Defrauding A Village In Order To Save It

Call Center, Editors' Choice, Insurance, Jerk, Parents/Guardians | Right | October 9, 2009

(A customer calls in wanting to cancel her son’s car insurance. After going back and forth for twenty minutes, she asks to speak to me, the manager.)

Me: “Thank you for holding, Mrs. [Caller].”

Caller: “I want to cancel my son’s car insurance. Why won’t you let me?”

Me: “Because the insurance is a legally binding contract between us and your son, and only he has the legal authority to cancel the contract.”

Caller: “But he’s been in London for months and won’t be back until next year. The car’s just sitting there!”

Me: “Well, we would need your son to cancel or authorise you to act on his behalf. He can call us on [number], or he could send us a fax with the details.”

Caller: “Don’t be ridiculous; he can’t call from England! I’m his mother! I should be able to do it for him.”

(We go round and round in circles for another fifteen minutes, then…)

Caller: “I’m going to sue you for sexual discrimination!”

Me: “Sorry?”

Caller: “I’m going to sue you AND your company for sexual discrimination.”

Me: “Um, on what grounds?”

Caller: “Because if I had gotten my husband to ring you, he could have pretended to be our son and you wouldn’t have known it wasn’t him. I’m a woman and can’t impersonate my son, and that’s sexual discrimination!”

This story is part of the Ignorant-About-Insurance roundup!