Just called to cancel my American Family car and home insurance. Interesting conversation with

the customer service guy. He asked why I was canceling, and I said I had done online research and found that AmFAm makes campaign contributions to Michelle Bachmann and others on the far right end of the political spectrum. His response: "What? We support Bachmann?! I didn't know that!" Then he tried to get his composure and be the good professional again, but that outburst was funny! He went through the whole process, and then said "Thank you for calling American Family. Oh, and Ma'am?" "Yes?" "Thanks for that information. I had no idea."

:)

Clever name, branding, that masks the reality of the thing.

Like, "Patriot Act".

:toast:

Hubby does that and deals with some more progressive companies.

:hi:

rather than the website. I was glad to see that was an option, because I like to buy locally. Was also glad to see I could get both car and home with 'em. They don't advertise the home insurance (actually renters', since I live in a parsonage), so I wasn't sure they carry it, but they do. Not a bundle, like AmFam, but it still came out 3$3 a month cheaper. So, it's win-win!

Thanks for the offer, though!

Insurance product. American Family Life and Casualty is the actual name of the company.

dead to me now....oh, wait....is that the same duck "duck-taped" by one of our DUers??? If so, I will NO LONGER call for the duck to be set free, no sir, no sirree.

That's encouraging, at least. We're with State Farm, and they also dropped Beck.

contributions made by the corporation, but the board chair is very progressive.

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2003

They are big into politcians who will help them limit asbestos liability, like Arlen DINO Specter.

I had a call a couple of weeks ago (long story) but it resulted in the woman on the other end telling me how devious the company (she represented) was and gave me some good advice on how to deal with my situation. That woman deserves a pat on the back; I assume she is just like the rest of us and stuck working for a company she doesn't respect because she has bills to pay...

do the same thing for me. i was at the hospital and my son was about to have an MRI for his back. i had called to find out what my share of the bill would be, but suddenly sitting there i realized, that's JUST the test. that won't cover the person who interprets the results and who knows what else won't be included? i made a bit of a scene i must admit, because i insisted to the person doing the intake that i had to know who and how much i would owe when all was said and done. she had to get her manager. (parenthetically, they make you sign a form acknowledging that there will be additional charges and declaring that you will be responsible for the bills, but they essentially are incapable or unwilling to give you even a CLUE about how much that might be).

manager gave me the name of the radiologist company that would be reading the MRI and i tried calling them to make sure they were an Aetna provider, etc, etc. Long story short i got no satisfaction from that office either so called Aetna direct and this is what the rep told me:

"They'll send the bill to us and we will pay based on our schedule for the benefit. It will not cover their bill, and they will send you a bill for the balance. Then you call us and we'll pay it."

it pisses me off no end that i must jump through all these hoops to utilize our insurance which for 2 people, one middle-aged smoker and one 17-year-old kid, costs my employer and i about $1,000/month! but i did appreciate her willingness to put the hoops on the map for me. i still have an old bill from my colonoscopy last year that i refuse to pay, and all this time i didn't know that i didn't HAVE to pay it.

for individual health insurance, I informed him that I would work for universal health insurance. He replied with, "I don't blame you!"

or he could be in some trouble with the boss.