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OLD REPUBLIC HOME WARRANTY CO.
Old Republic has one of those advertising while on (sometimes terminal) hold
features. They use it to more or less continually pat themselves on the back
trying to convince everyone on hold that they are getting excellent and
immediate service while frequently getting little or no service whatsoever.
Saturday 3/1/2003 I called Old Republic about an ongoing problem with plumbing
at an apartment building I recently purchased. The problem was again SHIT
coming back up out of toilets AFTER having one of their (supposedly highly
skilled) plumbers out just a few days before. An example of the quality of
one of Old Republic's plumbers can be found at RainForestPlumbing.
Old Republic has a procedure for dispatching service technicians for various
problems. Their procedure is to type all your information into the computer,
refer it to another ("dispatching") department so that department can
send a FAX to the technician's office. They apparently don't KNOW or don't CARE
if the office that they send the FAX to is OPEN
or CLOSED but as long as they send the FAX
they think "its all good...". I have had it happen 3 times now since I
bought this building in October that I have informed Old Republic that this is
an IMMEDIATE NEED job only to have them not worry about dispatching anyone until
the next day. A month or so back I had to spend my entire Sunday getting parts
from HOME DEPOT so that I could go repair the leaking pipes that were SPEWING
FORTH water causing water damages to 2 units.
Getting back to Sat. 3/1/2003 I personally spoke to a "supervisor" at
Old Republic. I gave him all of the details as well as a demand that he contact
MARIA SILVA who is the assistant to the boss there Gwen Gallagher and have her
to contact me immediately about this matter. This "supervisor"
apparently could not even be bothered to make a trouble ticket because I have
never received ANY response from anyone in their company nor any of their
contractors regarding that call. Later that afternoon I had my girlfriend call
in AGAIN to deal with the SHIT
coming out of
the toilets. She told me that Old Republic would have someone contacting us
within 4 hours.
FAST FORWARD to Sunday Morning around 10AM local time - wonder of wonders - the phone rings with Old Republic on the other end.... "UMMMM we seem to have the wrong policy number... this policy is for units 4-7 and your problem is in number 3... ummmmm do you have another policy number?"
So I have to ask myself "What's the deal here? Are the people staffing the Old Republic incoming phone lines so STUPID that they can't figure out that #3 is not on the #4-#7 policy when they have the client on the phone?" I have concluded "Yes - they ARE that stupid." Another question: "When they are told that this is a problem that needs IMMEDIATE attention are they SO STUPID that they cannot understand the meaning of 'IMMEDIATE'?" I have again concluded "YES - they ARE that STUPID". Its a terrible shame that they have to demonstrate such piss poor customer service to customers that could send them a lot more business if they could demonstrate that they give a shit about their customers.
On Sunday I called them back to tell them they should review this website and THEN have the boss call me... After awhile I got a call back telling me that because (while complaining that we had been LIED to on Saturday about a 4 hour response time) I had used a few choice expletives that they had decided to deny me (and my tenants) service and that if I wanted to I could call Ms. Silva on Monday... So I wait.... and wait... and wait... Ms. Silva has not called back yet...
UPDATE: Wednesday 3/5/03 I am awakened about 8:25AM by a phone call from "Cynthia" claiming to be from Old Republic (the caller ID was "unavailable" so I don't know WHO was calling) who was inquiring: "I was calling to find out if you got a call from the plumber about your stoppage in number 3..." I promptly ask to speak to Maria Silva again... "Ummm we don't have a Maria Silva here..." So again I have to ask myself a question: "Are the people at Old Republic SO STUPID as to think that I am going to leave a tenant stranded for 4 days with SHIT coming up out of the toilet?" and yet again I have had to conclude "Yes, unfortunately they ARE that STUPID." But its OK, I had a conversation with my real estate agent and he is going to find a different home warranty company to refer his clients to, after all HE has had his own problems with Old Republic...
COMPANY RESPONSE:
March21,2003
"This letter is in response to your recent editorial posted on your website concerning your plumbing service call.
On behalf of Old Republic Home Protection and its employees, we sincerely apologize for the inconvience (sic) you have been caused and appreciate the opportunity to respond.
Old Republic values the trust each of our Plan holders places in us to resolve their service requests in a timely and professional manner.
I agree we did not provide the level of service you deserve as a customer of Old Republic.
Old Republic employees are committed to provide the highest level of customer satisfaction, and when we fail, steps are taken to review what went wrong and implement improvement.
Respectfully
Gary Vistalli
Claims Manager
Editorial note: I actually received this letter well after writing update #2 below. Since the letter above was dated and post-marked before 4/1/03 I placed it above update #2 to keep things in appropriate chronological order. Since The same problem occurred more than a week after Mr. Vistalli composed and mailed his letter above, Update #2 below would suggest that while Old Republic talks a good line they lag well behind in implementing better customer service. One must wonder how long does it take a company to "review what went wrong and implement improvement"? I guess only time will tell. Indeed when speaking with a supervisor about the need to IMMEDIATELY discontinue blindly sending contractors a fax with no way of knowing if (a) it is received by a real human, (b) in a timely manner, and (c) if said contractor has anyone available for IMMEDIATE PROBLEMS the supervisor replied "but that is how everyone in the industry does it". I personally believe that it is high time that Old Republic takes the high road and demonstrates to "the industry" and their customers that there is a much better way, rather than simply continuing to make excuses for the same old poor customer service.
UPDATE #2: Tuesday 4/1/03 I sent an e-mail at about 12:30PM today about two tenants having clogged up sinks (sharing a common wall and presumably common pipes). I wait a couple hours before calling They are still apparently stuck on "Fax the contractor and we don't care if they get it or not or if they are able to do the work or not, just fax it." When I finally called again for like the third or fourth time they tell me it was dispatched to **** plumbing and gave me the contractor's phone number. While I had Old Republic on the phone I called **** plumbing only to be told that not only were they NOT going to be out today but that they have no appointments until THURSDAY. It is obvious that the people at Old Repugnant have little concern whether my tenants are able to prepare meals or wash dishes in their kitchen sinks anytime this month, let alone today..... GRRRRRRRRRR!
UPDATE #3: Tuesday 4/1/03 I also heard from a different tenant (#4) who complained that the swamp cooler was not working. Old Republic took in order #6994298 and dispatched TATUM AIR who contacted me and told me that it would be impossible for them to have a technician out prior to Monday 4/7/03. We had a personal emergency that day and could not respond to the property so I told them to call me the next day. I have not yet heard anything back from TATUM AIR but I do understand from a different tenant that they did come out to the premises and informed the tenant that the swamp cooler required a new motor and that they would be back to fix it later. FAST FORWARD to Saturday Morning I hear from the tenant yet AGAIN wondering "could I please get the cooler working???". I ended up having to climb up on the roof, disassemble the swamp cooler, remove the motor, go to Home Depot to acquire a new motor and fan belt, and then re-assemble everything. I really fail to understand why Old Republic continues to contract with so many unreliable companies. But I guess it makes little difference. If I have to do all the work myself then they will have to keep sending me checks for the bills that I submit to them. I just hate having to do all the work myself which is why I purchased the policy to begin with.