We will cover your deductible.
 

So going about getting the XK sorted. Car has sat because i was in Germany on business for a couple of weeks.

I don’t think the car is a total but who knows so i’m itching to get the estimate to see what Geico will do as there two replacements available that i’d like to snag one of if they do total this one.

Geico’s estimators are backed up and it could be a couple more weeks before i can get the car in.

Yesterday I stopped at a 7-11 and while leaving was approached by a rep for a large brick n mortar shop who mentioned they are Geico approved.

The implication was they were a Geico appraiser so i figured why not and asked where to bring the car for inspection and she says don’t worry we will come to you.

OK, sounds good and we set up for 11 today.

Things start going south as soon as they show up, they ring the doorbell like 3-4 times in quick succession which sets me off and the first thing i said when opening the door was “the doorbell works fine on the 1st push”

She’s there with another guy who i assume is the appraiser and we go look at the car and it quickly becomes apparent he’s not there to provide an estimate, he’s there for the sales pitch so now i’m really put off as this is now a waste of my time.

One of the very first parts of the pitch was “how much is your deductible” to which i answer “it’s not relevant, you don’t need to know”

Then i get the “well we ask to see if you qualify for our no money out of pocket program”

This pisses me off even more. Mind you i have no love for insurance carriers, they F us every chance they get but i’m not choosing you to work with to save a couple of bucks, i may choose you if i’m confident that you will do a good job.

And as much as i’d love to save the deductible it doesn’t sit right with me.

I made an agreement with the insurance carrier that involved commitments on both ends and i honor my commitments even when they suck. I hope when people enquire about me the response is “he’s a hand shake guy”

What “covering my deductible” says to me is if the estimate is $10k and my deductible $1k then someone is paying $11k for $10 worth of work or paying $10k for $9k worth of work.

It makes me a willing participant in a fraud.

Apparently i was less than nice to them as my wife said after they left i owed them an apology for my tone.

I guess she may be righ, she usually is, but they were not transparent and wasted my time and, maybe not intentionally, insulted my integrity.

I vote, "no, you don't owe them an apology." In my opinion, you were told one thing and then got a bit of something else, a bit of bait and switch. I'm sure that 99% of folks out there go for it, because it saves them some out of pocket, but as you said, it sounds like a bit of potentially borderline fraudulent working of the system. (maybe not, but probably)

If they'd been straight up and less obnoxious from the beginning of the visit, I'm sure that your tone would have been fine.

Yeah, the whole setup stinks. It borders on predatory. I always imagine some hapless citizen just getting soaked for something they don't need or can get for less. Good on you for being prescient enough to see through the BS quickly.

The whole thing reminds me of when I was at the hardware store and a nice little old lady (seriously, someone's cute little grandma) asked me if I wanted a free (Pelican) replacement window estimate. Since I was going to replace the windows in my house anyway, I said sure. Guy wasted my entire evening and borderline threatened me - he got pissed at me! because it turned out I wasn't interested in having 25000-30000 dollars worth of premium windows installed in my mid-70's ranch home clad in T-111 siding. (This was about 10 years ago). (I ended up doing it myself with my brother helping for about 10% of his estimate with windows (Anderson) that were way more suitable for the house.)

Shady as heck. Run.

~25 years ago, I was trying to get into IT work. I went to an interview at a hospital that was a 45-60 min drive away. The guy told me that I sounded good for entry level, but that something had come up in the budget and a hiring freeze had just started the day before and wasn't sure when/if he'd be able to hire me. He called me at home a day or two later and said that he had another opportunity for me that was "IT related" but not related to the hospital. He asked me to come up. I told him it was a long drive and said that I'd be willing to meet half-way. We met at a dinner. He started his pitch. Immediately, I knew that something was going on. I should have just left, but wasn't sure exactly what was going on and didn't want to burn bridges since he was potentially someone with a real job. I think I sat there for 45-60 mins. He never told me the name of the company until the very end. It was Amway. I remember many, many years ago, some friends of my parents had gotten roped into Amway and had pitched it to my parents.

"Are you interested in a business opportunity" Amway, haven't heard that name in years..Are they even still around? At one time, being pitched Amway almost seemed like a rite of passage into adulthood......

I see the shady roof contractor ads a lot ... get a new roof (bogus storm damage claims) ... free!

People suck .... well .... a lot of them do :(.

My parents taught me better :)

"Amway" ... LOL ... it's been a while since I've heard it :D

Amway is still alive and doing well...they did $9 Billion of sales in 2023
They are no longer a 'Pyramid' sales company and are located less than an hour from me.:)

How's it been?

Did I miss it? What happened to the XK?

Amway…”a garage full of soap and no friends.”

The whole collision repair industry is full of scumbags, from the bandit tow truck drivers who scoop cars up at accidents and drop them off at body shops who kick them back, (and hold the vehicle hostage if you want to take it out to somewhere else), to the insurance industry to everyone else.