Went in and spent several hours (between two different days) speaking with Mr. Dederich on…read moreswitching over our 'family package' HOME and AUTO insurance from American Family Insurance to State Farm in West Chicago.
Jason went over every detail with us, which included a very minor fender-bender which my mother was involved in in February 2014. The accident was so minor that no police reports were filed nor no "fault" was determined for either party. The damage to our car was very minimal, but yes, our insurance did pick up the repair cost. We have ALL PRINTOUTS from these discussions with Jason and his other staff - he was fully aware of this event, and he told us his numbers and quote were still 'solid'.
Jason gave us our rates, which actually seemed too good to be true - they were VERY reasonable. They were much lower - compared to our previous insurer - for almost everything. Again - he stated to us that these indeed were the correct numbers and prices, so naturally we all agreed to them.
* We must also mention that @ two weeks previous, one of the other office staffers from this location gave us the SAME EXACT rates on paper. Hence, why we eventually set up an official appointment and met with Jason in person to 'confirm' those rates. This should disprove any notion that we just walked into the office on a whim, and were quickly given "ball park estimates."
The following day (the same day we had scheduled to walk in our check to Jason), he left us a message on our answering machine stating that "he had made a mistake" and that our rates were all now magically going to cost more due to this small accident in February. Surprisingly, the rates for EVERYTHING ELSE (3 of the 4 other cars, AND including our homeowner's insurance) seemed to also be higher. Normally, we would understand higher rates might be the norm for just the automobile that was involved in an accident, but everything else - including the home rates??
We must stress again that Jason was fully aware of the small car accident just two days previous and he basically said verbatim "that would not make a difference" and we had the printouts to prove these quotes and numbers. Jason now said that he was sorry, but the rates he had promised us were no longer valid "because of the car accident."
We also noticed that our homeowner's insurance deductible - which previously was set at $1000, had mysteriously been changed to $1800. Of course, homeowners rates obviously are in no relation (and shouldn't be) to automobile rates and the small fender-bender mentioned above. Not only that, but the new rate for the 'higher deductible' plan was now MORE money than our previous insurer? A. Who toyed with these settings, and B. why would the rate be more for a higher deductible?
Whether this was an honest mistake by Mr. Dederich or the age old salesman "bait and switch" tactic really doesn't matter - this was not good business etiquette and State Farm lost a substantial client in us. What probably concerned us the most was that Jason seemed to not even care about the lost business opportunity - if it was an honest mistake, he made no attempt to even say, "hey look guys, what can we do to at least try and get/keep your business?". Based on all of this - we cannot recommend this State Farm, and this is nothing personal towards Jason. A place that turns down business of a client for 5 cars and homeowner's insurance? That's a pretty good customer you'd want to try and keep in the door, you'd think.
We must mention that we would have been - OVERALL - saving @ $20 with the new rates from this State Farm (only 1 of the 4 cars was still a bit cheaper) - but that's a far cry from the near $200 savings we were originally quoted. However, based on everything that transpired and the fact that we had near impeccable service from our American Family Insurance for 4+ years - we feel it is worth the extra $20 to just stay with them - and have peace of mind.
** (We have changed our review from 1-star to 2-stars, because of Jason's reply which seemed sincere. We try to be fair and forgiving people, and we accept his apology, as again this was never anything 'personal' towards Jason.. However, please still heed the above information, as that still remains accurate.)
