Screwed over by T-Mobile's Assurant cell phone insurance!
I purchased a Note 7 phone through T-Mobile in September of 2016 as well as an insurance policy through Assurant for the phone. The phone was stolen in November of 2016 and I filed a claim & authorized a $175 deductible to be collected by Assurant.
The Note 7 was no longer available on the market due to a worldwide recall issued by Samsung, so instead of sending me a replacement phone, I received a check from Signal Telecommunications insurance Services, the parent or affiliate of Assurant, for $664.99 which was the purchase price of the phone minus the $175 deductible. I did not want to downgrade my phone by purchasing an S7 or S7 edge, so I decided not to cash it right away, instead waiting to see if Samsung would reissue the Note 7 again or if they would create a new version, which a year later they have finally done with the Note 8. I finally went to deposit the check, which does not show any expiration date on it, about 2 or 3 weeks ago, and was informed by the teller at my bank that it was their policy not to accept checks over 6 months old. My bank said that I should contact the issuer of the check and request for it to be reissued.
I followed my bank's instructions and called Assurant, asking the representative to reissue the check after explaining the situation. She was very helpful and seemed thorough in checking out the details of my original claim and agreed that I was still owed the money and informed me that she would have to first issue a stop payment for the old original non=deposited check that I still held, and that once that had been done she would have them reissue me a new check. She said total turn around time for me to get the new check in the mail would be up to 10 days total. That was 2 weeks ago.
I called again yesterday in the late afternoon LA time and spoke to a gentleman who listened to my explanation of what was going on and also seemed to thoroughly research my claim. Later into the call after several requests to hold the line, he said he was speaking with the dept who issues the checks on the other line and that they verified my claim and agreed to reissue the check, but because they were on east coast time he asked me to call back the next day, today, during business hours and assured me that they would then cut me the check, no problem. He said that he would personally take care of it and update the notes on my account so that when I call in it would all be taken care of smoothly and the check would be reissued and sent out. He said that it would be quicker to do it this way, continuing the claim I had already made, because if he started a new claim, it would take another 3 to 4 days for them to research, cut me a new check, and get it in the mail.
I asked him to please be sure to accurately update the notes on my claim to reflect our conversation, since apparently the first lady who had helped me two weeks prior had somehow messed up. He said she actually had done everything to make to the tee by the book, had placed a stop payment on the check, but had just made the small mistake of forgetting to note that the check needed to be reissued to me. When I got off the phone I was relieved that everything had been once again cleared up. So today I called as instructed, I spoke with a female representative and explained why I was calling.
I was asked to hold the line for a few minutes 4 times before being told that they wete not going to reissue the check now because they showed that the check, dated 11/11/2016 had been processed 11/21/2016. I was caught completely off guard and shocked to suddenly be told this nonsense. I explained to her that this was impossible as I was holding the check and that I always physically deposit my checks and know for a fact that I never deposited nor cashed this check. I explained that everyone else at Assurant I had already spoken to had already agreed with me after much research and that I had been reassured by both of the representatives I had spoken to that I was going to get my payout check re-issued.
She insisted that the information she had was all she could go off of and could not tell me what bank processed the check or any other information about it, so I asked to speak with a manager. The manager was adamant that it had already been processed and told me that the other representatives were wrong and that the day after I spoke to the first representative my claim had its notes updated to reflect that the check had been processed on 11/21/2016. She said she didn't know why nobody told me or why I was told the check would be reissued. She said she did see the request for a stop payment that was processed and that the check had been canceled.
I meanwhile had checked & confirmed my bank's statements for that period of time in November 2016 even though I was sure I never deposited the check. I explained to her that I was sure that I never deposited nor cashed the check, that I am holding it in my hand, that my bank records confirm it was never deposited, that my bank confirmed that it was still active when I first tried to deposit it, they only wanted me to get a reissued check due to their policy of not accepting checks over 6 months old, and asked her how or why a stop payment would be put on a check if it had already been processed. She still stood by the decision not to reissue a check. I asked who her boss was and she said she could give me the corporate address.
I already have it and asked if it was the one she was referring to to which she said yes. I asked if there was a corporate phone number to which she replied that she only had a corporate address. At this point I was getting very upset and frustrated so I ended the call. This is the worst customer service I have ever experienced and I'm sorry but $664.99 may not be a lot of money to Assurant but it is to me and I am extremely disappointed upset and feel cheated by this company.
They are giving me the run around and this is unacceptable, I do not recommend that anyone get phones or phone service through T-Mobile and whether you do or not, do not ever get any kind of insurance through Assurant or Signal Telecommunications Insurance because they are dishonest and may take your money and screw you over as they have done to me. Shame on Assurant!
Reason of review: Problems with payment.
Monetary Loss: $665.
Preferred solution: Reissue my payout check to me and expedite it to my home address. .
Assurant Pros: How quick original claim processed and check received.
Assurant Cons: Poor customer service dishonesty and shady business practices, Reassurance check to be reissued then refusal to reissue check, Lack of communication zero integrity plus time wasted.
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Comments
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they are still giving me run around a supervisor from assurant said to answer 2 questions told me not to worry dont need to send id in because i answered 2 questions right said she is processing really they say next day delivery still waitng for my phone cheap stylo 4 i payed ins. for 20yrs.
they treat seniors very poorly shady. reps.i wasted alot of time and days seniors should be treated better than this where is my phone ?never trust this co.
they need to send my phone this is very upsetting to wait each day for my phone i payed for and still never recieved as promised the girl at store said yes use your ins. for your phone they will send next day even on recording i cant believe lied to by a supervisor .they dont care about customers because i would have had my phone already that i payed for years this ins .
They always do something (argue ridiculous fats) to do no pay your claim
What moron holds a check for 6 months. FYI most banks don't honor checks after 6 months. Cash it earn some interest than buy your new phone