I have been a longtime, loyal customer of Joe Kelsey and a lifetime customer of State Farm. I have NEVER had to file a claim. Several months ago, I moved out of the country and put my car in storage. I recently returned for a short trip, and thought it would be easy to take my car out of storage and reinstate my insurance. No such luck.
Eric, the office manager, was rude and said it would take 2 weeks to get my insurance going again as I had to ""reapply"" or something of the sorts. I kept trying to get an answer as to why it would take so long, and I was met with vague comments about this ""being their policy"". I asked, surely, that when people buy a new car they can insure it the day they get it? Otherwise, NO ONE would have a policy with Joe Kelsey, having to drive uninsured for two weeks. Again, Eric gave some vague answer that made no sense.
I started thinking about my history: ""did I do something to make them angry at me?"". Like I said, I have never filed a claim. I have paid on-time for five years, and they have never had to pay anything out due to an accident.
Embarrassingly, I had my father call back to deal with Eric (he is a lawyer and has dealt a lot in insurance law). He was left just as confused and baffled as I was. Eric refused to answer his questions. He asked Eric to find the answers and call us back, we never received a phone call.
Instead of letting it consume my day, I went to another agency and got insured in 15 minutes and am paying 30 dollars less a month for the same plan. I'll be on the road again tomorrow, but not with Joe Kelsey getting my back, ever again.
Shop around. Joe Kelsey will treat you like dirt just like all of the others, so you might as well get the cheapest option you can find.
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