Swinton bike insurance...
Discussion
Bit lost for words at the mo, been insured with Swinton bikes for as long as I can remember, a decade or more easily.
Bear with me, this is a fairly long post……
Anyway, the last 2 years the service aspect of the company has really gone down the pan, (ive moaned about it on the site now and again) when ever you needed to clarify something or had an “unusual” addition like a power commander or enquired on additions to cover it was always a long drawn out process, they would NEVER call you back as promised and a lot of the operators had a “couldn’t care less “ attitude.
Regretfully now , as the renewal price was always good (after some haggling), I always stayed with them but the lack of faith in their operators combined with this poor service saw me recording most of the phone calls I had with them over the last 2 years ( save the data protection debate for another thread, another day…)
Back to 11am yesterday and I wished to add my 750 SRAD to my policy alongside the Busa, “manual policy Sir, well check it with Chaucer and ring you back, my names Abbey, I will call you back”….I know full well they wont but im prepared to be surprised…
Of course I call back to chase at 3 pm “she will call you back”…at 4pm she hasn’t, so I speak to Rachel , Rachel sympathises, I spend another 15 mins goin thru the detail again, says she look into it, “call you back in 15 mins”
Fast forward to today and as expected still no call back, ring back x 2 and ask for a Rachel or Abbey…”busy”….can I speak to a manager” “24hour call back Sir”…” “bear with us, extremely busy, we will call you back”
By 1pm I was getting mighty peeved, had a moan at one of the operators who then took up the case, all it took was a phone call to Chaucer to update the details but the original operatives still hadn’t managed to do that …got the usual “in bound call centre sir, we cant call you back, when we put the phone down, another call comes in…and where very busy, that’s why we dont call you back”…heard it all before says I…
Anyway, this chap, Joe, then looks at my claim history to firm it all up and we go thru my accident history, (third time in 24 hours this had been done mind you…)
I had 2 incidents in 2010 in my company car, one is resolved (hit by uninsured driver, driver convicted for driving with undue care and attention and obviously no insurance), another claim I have is outstanding, again on the company car..
“Oh sorry Sir, Chaucer have them both down as no fault accidents, I have to ring Chaucer, will call you back”…………..I could see what was coming so went thru my recordings and found the phone call when I renewed last year, I clearly stated both where pending…
Of course he doesn’t ring Chaucer to check until I call back to chase just before they close….20 mins of on hold again…Jo then miraculously calls me back from the inbound only call centre .and the end result is…
“Im sorry Sir, Chaucer have cancelled your policy as the original information supplied was inaccurate”..”No says I, your operatives don’t listen, you have insurance for that type of error, I should not be penalized”…” I have the original recording where I clearly stated both accidents where pending outcome at the time”..
“Can I speak to a manager says I?” …
”Be hopefully Monday now Sir…” says Joe
“I don’t know what you want to speak to a manager for Sir, they cant help anymore” “well try and find the recordings our end”…
“Until then Sir, we’ve cancelled you policy and im afraid we cant quote you on any policy on any bike”…then “as the cancellation fee is quite small, we’ve waivered it as a good will gesture”!!
That was it, a once loyal customer lost…….not a care in the world that they had made the error or left me with thousands of pounds worth of bikes uninsured that I cant ride..7 or 8 phone calls, of at least 20 minutes each on average..
So blood pressure going thru the roof, I have to leave it at that for now, ill be ring them up Tuesday when the manager hasn’t called me back………
In the meantime, I cant emphasise enough to avoid this company..When you need them most, they let you down the hardest.
Thanks for listening…….
Bear with me, this is a fairly long post……
Anyway, the last 2 years the service aspect of the company has really gone down the pan, (ive moaned about it on the site now and again) when ever you needed to clarify something or had an “unusual” addition like a power commander or enquired on additions to cover it was always a long drawn out process, they would NEVER call you back as promised and a lot of the operators had a “couldn’t care less “ attitude.
Regretfully now , as the renewal price was always good (after some haggling), I always stayed with them but the lack of faith in their operators combined with this poor service saw me recording most of the phone calls I had with them over the last 2 years ( save the data protection debate for another thread, another day…)
Back to 11am yesterday and I wished to add my 750 SRAD to my policy alongside the Busa, “manual policy Sir, well check it with Chaucer and ring you back, my names Abbey, I will call you back”….I know full well they wont but im prepared to be surprised…
Of course I call back to chase at 3 pm “she will call you back”…at 4pm she hasn’t, so I speak to Rachel , Rachel sympathises, I spend another 15 mins goin thru the detail again, says she look into it, “call you back in 15 mins”
Fast forward to today and as expected still no call back, ring back x 2 and ask for a Rachel or Abbey…”busy”….can I speak to a manager” “24hour call back Sir”…” “bear with us, extremely busy, we will call you back”
By 1pm I was getting mighty peeved, had a moan at one of the operators who then took up the case, all it took was a phone call to Chaucer to update the details but the original operatives still hadn’t managed to do that …got the usual “in bound call centre sir, we cant call you back, when we put the phone down, another call comes in…and where very busy, that’s why we dont call you back”…heard it all before says I…
Anyway, this chap, Joe, then looks at my claim history to firm it all up and we go thru my accident history, (third time in 24 hours this had been done mind you…)
I had 2 incidents in 2010 in my company car, one is resolved (hit by uninsured driver, driver convicted for driving with undue care and attention and obviously no insurance), another claim I have is outstanding, again on the company car..
