Thank you Geico

[Tow411]

Topic Originally Created by Stewarts Towing on Tow411 in February of 2011:

 

We all complain about motor clubs, and the majority deserve it. But I'm putting it out there, thank you Geico for being the easiest to deal with. Their dispatchers know what they are talking about, have all the information that you need, we understand them when they speak. They pay in a timely manner, easy site to enter our bills, and they don't short pay us. The other clubs could learn a thing or two from them!
Jean

 

Rod VT  said:

Geico is the only "insurance company" I will do work for directly, all the rest it's customer pay only.

 

annettemcd said:

I agree that the Geico dispatchers are usually courteous. The most important traits are (1) they really seem to want to find the best way to help their insured and (2) they are willing to listen and consider the ideas of the service provider. Because Alaska is different from many areas, we sometimes need to find non-standard answers to problems. Some motor clubs can not vary from the standard and will just force a standard answer to the situation even if the insured or member is not well served.

An example of Geico service: Our service area contains the midway point between Anchorage and Fairbanks which are the locations of most of the dealerships in the state of Alaska. In other words, a customer must usually be towed to Fairbanks or to the Anchorage, Wasilla/Palmer area. These places are over 360 miles apart. If someone is broken down in the area south of Cantwell, say milepost 180, they are about equal distance from the two urban centers. If that motorist is from Fairbanks, it makes sense for us to respond and tow them the 185 miles to Fairbanks (370 miles round trip), but if they are from Anchorage, towing them to Fairbanks, 360 miles from home makes no sense. We are the closest tower to Cantwell, but we would tow someone to Anchorage, we would have 630 miles in the round trip. If a tower comes up from the south, they might have a slightly longer ETA, but their round trip would be 360 miles, 270 miles less than us. Therefore, it makes sense to not dispatch the closest towing service to Cantwell, but the one who would have significantly less overall mileage in a trip which would serve the insured much, much better. Geico dispatchers will often see the sense of this, but some other motor clubs insist on dispatching the closest service provider to the zip code identified even if that is not the most logical answer.

Another example: We recently had a customer who kept trying to start a cold (-40 degrees) engine. He needed a jump-start. He was able to warm up the engine enough that it was finally possible to start it. The next day, he did the same thing and again called for a jump-start. My drivers were reluctant to respond for a service call because if the customer had drained his battery with his attempts to start the car, at those temperatures, it was possible that the battery had actually frozen. A frozen battery can explode if someone tries to jump it. The customer did not want or need a tow; he needed a new battery. Later that morning, one of our trucks was going by a parts store which was the nearest one to the customer, about 45 miles away. We called Geico and asked if the customer paid for the battery would they pay for the battery delivery which would be slightly less than paying for a jump-start. The dispatcher, who, being from Georgia, had no understanding of frozen batteries or trying to start cars at -40, saw the logic of our proposal and authorized the delivery of the battery. During this morning, I had numerous conversations with dispatchers at Geico, they were all concerned about the customer and looking for a logical solution.

 

WEBOSLH said:

I should have done that along time ago. Thanks Geico for your runs. And working with us.

 

GAMMATOW said:

Geico is the best motor club out there. Just got an e mail from them advising that they are paying a fuel surcharge due to  rising fuel costs !!! THANK YOU GEICO

 

Stewarts Towing said:

I need to look into that fuel surcharge, as of yet we have not received anything about that. Nice to know they are stepping up. All of the other clubs have said they don't have it in the budget.
Jean

 

annettemcd said:

It is nice to know that Geico will accept a fuel surcharge. Mountain West AAA pays me a fuel surcharge, adjusted quarterly, but they are the only ones.

 

Blue Stripe said:

We love working with Geico, we've never been screwed by them which is certainly a plus! (compared to most other "clubs" )

Chris Flynn, WM 091008
Boardman Towing & Recovery

 

In Memory of National Autow who said:

They are GREAT to work with. They are an INSURANCE company that helps its customers by providing road service. They are NOT a contracted third party logistics provider like most clubs. They want their customers happy so they buy insurance. I am sure they at least try to make a buck in ERS but they REALLY try to keep satisfied customers.

Other insurance companies contract out their ERS to a company that MUST make a profit off of it and it shows. I have seen GEICO take a hit several times in the name of customer satisfaction. I am so impressed that I not only have GEICO insurance on my personal cars but I also have the ERS (just in case I breakdown out of town).

 

Stockton Towing said:

GEICO  WE LOVE YOU!!!!

 

DodgeTowGuy134  said:

and I agree, they are the only insurance company that we will work with and accept a po from! (Now with state farm, we directly bill the agent)