Tracker Direct Insurance (TDI) Best Customer Satisfaction! Are you sure?

| October 30, 2009 | 17 Comments

This post is written by Arsalan Za, who is the Marketing Manager at SZABIST, Karachi.

tdi_logoEver since tracker direct insurance came to into existence it has been regarded as one of the best insurance companies, being the pioneers for offering C-Track along with insurance it has caught the eye of many consumers. It’s comparatively costly then other brands like EFU, Adamjee etc but it provided good customer service

In the beginning, this helped to generate a good viral marketing effect for them as many people talked about their services to their peers and we all know nothing beats the word of mouth ability. Being a customer of tracker direct since many years I was certain that nothing can beat TDI, and it’s simply the best but until this year. As compared to the initial years as expected the quality and service of TDI has constantly dropped. Personal experiences and discussions with people tell us that they simply have stopped caring for their customers.

Recently I sent my car for a survey, which has been insured with TDI since 2006, my car never had an accident and I have hardly, took 1-2 minor claims from the company which were settled with no major issues.  This time the surveyor who came to see my car came up with all kinds of issues and problems with my claim which to mention was only minor. He was not at all cooperative, understanding or concerned about my satisfaction. I talked to his senior who had exactly the same caliber. After hours of discussion an agreement was reached.

Next day when I went to drop of my car I was told that another issue has come up and I will not get the claim until I pay 20% extra apart from the 40% depreciation from my total claim because my car was under insured as the market value of my car had gone up.

Confused and having no one to talk to I along with my father went to the head office, we wanted to talk to the manager we were made to wait for long time until an assistant came out. We discussed the problem with him and he came up with all kinds excuses to write us off.  We still urged to meet the manager but then another assistant came and started with his own stories. The result was that no one with authority came out to talk to us for even 5 minutes, as they are busy in a meeting. I was disgusted with the rude service, being such an old customer with 2 cars insured with this company I did not expect this kind of response.  Whenever my car’s insurance was about to expire the TDI people started bombarding us with calls and letters to renew our insurance, a month before, But we were not send a single letter which explained us this under insurance policy. When I asked why, the assistant told us that we don’t send these letters you should call and ask yourself. I asked him few question like what is my fault if the market price of my car went up I just got my other car repaired through EFU which has even higher market price but I wasn’t charged extra?, I asked him if considering Pakistan conditions after  10 years  the market price goes up even higher than the purchased price will u charge 100% depreciation and extra , I asked him why wasn’t I informed , I asked him the parts and labor is still the same as it was 2 years ago check Honda workshop and why should I pay extra?

The only answer he gave to all my questions was it can’t be done, he also said we have over 50,000 cars we cannot inform everyone.

Although I gave that person a piece of mind at that time, I am still surprised with the change in their service, I believe with bigger bank balance and expansion comes bigger responsibilities you can’t just write off your oldest customers. All I asked was good and polite service but that did not happen, it’s a sign that you are going downhill. No matter how much marketing you do and affiliations you make you have to be consistent and caring, but this experience of mine along with other experiences of my friends I will never choose TDI, my new car is expected very soon and I will never even think about TDI as a possibility, like said by the assistant at TDI “it’s your choice sir you can dissolve your policy and do whatever you like” I will soon dissolve both my cars insurance from TDI (total damage insurance)

Tags: assistant, best insurance companies, c track, caliber, car, claim, customer, depreciation, direct insurance, good customer service, insurance, market, pakistan, personal experiences, price, service, TDI, time, value of my car, viral marketing, word of mouth

Category: Brands

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  • http://www.hibamoeen.blogspot.com Hiba Moeen

    Arsalan this is the third angry post I’m reading this week :) . . . These companies really like to play with consumers’ tolerance levels don’t they? According to what you have written they are not bothered at all if their consumers switch . . . hope you find a better one :)

  • http://babarkj.blogspot.com Babar Javed

    There is a positive corelation between the prevalence/existence of annoying people & explosives

  • http://www.hibamoeen.blogspot.com Hiba Moeen

    :D . . . I can understand what you mean Babar . . . alot of things in the surroundings have started annoying people, does that mean one should take refuge in the latter? :D so post purchase dissonance has a combustible nature . . .

    Where is that friend of yours? Haven’t seen a response since quite a while . . . :D

  • Akif Malik

    Arsalan I would suggest try New Hampshire Insurance Company, part of AIG group. I have found them to be more cooperative since they are a multinational company and would rather pay a little extra to ensure their brand name does not get blemished. Call up Mr. Golwala on 111-111-244; he is of the few persons who actually guide you.

  • http://babarkj.blogspot.com Babar Javed

    thanks Akif, you rock

  • Faiz

    You can go to the regulatory authority who deals with these insurance companies, you should also refer to your initial terms and conditions stated within the insurance policy documents. Hopefully if your cunning and know the legal language you can easily bring them into a corner. If you can find like minded individuals with same problems you can always press for a class action lawsuit, for which you can find even more volunteers.

