industry to improve customer service. It is believed that through the integration of state-of-the-art technology into the insurance claims process, customer service will be restored to the priority that it well deserves. After all, this is a service industry. Hopefully this should alleviate any concerns by consumers that the shop of choice is the culprit in the process. From experience, I know that many times the shop at which I was employed was viewed by the consumer as the weak link in the chain because, after all, our customers believed that all of the time, they were communicating directly with their insurance companies.

Will Customer Service Ever Become a Priority in this Service Industry?

With each passing day, I become more and more amazed how insurance companies embrace the status quo (at least publicly), as their customers get abused and disrespected at the hands of some third-party administrators (TPAs). If insurers have not learned by now, let me remind them that any TPA with a conflict cannot serve two masters. Only one master can be served and based on the calls that I field every day, it is not the insurance client that is the master being served.

One day last week, I received a call from a shop manager telling me that his customer had been waiting more than a week for a windshield inspection. The delay had the customer on edge. The customer was confused and extremely upset, and the shop manager could not appease him. I offered him several suggestions. The first was to make sure that he had the signed assignment of proceeds, which he did. The second was to have his customer contact the agent and advise him/her of the situation. The customer’s insurer was clearly not on his side, it seemed. Another suggestion that I had made was to have his customer contact the Department of Insurance and file a formal complaint.

Once again, I find myself challenging the real purpose of the inspection process. From the moment that these “inspections” were introduced, I proposed that inspections had nothing to do with fraud. Rather, I believe the inspection process is a fraud. Inspections are another attempt to steer claims. Why do I argue that the inspection process has nothing to do with fraud? Because all the while the customer is delayed in getting the inspection, he is pursued, in some cases with gimmicks, to have his vehicle serviced at another shop. If this was all about fraud prevention, the policyholder would simply have to wait for the inspection. And how do you justify a lengthy delay for a process that would take five minutes? This is all about making the process inconvenient for the customer, hoping he/she will turn to the insurer/TPA for advice. The bottom line is, if insurance companies were concerned with fraud prevention they would not employ the services of a TPA (aka the competition) to perform the inspection process. Can anyone say “credibility?”

When will insurance companies get it? (I think that they already do). Do they actually think that an arrangement to have a third-party service their customers will serve their best interests? They are so consumed with containing costs that they have allowed customer service to take a back seat. But then again, behind the scenes, are insurers truly happy with how this industry has evolved? Can they possibly be happy with the increase in claims that resulted from a media campaign that boasted “at no cost to you?” (By the way, what happened to those ads? I haven’t seen or heard one in a long time.)

Are insurers satisfied with the fact that everywhere you look, you can read about disgruntled claims or some other controversy? I cannot imagine that they are, but after thinking about it, they cannot go public with their displeasure either. After all, they are the ones that have cultivated this debacle.

On a closing note, I have always argued that the emphasis in this industry needs to focus on the customer. Does anyone remember the customer, the person that we are all in business to serve? It is the customer that is getting short-changed in this process. The customer is confronted with a claims reporting process that takes way too long, in some cases receiving a service from someone who is not qualified, having poor quality glass installed and not receiving the benefit promised in the insurance policy purchased.

Next week, members of the auto glass industry will be coming together in Scottsdale, Ariz., to draft a blueprint for the development of an ANSI technical standard. In my opinion, this will be a major step forward in restoring customer service to a service industry that has neglected the very party that we are all here to serve. Stay tuned; good things are on the horizon.