Dissatisfaction with pooooooooor service

This is not a complaint, but more of a disappointment in the in the level of service I have gotten so far from my claim handler Marisa Makana (excuse the spelling error). I feel like I have been more of consultant than her, because of the number of calls I have made to her. I have explained that my intentions is not be a bother her, but to keep her and in return be kept in the loop myself, but it seems like she cares less. I have made countless call, speaking with her, explaining what is going on, and in all those occasions I have been promised a call back, but I do not ever (in fact I have never gotten a call from her since, that is, I have been the one calling all the time) get a call back from her. I have a feeling that she is not treating me with any level of respect that a client deserves, and her service has been extremely poor so far.

Let me explain, and I will try to make it quick:

Last week Saturday (10 March), I was involved in an accident, vehicle authorized to be towed,, and as I mentioned, registered a claim with Marisa on Tue (again note, after many times of calling between Mon/Tue till she finally took my call). All good and well so far, I don't mind calling, because I care. It's the following events that have made me uncomfortable, and this is were I have been needing reassuring service from my handler, but not at all. 1. On Wednesday, I received a call from a certain panel-beater called Durban Central Panel-beater, and they told me the vehicle was with them and they needed me to confirm my details. I confirmed the make and model of the car, however told them that my insurance should handle the rest. Call got cut, called them back, could not get a hold of the woman I was talking to. I called Marisa immediately after and she said that that panel-beater is not on the Oakhurst authorised. Told me she will consult with the up-liftment department and have the car moved. 2. I then received a call from DigiCall's Tshepo Madiba, who told me that the panel-beater said that I have authorised for the vehicle to be assessed and quoted by them. I told Tshepo that was not the case, and that I am happy with any protocol Oakhurst has put in place. HE told me that the car will be moved to the Oakhurst Assessment Centre (I will come back to this), where it will be assessed. Good some progress. Called Marisa, to inform her of this development. 3. On Friday, I get an sms from the Netsta that the battery of the car has been disconnected, and to my relief, I am thinking that the assessment has begun. Until later I received a call from the same shady panel-beater that I should give them my email address. I told them that that car is not supposed to be with them at all. Called Marisa again to inform her, she tried hard to get me to speak to the up-lftment person (could not get through), and assured me that they will call me back. Call, DOLOLO!!!! Later in the afternoon, I called back and another consultant in the claims department (Marisa was on a call, as always) informed me that the car has been moved to an Oakhurst storage facility (vs. assessment centre) to avoid charges. I had a few questions (see below) that she could not answer, and she said she will get message to , guess who, Marisa to call me back and explain. Did she call....... You can guess it by now.

As a client, I need some reassurance from my handler, even if it is just to let me know that she is on top it. It is a stressful time for me, I am inconvenienced, worried, etc. A little caring goes a long way.

Now, here were my concerns/questions that have made me become a "pain" (And I hope not) to Marisa. 1. This shady panel-beater seem to have already done an assessment of the car, I say this because of the battery disconnection note I got on Friday, as well as the call requesting my email address. What if in thinking that they are going to be the ones fixing the car, they did not put things together as the found them??? 2. Is the car at a storage facility or an assessment centre??? To me a week without even getting a quote is inefficient. The last consultant I spoke to on Friday gave me an impression that the car was moved to a storage facility to avoid charges. She told me that, the protocol followed by Oakhurst is that the authorised panel-beaters are the ones that would send pictures and quotes to the assessor who will give a recommendation to Oakhurst. Begs the next question and I asked her this..... 3. And this where I argue inefficiency from you know who part, If this shady panel-beater was not authorised, why wasn't the vehicle moved to an authorised panel-beater immediately instead of a storage facility??? If the assessment is not done at this storage facility, it means you are going to need to transport the car again to an authorised panel-beater. Durban South Panel-beater (your authorised) is not far from the shady one. And the car being at the authorised panel-beater means a good turnaround time, because I can bet, by next week we would be getting quotes. Instead, we will probably spend the whole of last week trying to move it from the storage facility to the panel-beater through measurement of performance so far.

As I have said, this was not a complaint but rather dissatisfaction on my part with the service I have received so far. I am really not happy, not at all. I do not want to say that Marisa should get off the case, but if she feels in anyway that I am irritating her by seeking information and to be informed, then I can promise you now, we will not work well together with through this process. More especially, after this query, give her a change to choose if she wants to work with me or not, and you are welcome to please assign a more understanding person. You will probably argue that your handlers have other clients and the level of detail I request can't be given to anyone. However, even as clients we are not the same. If I am willing to hold a line for 10-15 minutes waiting to speak to Marisa (and still not find her), she should understand that I expect her to give me a 2 minute call (and email, a text or something) to let me know that she got my message and she is attending to it. Then, because I had asked questions, they require to be answered.

And finally, a friend of mine just recently bought a new car, he got insurance with Hollard, you should have heard how much I tried to convince him to join DotSure/Oakhurst . A few of us in my circles and conviced him that Oakhurst is the best insurance company, not because of the efficient service we have gotten so far, but the level of competence your staff when it comes to service, knowledge, q&a, quality, turnaround, just to name a few. But this time......

Thanks for your attention if you got this far.

Regards

Mpho Namane, Ph.D.