If you have read the first part of this story, which was about the car break in, it is now time to get into dealing with filing an insurance claim with Chase Card Benefit Services. After my car was broken into on January 28, 2018, I contact Chase Card Benefit Services and was instructed to go to eclaimsline.com and file the claim. The instructions were pretty easy to follow. Describe what happened, and upload a bunch of documents such as the final rental agreement, pictures, repair cost, etc. This was submitted on February 2^nd.

February 13^th I received email thanking me and was told that they would, “reply to your benefit inquiry within 24-48 business hours”

February 14^th I received, “Thank you for submitting your claim, please see the attached document for important information regarding your claim.”

• A copy of the Demand Letter (document from the Rental Agency outlining their payment mailing address, claim reference number, and all damage charges and/or expenses for which they are seeking reimbursement).
• The Final Rental Agreement verifying the return of the vehicle and the final rental charges.
• A copy of the Initial Automobile Rental Agreement.

The rental company charged my credit card directly for the repairs, so I had no demand letter. I had already sent them the final rental agreement and initial agreement. So, I replied to the email address eclaimsline@eclaimsline.com that I had already sent that information and attached it to the email so they could have it again.

February 27^th, I received the same email asking for the exact same information.

February 28^th, I decided to try calling and spoke to a customer service agent who said, “I don’t know why you were asked for that, I can see that you sent it in. I will submit this again to the claims agent.”

March 3^rd, I received an email thanking me and saying they needed these items.

• The Final Rental Agreement verifying the return of the vehicle and the final rental charges.
• A copy of the Initial Automobile Rental Agreement.
• A copy of the monthly billing statement (showing the last 4 digits of the card number) verifying the charge for damage to the rental vehicle. If you have not paid, please let us know so that we may pay the rental agency directly if your claim is honored.

If you have read this far you know that I have already sent them the final rental agreement and the initial rental agreement. What you don’t know is, I also sent them a copy of my credit card statement from Chase showing the charges for the damage with the last 4 of my card number as well.

March 16th, I called again and talked to another person who said the final rental agreement was hard to read and asked if I could re-scan it making it easier to read. That same day, I re-scanned it, making the text darker so the (apparently hard of sight) person dealing with the claim could read it.

March 21^st, Since I hadn’t heard from them in a while I emailed them saying, “Since you guys are having a hard time reading the scanned copy of the final rental agreement, is there an address I could just mail it to?”

March 26^th,  I didn’t receive a response to my ask for the address but did receive an email asking for the exact same information they asked for on March 3rd.

March 28^th, I called customer service again. The guy I spoke with apologized for all the issues I was having and said that he would have the claims adjuster call me the next day.

March 29th, I did not receive a call from the person working my claim.

Early April, I found the address and mailed them the original final rental agreement.

April 18th, I emailed them, “Can you please provide an update on this claim_____

Since you can’t read the scanned copies of the forms I sent them in mail and can see that they were delivered on April 10th. The car was broken into in January and it is now April. I don’t see how this could possibly be taking so long to process a simple claim like this.”

April 20th, I received an email, and yes, you will totally guess what it said, “We have carefully reviewed the information provided to date and note that additional documents are required to promptly process your claim. Please assist us by providing the following:

• The Final Rental Agreement you provided was not legible. Please provide a clearer copy.
• A copy of the monthly billing statement (showing the last 4 digits of the card number) verifying the charge for damage to the rental vehicle. If you have not paid, please let us know so that we may pay the rental agency directly if your claim is honored.

April 22^nd, I received an email simply saying, “Thank you for contacting Card Benefit Services. In reviewing your claim it appears we need the Monthly Billing Statement for the damages.” Notice, that between April 20th and 22nd, I did not contact them at all. So somehow on the 20th the rental agreement was not legible and on the 22nd it was, and they still didn’t have the billing statement even though that had been uploaded originally as well as emailed.

April 24th, I emailed this, “I’ve already sent it, but here it is again. The charge is literally the first item listed and the last 4 of the card number are at the top of the page. Just like every other time I sent it.”

May 2^nd, I received this email, “The Final Rental Agreement you provided was not legible. Please provide a clearer copy.”

May 3^rd, I contacted the rental car company asking for another copy of the final rental agreement. The person I spoke with electronically generated a copy of it and emailed it to me. To be perfectly clear, as clearly as you are reading this right now, is how clear the rental agreement is that I sent them on the same day.