“Oh sorry Sir, Chaucer have them both down as no fault accidents, I have to ring Chaucer, will call you back”…………..I could see what was coming so went thru my recordings and found the phone call when I renewed last year, I clearly stated both where pending…
Of course he doesn’t ring Chaucer to check until I call back to chase just before they close….20 mins of on hold again…Jo then miraculously calls me back from the inbound only call centre .and the end result is…
“Im sorry Sir, Chaucer have cancelled your policy as the original information supplied was inaccurate”..”No says I, your operatives don’t listen, you have insurance for that type of error, I should not be penalized”…” I have the original recording where I clearly stated both accidents where pending outcome at the time”..
“Can I speak to a manager says I?” …
”Be hopefully Monday now Sir…” says Joe
“I don’t know what you want to speak to a manager for Sir, they cant help anymore” “well try and find the recordings our end”…
“Until then Sir, we’ve cancelled you policy and im afraid we cant quote you on any policy on any bike”…then “as the cancellation fee is quite small, we’ve waivered it as a good will gesture”!!
That was it, a once loyal customer lost…….not a care in the world that they had made the error or left me with thousands of pounds worth of bikes uninsured that I cant ride..7 or 8 phone calls, of at least 20 minutes each on average..
So blood pressure going thru the roof, I have to leave it at that for now, ill be ring them up Tuesday when the manager hasn’t called me back………
In the meantime, I cant emphasise enough to avoid this company..When you need them most, they let you down the hardest.
Thanks for listening…….
PorkaFly said:
OP - more terrible, terrible service. Swinton don't deserve to be in business. Certainly the worst I've ever dealt with in last few years, but by a long, long, long way. Good prices cant make up for their total incompetence, crap customer service and the s
ttty attitude of their brainless staff.
1. Vote with your feet
2. Write a complaint to insurance ombudsman about them
3. Take them to small claims court. It's very easy to do and you have all the evidence
4. Take every opportunity to spread the word to anyone who will listen how st Swinton are.
Pls do all of these things, they royally screwed me last year and I couldn't prove how they'd "sold" the bike policy to me - condescending oiks. In fact they are all obnoxious cs to deal with and I will never ever use them again.
Hope you get it resolved!
I will do mate...I had an issue with them last year and wrote to them advising I would be contacting the ombudsman...I also attached a copy of my MOT as they had requested, the MOT was returned within a week, so I know they got the letter as the 2 where stapled togetherttty attitude of their brainless staff.1. Vote with your feet
2. Write a complaint to insurance ombudsman about them
3. Take them to small claims court. It's very easy to do and you have all the evidence
4. Take every opportunity to spread the word to anyone who will listen how s
t Swinton are.Pls do all of these things, they royally screwed me last year and I couldn't prove how they'd "sold" the bike policy to me - condescending oiks. In fact they are all obnoxious c
s to deal with and I will never ever use them again.Hope you get it resolved!
When I rang them to query why they hadnt responded to the letter...they said "what letter?"...They couldnt be bothered to do the hard bit...anyway, I got £50 off for the delays/errors, as the usually do, so I stayed with them.....
Ive had to vote with me feet as they flatly refused to insure me...but get this, Carole Nash have quoted me...same detail as before, with Chaucer !
I have a feeling Chaucer are just as incompetent as Swinton........
Small claims is interesting angle, how do I go about that?
Thanks for all the advice people, really much appreciated...I shall keep you opsted with how it goes....I have spread the word on other forums about this and if it stops one customer using Swintons, its good by me.
On a happier note, Carole Nash quoted me way cheaper than Swintons this morning ,less than Swinton's had indicated last month for just the SRAD alone ,with CN multibike policy, so I am insured now on both bikes...I made sure I recorded that call as well!
Icing on the cake is that I got out on the SRAD this afternoon and is a beauty...
On a happier note, Carole Nash quoted me way cheaper than Swintons this morning ,less than Swinton's had indicated last month for just the SRAD alone ,with CN multibike policy, so I am insured now on both bikes...I made sure I recorded that call as well!
Icing on the cake is that I got out on the SRAD this afternoon and is a beauty...
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