AN APOLOGY FROM FARMERS? Hardly!

2007-08-03 by

This is in response to the e-letter I sent to Farmers Insurance’s President, Paul N. Hopkins

The subject line read: Paul N. Hopkins – Consumer Complaint

I got the following apology from someone named, Bill Matlock. I believe that he is Farmers State Executive Director. But I could be wrong. He didn’t include his signature, title or contact information in his apology e-mail. In fact, he didn’t even include his name. I got that off the e-mail address.

Here’s what he said (with analysis):

Mrs Rosenberg,
[note: not even a ‘Dear’ – am I being chided or am I getting an apology?]

On behalf of the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, we apologize for the inconvenience this matter has caused you. We will work accordingly with Mr. Ramano [note: he spelled the name of his own agent incorrectly] to have your husbands [Note the punctuation] name removed from their mailing list.

We take great pride in professionally representing the insurance industry in all facets and meeting the needs of the clients that are a part of the Farmers family.

Again, I truly regret the inconvenience this matter has caused and if you wish to further discuss, please feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

[Note: That’s it. No name, nothing more – and certainly NO contact information!]
—-

Did you see what is glaringly missing here? No?

Read my response, then:

Dear Mr. Matlock,

Thank you for your note.

I appreciate your clearing us off your rolls.

But this is a bigger problem.

You haven’t addressed the company policy of permitting, or encouraging, your agents or brokers to send out sensitive information on postcards or other publicly visible media.

If this were just about me, I wouldn’t have addressed my ncerns to the president of your company. (Still waiting for a response.)

I would appreciate getting a response about your corporate policy on this practice.

[No response from him, Farmers Insurance’s president, or their public relations folks. I did, politely request a reply by yesterday, so I could post it today. Naturally, I assumed the reply would be – ‘Oh goodness! We had no idea this was going on. We will immediately issue a directive to stop this behavior in the future.’

Really. I AM naive enough to believe in the integrity and goodness of corporate executives. Am I being silly again? ]

Note: Discussion of this issue is going on here:
http://taxquips.com/index.php?id=483

Someone else is not happy about the way Farmers
does business either. It’s almost as if they
want me to register a complaint with the State
of California’s Insurance Commissioner,
Steve Poizner to address advertising ethics.
http://www.insurance.ca.gov/

What do you think?

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Open Letter to Farmers Insurance
TaxQuip #483
Personal Violations

# | Posted in Reviews and Recommendations | AskTaxMama | Comments » (4)



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  1. JO A. Reagan Says:
    August 03rd, 2007 at 10:50 am

    My thoughts. Talk to the agent. He is the one who used the data base to send the postcard. As to the postman/woman, when they were federal employees, I think they were supposed to have confidentiality as one of their requirements to continue employment. Now, who knows?
    Regarding poll workers knowing how one votes. Poll workers have to swear (literally) not to reveal how anyone votes or even give a guess as to how anyone votes. Penalties are not limited to being fired.

  2. Robert Burns Says:
    August 08th, 2007 at 08:05 am

    I think Tax Mama is majoring in minors. If this get's you upset, I wonder how you'll react when something really important happens…

  3. TaxMama Says:
    August 08th, 2007 at 11:01 am

    [Chuckle] Thanks for the feedback, Robert.

    It does seem excessive, doesn't it?

    Except for one thing. I've had to help people through the aftermath of identity theft problems, and problems where other people put mortgages on THEIR homes…and other stuff you would never expect to happen – and would not have thought there was a need to protect yourself against.

    Taken in light of that, this is a bigger issue than it appears.

    Have you ever had to struggle through that kind of a problem? Or help someone through it? Their credit is shot; Interest rates go sky-high; Their home is about to be foreclosed on because some mortgage company gave the loan to someone pretending to be them?

    Tell me again that this is minor?

    It all starts with knowing enough about a property to pretend to be you.

    The fact that Farmers Insurance is not willing to address sending this information out on postcards is a bit distressing.

    After all, they are sending these letters to total strangers. We're not even customers – so we don't get the opportunity to sign of on any privacy documents.

    They're just pulling names off the county recorder's rolls and sending it out to the world.

    At least use an envelope, for Pete's sake!

    Anyway, I haven't heard any more from Farmers about this. So, I'll wait a few more days, then file a complaint with the California's Insurance Commissioner.

    Good to hear from you.

    Hugs

    Eva

  4. Final Letter from Farmers Insurance, California Says:
    August 17th, 2007 at 07:11 am

    Mrs. Rosenberg,

    Good Afternoon.

    This email will serve as a follow up to your questions/concerns below. All of our Farmers Agents are Independent Contractors, which by contract provides them with the opportunity to control the time, place and manner in which they conduct business. We clearly expect our agents to follow all state/federal laws as it relates to marketing, soliciting and customer contact. Provided our agents act within accordance of their contracts and don't violate any state/federal laws, we permit them to conduct business at their discretion. Again, we regret any inconvenience that you feel this matter has caused and have asked the agency to remove you from future mailing list at your request.

    In the event I can be of further assistance regarding this matter, please don't hesitate to contact me at your earliest convenience for assistance.

    Bill Matlock
    California State Executive Director – LA Market
    Simi Valley, CA 93099

    [TaxMama Note: Folks, have you ever noticed that the most successful companies and franchisors establish guidelines for their contractors and franchisees? Just an observation…]

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