Complaint Review: GEICO Corporate (Government Employees Insurance Company) - Chevy Chase Maryland

On November 14th, 2022 I unfortunately hit an inebriated homeless person with my car who jumped over a median to cross over a busy road. Luckily, the man was okay, but both of his legs were apparently broken. Although this was not my fault, I did not pursue the man for damages. In fact, the police would not even provide his details. At the end of the day, I was just happy and relieved that the man survived the incident. As you can imagine, the incident “still” weighs heavy on me. I’ve seen a therapist and apparently, I am dealing with PTSD. As you can imagine, the emotional and financial burden combined has been unbearable. Although the man was okay, it bothers me that I don’t know how he is doing.

Although this was not my fault, Geico insisted that I pay a $1500 deductible for which I had a waiver for. I explained that before adding the extra coverage back in June of 2022 I spoke with a Geico representative who explained incidents like this would be covered. Unfortunately, Geico will not cover this or do any investigating.

On November 18th, 2022 (my birthday) I ended up taking my car for repairs to Classic Collision off of 4501 South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas. I took my car to this location as it was heavily suggested to me by my Geico representative. Every time I mentioned taking it to a place of my own choice, I was given a negative reason not to. Unfortunately, I did take my car to this location, which was the worst decision I have ever made in regard to a vehicle. It is now December 29th and although I have my car back and paid my deductible in full, I am still missing the bottom part of my bumper and 2 window linings.

Before leaving my car, I filled out a form with all of my details, including my preferred method of contact. I prefer phone calls as it allows for questions and full explanations while you have someone on the phone. Unfortunately, the Classic Collision Geico Rep. insisted on texting instead. I stressed a number of times that I prefer phone calls and he stressed that “it would be easier on him if he could text”. I agreed as long as he gave proper, detailed updates and actually answered texts.

Once I got home, I had a few questions, so I texted. I received no response for a few hours so I decided to call. I ended up calling 6 times between 2 pm and 5 pm only to be put on hold for 15-20 minutes each time only to have someone eventually pick up the phone and hang up. The last time I called, the woman answering the phone line aggressively answered the phone saying, “look, Mr. Luna, you keep calling here but the people you are trying to reach are busy.” I responded, “first off, my name is not Mr. Luna. 2nd, when you answer a phone for a business, you are supposed to answer professionally. Hello, this is Classic Collision. How may I help you for instance.” The woman responded, “WELL, we have caller ID and the name says Mr. Luna.” I was so angry and frustrated, not to mention still suffering from the incident on the 14th that I just said never mind.

I decided to just wait for updates on my car instead of stressing myself out even more. Since I was told that my Geico Rep., Jamie would help me every step of the way, I decided to call her to follow up for me. I called and left messages for 3 days in a row as well as texted to no avail. I then contacted her supervisor, Scott. It took almost a whole day, but he eventually called me back. He explained that “yeah, this is not good customer service. there is no reason it should take this long for here to contact you.” Jamie then called a little later and was extremely unempathetic and nonchalant about my situation. She explained that she doesn’t respond to texts or phone calls after her work hours. Although one of my texts was sent 7 minutes “before” her shift ended, all of my calls were before her 4:30 pm off time. Regardless, her excuse made no sense. Fair enough, you don’t respond to texts or phone calls after work hours, but why don’t you respond the next day when customers leave a voice message and text?

I did not bother Classic Collision or Geico at all for a couple of weeks after the Jamie incident. By Thursday, December 1st, I received a text message from Roy at Classic Collision stating, “we have the vehicle painted and are going to start getting it all back together.” With that information, I thought the car would be ready by the next day. It wasn’t so I thought it would be ready by Monday. Instead, I got another text saying, “we are nearing completion. if we encounter any delays, we’ll call you.” On December 6th, I received another text stating, “we have just about all back together. There is one part on the front bumper that will not arrive for a few weeks.” Almost a week after telling me my car is being put back together and I’m now being told my car is still missing a part?!?! Not to mention, I had been renting a car from a friend and returned it the weekend before thinking I would have my car by Monday the 5th. Eventually, I texted back for an explanation but received no response until the following day. I was told that it was the fog lamp that was missing, which led to a long back and forth. Eventually, I expressed that I would prefer phone calls at this point but Roy insisted on texting instead. I also wanted the manager of the shop to call me but he never did. I even called the corporate office to no avail.

Roy eventually texted me again answering my questions and then said it was the lower bumper cover grill that was missing instead of the fog lamp initially mentioned. Turns out there were now two parts missing instead of one. There was more back and forth via text and I eventually found out that a third part was missing. A window liner. Now that I have my car back, I can see that a fourth part is messed up and needs replacing, and another window liner that is worse off than the one initially ordered.