May 9^th, Yes, they sent me this again, “The Final Rental Agreement you provided was not legible. Please provide a clearer copy”

May 10^th, I called customer service again and asked if it were possible to have someone work my claim who is not blind. She didn’t see the humor in that, so I asked her to review the document I sent and she said, she could clearly read it. I agreed. So, since we both could clearly read it, the only reason the examiner can’t is because he or she is blind. So, I asked again, if someone who is not blind could take a look at it. She apologized for the issues I’ve been having and said she would email the examiner. I can’t wait to see what the next e-mail will be.

May 15^th I received this request “A copy of the Demand Letter (document from the Rental Agency outlining their payment mailing address, claim reference number, and all damage charges and/or expenses for which they are seeking reimbursement).” 

If you have read this far, you will know that I don’t have a demand letter. The reason I don’t have it, is because I already paid the charges that are called out in the billing statement they previously asked for. I called again and After giving my information, “Can I speak to a manager please?”

Her – Is this in regard to the request we sent you today.

Me- Yes, the one where the person who is apparently a complete moron sent me information already asked for. And since this is now my 5^th call to you guys I’m starting to get pissed and would like to speak to someone in charge.

She then put me on hold to review the notes came back and said she would try to get the claims adjuster on the phone. I said, I was told previously that he would call me, but never did. She put me on hold again and eventually transferred me to the claims adjuster. I went through my list of grievances with him, in still a reasonably calm mood, and he argued back until I got tired of it and asked for his boss. He  put me on hold and came back saying no one was available. At which point I lost my temper,

Me – “Why did you just send me another email asking for the demand letter when I replied to you in the past that I paid the charges, and in fact you sent me an email asking for a copy of my billing statement that showed the charges, which I previously sent. You have continually, since January, sent me emails over and over again asking for the same information over and over again. which I keep replying to over and over again. So the only thing I can think of, the only excuse must be that you are not a very bright person. So are you? Is there something wrong with you intelligence wise? ”

Him – Sir, I’m not going to respond to that question.

Me – Okay then why don’t you answer the question of why you keep sending me emails asking for the same information over and over again.

After a bit more back and forth he put me on hold again due to my demand for a manager again.

Him – Okay sir, this is what I will do. That email that I sent you requesting the demand letter, I will wave that demand letter and you will have a response on your claim within 24 hours.

Me – Why do you need to wave the demand letter when you previously asked me for a demand letter, and I previously told you I don’t have one since I paid for it myself. You then asked for my billing statement with the charges that I sent you. And then you asked me again. For the statement. So you already have that information. So why are you asking me today, again, for something you have already asked me for and why would you need to wave it, since it’s not something you should be requesting.

Him – Well, I previously asked for the demand letter because when I went into your claim I didn’t see the demand letter in the file. But like I said, I will waive that demand letter. This claim, I am not the only examiner that works claims. So, as we work the claims, I didn’t repeatedly ask for the billing statement. That was someone else.

Me – Do you guys not look over the history of the account before you reply to stuff?

Him – Yes we do.

Me – Then how is it you didn’t see the responses?

Him – Like I said, I wasn’t the one who asked for that billing statement previously.

Me – So you didn’t see the previous response to the demand letter, is that what you are saying?

Him– Yes, I didn’t see the demand letter in the file.

Me – So multiple people who work there don’t bother to read the notes on the account and just keep asking for information over and over again? Is that the system there? If you just keep asking for stuff over and over again, that the person will get tired of responding and you won’t have to pay out the claim?

Him – No, that’s not it sir. Some claims examiners will request some documents, and another examiner might feel they can waive it.

Me – So you guys don’t have set policies you follow, it’s just up to the person?

Him – No, that’s not what I’m saying sir.

Me – well it sounds like it.

I think you get the point as to how the phone call went. It eventually ended with him saying that he will process the claim that day, and me responding sarcastically that I can’t wait to read whatever email I was going to get.

The thing about all this drama is, this should be so simple. It’s roughly 300 euros in damages from a car that had been broken into. Simply paying a person’s salary to cover the multiple calls I made, and the adjusters, and all the back and forth has probably already cost them that amount of money.

May 16^th, not the same day but the next I received, “We are pleased to inform you that your Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver Benefit claim has been approved.”

Over and over again, we are told that we don’t achieve anything when we get mad. We are quoted, “you get more with honey than vinegar.” Yet, again, this is just another example of how untrue that is. I called into customer service numerous times and was very nice, yet it wasn’t until I got mad at the person on the other end that I actually achieved results. Five months, dozens of emails back and forth, multiple phone calls, and all for $353.19 in damages, not to mention what the cost of service they had to pay in dicking me around.