In Memoriam: Customer Service

My bank did not do a mitzvah recently when the car burned up in August. It took seven weeks to get my insurance settlement. Shelter Insurance sent a check to my bank with dispatch to pay off what I owed on the car, almost $4,800. Three weeks elapsed and I called Shelter to find out why I hadn’t heard from them about my settlement. They had not received the title from the bank. I called the bank. They had never received the check.

Ms. Brooks assured me that this is not unusual. They misdirect, lose or else never recover bank drafts all the time. This appalled me. I told Shelter to send another check. A week later my bank had not received the second check. It was lost. A letter was sent to the bank from Shelter explaining what had been going on. The letter was lost. A third check was issued. It never found its destination. While all this is going on I am on the phone daily with this bank who assured me repeatedly that the address I had given Shelter was the correct address to send pay-off checks to. After seven weeks I was on a first name basis with the loan department’s supervisor’s supervisor’s supervisor. After the third check was lost I told Ms Really Big Shot to prepare the title for pick up, that someone would be there in person to get the title and drop off another check. This is against bank policy, I had learned by that time, but I didn’t care and Ms. RBS was too embarrassed to argue with me.

Then I had Shelter prepare another check. Then I sent a cab to pick up the check, take it to the bank, pick up the title from there and take it to Shelter. I forced Shelter to pay the $76 for the cab.

Now, let's not let Shelter off the hook here, either. They knew that something was not right with this entire procedure, and their office should have stepped in. So when I got the phone call from the claims adjuster that he wanted to bring me my check, I got ready.

He met me in the lobby of my office building. He had nerve enough to say to me, Well, Jana, we took steps to force your bank to release the title, so I am here with your settlement check.

"No, Ed. WE didn't. I did the work. I did your job. I forced the bank to act by sending a cab and instructing the driver to stand at the bank until those imbeciles did right. You did not. You didn't do ANYTHING to settle this. I did."

He was quiet after that, but he gave me my check.

Several weeks later, the bank headquarters sent to Shelter all three checks which they had had the entire time. Shelter called me and told me that.