As you can imagine, I was sick of the texts and wanted someone to call to give me a proper explanation. I tried calling Classic Collision again but had the same issues. I called 5 times only to be put on hold for 15-20 minutes only to have someone pick up the phone and hang up. I then tried calling Jamie from Geico on December 6th. I left a voice message and texted (before her shift ended) but received no response. I called Scott from Geico the next day and eventually got a call back from him. With an annoyed, monotone voice, he said he would look into it. Jamie then called again and gave another excuse of being away or something. Again, she was very unempathetic and extremely nonchalant about the whole lack of communication issue. I explained that I would like her to contact Classic Collision and have both Roy and The manager of the shop “contact me separately”. A little later Roy called. We were having a conversation for about 4 minutes in regard to everything still missing from my car. Eventually, I mentioned that I would still like the manager of the shop to call. To my surprise, the manager started speaking. Here I was talking to Roy and someone else was listening in on our conversation without my knowledge. The manager did not introduce himself or make it known that he was listening. As you can imagine, “like most people on the planet” I want to know if someone else is listening to my conversations. Apparently, my privacy was not important to Classic Collision. After the manager “talked down to me as if he was my boss”, he eventually disappeared from the conversation without saying goodbye. Just like he entered the conversation not saying hello. Apparently, he was annoyed that I didn’t want to pay full price to pick up my car with parts missing. He went as far as saying, “if you can’t at least leave $1000, we won’t release the car.”

During this conversation, I received a text message from Jamie simply saying, “I advised them both to call you :).” I responded by telling her that I said, “separately”. I explained how they had called together and that I was unhappy. Jamie never responded. In fact, I have called, left voice messages, and texted several times since December 8th. Jamie has not responded to any of my messages or calls since this last message…….

The next day, a Dominic called me and I explained my situation. Apparently, he was the area manager or something so seemed a bit more empathetic to all of my issues. We tried to find a resolution as I needed my car and didn’t want to continue waiting with no set date for part arrivals and such bad communication. Eventually, Dominic mentioned my paying $1000 for the deductible instead of $1500. Unfortunately, upon arrival to pick up my car, I was told $1250. As I was so frustrated and angry, I decided not to fight it and just paid. It took about 40 minutes to pay, get my keys, and wait for a poor apology from Roy.

Later that night Dominic texted about the status of my car. I explained that the left bottom potion under my door was very loose but received no response. That was December 9th and I still don’t feel comfortable driving the car with that part being loose and knowing the front bumper isn’t totally secure.

I left the shop that day with an arrival date for the parts of December 20th. This worked for me as it was plenty of time to have the parts installed in order for me to feel safe to drive to Houston for Christmas with my family. On December 19th I received a text from Dominic stating, “we are expecting the grille in 2 days. I will keep you posted.” Trying to be patient, I gave Classic Collision time “since the part didn’t actually arrive in 2 days”. Instead, I started trying to call my Geico contacts on Thursday, December 22nd. I called Jamie to no avail. I called Scott to no avail. I called Jamie and Scott’s Manager Robert to no avail. I also called a Steve and Dorthy from Geico to no avail. No one would respond to me so I decided to text all of them at once. No one responded. It is now December 26th and still, no one has responded. I also called a Mark from Classic Collision about needing my car for Christmas. I had to reach out again the next day to get him to respond. All he did was pass me off to Dominic who started questioning that the side below the door was loose. Instead, he started asking me to go out into 15-degree weather to take photos (which would resolve nothing). Almost as if he was saying, “I don’t believe you.” I stressed over and over again that I was also busy that day trying to get last-minute preparations in order in regard to gifts for my family in Houston. Basically, I was limited on time and was hoping my parts were in so they could be installed. Dominic mentioned getting a rental and reimbursing me. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to leave a deposit or pay for a rental and be reimbursed. I explained this to Dominic via text but still have not received a response. I eventually texted saying that I would have to cancel my Christmas plans due to the missing parts and not being updated. I still have not received a response. Holidays or not, I should have received a response from Classic Collision and Geico between December 21st and today. No one bothered to pick up the phone.

Without a doubt, Geico as well as Custom Collision have made my whole holiday season an ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE for what was already a highly stressful and emotional situation. I DESPERATELY look forward to switching to a different insurance provider after this debacle. Not to mention, writing in detail about this nightmare to Geico corporate as well as on every single blog and review site possible.

6 weeks, paid my deductible in full, still missing multiple parts, and can't get anyone from GEICO or Classic Collision to contact me. . .