| Date Submitted: | December 28, 2008 |
| Insurance Provider: | Progressive in Louisiana |
| Coverage: | 8 out of 10 |
| Claims: | 9 out of 10 |
| Customer Service: | 10 out of 10 |
| Cost: | 8 out of 10 |
| Recommend: | Yes |
| Review: | Great customer service, claims service good too A few years ago I finally had to use my car insurance for something other than windshield chip repair. I was hit in the right rear quarter panel of my car by a pickup truck while turning left at a traffic-light controlled intersection. I had a green light, had my turn signal on, the truck had their turn signal on to turn right (we were both turning the same direction). Wrongly assuming the driver of the other vehicle would follow basic traffic laws and turn in to their nearest lane I proceeded to make my turn. I was 9/10 of the way through the intersection when I heard a loud crunch, the sound of glass breaking, and my car being pushed to the side momentarily. I got out expecting my back glass to be gone but it was "just" the tail light and quarter panel crushed in. Cops came and did not give the other driver a breathalyzer even though they admitted to being at a sushi bar, the driver was slurring a bit and walking funny, was not her vehicle, and was from out of state. The other driver told the cop she had to swing wide due to the size of her vehicle (problem #1, that does not permit you to enter other lanes of traffic). She was cited for improper right turn. I was cited for failure to yield. Apparently the cop is like most other cops in this city in that they don't pull anyone over for anything even when it's done right in front of them (doing red light running citations at a stop light, they'll watch people blow through the stop lights well after going red...no tickets). Anyway, I was told that the other driver had a green turn ARROW to turn right...I had no way of knowing that. I thought about fighting it but figured the money for a lawyer and time for court wasn't worth the money. Actually, I did end up almost fighting it until I got to the courthouse and didn't feel like sitting around so I just paid the fine and left. Progressive, as usual, had a PERSON answer the phone almost immediately and they were very friendly. An adjuster came out within a day or two to look at the damage. I then went out and got three quotes from local body shops (some were on Progressive's list, others weren't) and took it to one I knew did good work (also happened to be in Prog's network). Had my car back within a couple weeks as the body shop had some difficulty procuring a few replacement parts. Then, without notice, about 2-3 months later I received a check in the mail for 75% of my $500 deductible ($3500+ in damage). Progressive also did their own accident investigation and put me down as "not at fault". I'm guessing that there was some background "maneuvering" in which Progressive threatened a lawsuit and caused the other insurance company to admit to 3/4 fault. Not positive but is the only thing I could think of. The downside...my premium got bumped up about a year later for no apparent reason. I called CS and spoke to the CS agents (friendly as usual) who, after about 20 minutes of checking in to my files, figured out that after Progressive's annual review of my DMV records I had the "fail to yield" citation and that's what caused it to go up. No big deal, I didn't fight it, I knew it would be on my record, and I knew my premium would go up. I just wanted to know WHY...and to be perfectly honest I went back through some paperwork I had been sent and saw where they listed the moving violation when previously I had none. That should have clued me in ha! So recently I checked other insurance company quotes since I'm debating a new vehicle and discovered that I can get a 30% reduction in premium through a few other companies even WITH the accident and citation. I have been with Progressive for three years, I will call and tell them what I have found...if they want to reduce my premium and keep me as a customer, great. If not, easy come...easy go. |
| Submitted by: | Educator 30 year-old :: Male Reviewer :: Louisiana |
5 comments for this review
| Comment by: Educator From: Louisiana December 28th, 2008 |
Forgot to mention that the street the truck and I were turning on to was a two lane highway in each direction...she should have turned in to her nearest lane, not the outside lane. I suspect she tried to turn directly in to the outside lane but changed her story when the cop asked her what happened. Considering that I had cut the corner a bit as there was no one in the oncoming turn lane and the right rear of my vehicle was barely halfway across my lane...she was not turning wide, she was turning in to my lane. |
| Comment by: Melissa From: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania December 28th, 2008 |
Sushi bars serve sushi, not alcohol. |
| Comment by: Educator From: Louisiana December 28th, 2008 |
I'm aware they serve sushi...try coming to Louisiana, EVERYWHERE serves alcohol including the movie theaters. Heck, we have drive-through daquiri shacks too. The sushi bars here serve liquor too, I don't know how things are in your neck of the woods. You must have also missed the part where I said the woman was walking a bit funny, was slurring her speech some, and just acting plain strange. Would it have hurt the cop to give her a breathalyzer? AND...let me add that when they left the scene the cop made her sit in the passenger seat and let the owner drive. Either she could drive or she couldn't, they weren't even two blocks from where the sushi bar was. If the guy didn't trust her driving enough to let her drive off from the accident he shouldn't have let her drive in the first place. But again...in south Louisiana everywhere serves alcohol and you'd be hard pressed to find many people out at a restaurant of any sort who are not drinking. Sorry...sad but true, take a look at our drunk driving statistics. We're WAAAAAAY up towards the top of the list for accidents and fatalities where alcohol played a factor. Thanks for trying to clue me in though. |
| Comment by: Educator From: Laf., LA December 28th, 2008 |
http://www.bonsaisushibar.com/kids_dessert_beverages.php See the note, "Please contact us for our beer, wine, and sake selections."? http://www.servingsushi.com/CatSubCat/CatSubCatDisplay.asp?p1=6&p2=Y&p7=1&p8=528&p9=CSC1 Another link for a local sushi bar...again, it says, "Please contact us for our beer, wine, and sake selections." I'm curious, are you saying that sushi bars in PA don't serve alcohol? Or are you saying that they do but the patrons simply don't drink enough to be legally drunk? |
| Comment by: Scott From: texas January 18th, 2009 |
Ah, Tsunami... Fond memories of that sushi bar in Lafayette, LA. Great selection of sake, beer, wine and spirits. Great place to pick up hot women. Cougar central. Yes, sushi bars serve enough alcohol to be wasted drunk. |
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