    You should also write a letter first CC it throughout the company and the regulator. Then take whatever action you need to take. As is the case with such incidents written correspondence prevails over oral convo!

    Do not miss details in the correspondence and refer to the terms and conditions document if you find loop holes.

  • http://babarkj.blogspot.com Babar Javed

    Ladies and Gentlemen, Faiz Kazi, the FIXER :-D

  • kaka kaka

    Insurance: You stay poor all your life so that you can die rich!
    Man pay your zakat and Allah will insure everthing. These bloodsucking leeches can’t do a thing!

    I have inside info from a leading insurance company of pakistan, the guy said that a person’s factory was intentionally put on fire and the insurance company guy and the saith shared the spoils, PKR 3.2 million each no inspection no nothing!

  • http://www.kids-in-mind.com Sarah Durrani

    omg thats like so harsh. those guys like totally harshed your mellow i wish we could totally sue them. wow and you took it

  • arsalan za

    @sarah

    what i took from that was the skill
    how people damage their cars them selves
    and milk money out of insurance companies
    in those cases they pay up..

    its a pity they cant tell the difference between
    2 different types of customers.

    i got my car repaired and will go to igi next time
    as many have suggested

  • Akif Malik

    @Arsalan: would definately not recommend IGI. As i said earlier go for AIG on 111-111-244. American company and one of the MNC in Pakistan. In fact go to google and type in AIG Pakistan Claims and see the links which appear.
    @Kaka: there are good people and bad people all across. u can’t judge an entire industry because of one company. Just because people take bribe doesn’t mean that everyone takes bribe.

    I pay my complete zakat, am contributing towards a charity school and so is my mother in law yet while travelling to States she sprained her ankle … an accident which could happen to anyone. The X-Ray bill was US$ 436.70 … Thank God for Travel Insurance from AIG. They reimbursed her claim after deduction of the deductible amount mentioned in their policy.

    We don’t read the policy documents while buying insurance and hence are not sure what our rights are … that is our weakness and when insurance company pulls a fast one on us, we can’t fight and we blame the entire industry. I too

  • arsalan za

    @ hira kamal
    this is a blog where we all share our views about different products and services, both positive and negative.. by reading this a person will know how the customer satisfaction of TDI is
    and is it justified to pay 4.8% while other companies are taking as low as 3%. it may be something minor to you.. but for others even 10,000rs loss is a huge one. its really hard to be perfect
    but you should try.. thats what this topic is about. if u think otherwise or if you work for an insurance company than ur comment is justified.

    —

    and to all , thanks for ur lovely comments they really enhance our knowledge please keep them coming

    regards

  • Akif Malik

    @Hira
    The insurance business is just like any other business and it can be profitable. To understand the profitability of an insurance company; they make their profit through Underwriting and through Investment income. To give you an example; imagine your car is insured for Rs. 25,000. You pay the money in advance to them and they investment it and get an additional 10% return; meaning they got a total of Rs. 27,500 from your car premium.
    If your car gets damaged and the bill is Rs. 26,000 which is covered by the insurance company, their underwriting profit on your car is Rs. -1,000 yet they made Rs. 1,500 on your car; because of the investment income.
    Last year when the stock market tanked, nearly all insurance companies lost money since most are relying heavily on investment income and not on their core underwriting profit.

  • Akif Malik

    @Arslan
    You are absolutely correct that the purpose of this discussion is to know the effectiveness of the insurance company.
    Unfortunately in our market where the insurance awareness is low, people tend to go for the cheapest rate available without actually realizing what they are getting since insurance is an intangible product.
    I would always advice that you should shop around but also understand your rights and know the market reputation of the company you are dealing with.
    At the end of the day, insurance covers the Khuda-Na-Khasta element, which could happen to anyone/anytime … isn’t that what our belief is when we say that being a muslim hamain apnay aglay pal ka bhi pata nahi.

  • The Once Attached

    Guys, an interesting read through the blog. I will tend to agree with Mr. Malik that you need to find out another suitable option in the Insurance Industry. I am sure you know that all that glitters is not always gold! Thats the case with TDI. They had a great marketing hype but what is amiss is the depth of knowledge and experience that is needed to run an insurance company. Running a Tracker Company offers a natural opportunity for an insurance arm – but it certainly needs insurance professionals to run the show. Do they have them????

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  • Akif Malik

    @the once attached & all:
    TDI’s core competency is Trakker unit and not insurance and that is why they are struggling.
    what i fail to understand is that even some banks have now started their insurance companies yet they don’t know jack about insurance. If you look at the number of insurance company’s there are 31 General Insurance companies in Pakistan .. 31 .. and guess what they all compete on …. price while not realizing that they should be competing on service.

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