So I was wondering if anybody else has had any experience with this device?
I ask because, after dealing with it for the last 6 months, I was told that I would be receiving a discount of $149.50 on my policy due to my safe driving.
Except my next bill (6 month paid in full) is a whopping $7.50 less (that’s a whole $1.25 a month!). Now, even before I applied for Snapshot I had read that everybody who participates basically has the same story; they get a huge discount! … that’s completely offset by rates that mysteriously increase by coincidentally the same amount as said discount.
I started a support chat with them and caught the guy lying to me when I asked why my premium hadn’t gone down much. He said it was because the online document signing discount only applied to the first billing cycle. I asked him how much that discount was. He said he didn’t know, which is just impressively incompetent if true. I asked him how in the hell he could possibly know that was the reason for the increase if he didn’t actually know how much it was. He said the system showed that was the only discount that had changed. I told him that if that were true, the discount would have to have been $141.50 (which is absurd). He then went full retard and agreed that this must be how much the discount was. I proved to him using Progressive’s own site that it would have only been roughly $69 max, leaving about $72 of the increase unaccounted for. He then immediately apologized for lying to me and copy/pasted a generic response about how recent adjustments in the state of MI caused an increase in rates.
So these assholes are basically full of shit, right? I’ve looked at my declaration pages from the two billing cycles and I just do not see how or where this discount (or any others for that matter) are actually being applied.
Do any of you have any insight or perhaps some hate-filled auto insurance rantings that could amuse me?
@Penny_Dreadful, Progressive pulled the same stunt with me. My rates changed by like $2/mo due to a mysterious discount on my first policy, so the “savings” just balanced that out.
My experience with Liberty Mutual is worse, though. Shady as fuck.
I switched from Esurance to Progressive six months ago because they were the cheapest. I have no qualms with switching insurance companies every six months to get the best deal and as a general ‘fuck you’ to insurance companies in general, but I’ve heard that switching this often can have negative repercussions on credit or something. Is there any truth to this?
With these sorts of financial-related service industries, and where there is a ton of competition, a good rule of thumb is that the quality of the service they provide is the inverse of their marketing presence.
Progressive gave me a surprisingly good payout when my car was totaled in August – a couple grand higher than I was expecting to get on a trade-in. On the other hand, I’m still trying to get reimbursed for my (thankfully low) medical bills. They’re very hands-off on the medical side of things and frustrating to submit documentation to – fax or snail mail only.
In my lifetime, and around 40 years of driving, I’ve had several different insurance companies, mostly switching in my late teens and early twenties due to huge price differences due to my age.
The worst was American Family Insurance. I had bought a Corvette at age 23, and they were the only insurance company that would even insure me at all with that combination of age and car, even with a perfect driving record. The price of insurance was so high that I had to sell the car 4 months later because I couldn’t afford the insurance.
But by far the best experience was with State Farm. Low premium prices (nearly half compared with most others), quick payment when someone backed into my 1971 Chevelle SS, quick payment when my parked Blazer was smashed by a driverless car that someone had left running in a parking lot. It slipped into reverse, and witnesses told me that they watched that car gathering speed as it reversed down the length of the parking lot. Then suddenly, it took a sharp left somehow and smashed into my brand new truck, which I had carefully parked far away from everyone else. Quick and full payment on a major bill when my Firebird was hit head-on by a lady who took a left turn into me.
Always my choice of body shop. IIRC, I didn’t even need to get two estimates first. “Take it where you want to, and give us the bill.”
Granted, none of these accidents were my fault, so that ultimately the other drivers’ insurance ended up paying the whole thing anyway. But in all other ways too, I’ve had nothing but fine experiences with them. Cost being the most important factor. Liability only on my 1997 Ford Explorer AWD runs $24 per month.
