Tuesday, October 14, 2008

I Hate Inefficiency

I hate people who don't do their jobs correctly when they're supposed to.

Duped and Stupid
I got a policy in "Prudential Life Plans Insurance" last Saturday night (Oct 11) at SM Pampanga under Danvil Plans, Inc., whose agent told me they're the marketing arm of Prudential Life. After mulling over the on-the-spot decision I made, I came back to my house anxious and wanted to bring back time. I felt duped and stupid.

No Such Thing as Non-Refund
So I came back to Danvil's office on Sunday afternoon (Oct 12). (I didn't notice the first time I went there that Family First was the signage on top of the office. Damn.) I gave my cancellation letter and policy so they can process my cancellation and refund ASAP. Refund here means cancellation of the amount charged in my credit card (CC). As of that day, the amount I paid them was still "floating" in my account, meaning it still wasn't posted by their company and was under the settlement period between them and the CC company. After sometime of explanations and persuasions, I firmly told them that I am decided to cancel my policy. They said I have to get back on Wednesday (Oct 15) to get the cancellation slip for my CC once my policy was approved for cancellation.

Just Asking for Professionalism
Despite them saying that their day-off was yesterday (Monday, Oct 14), I called them at their office to follow up on my cancellation. As expected, I was told that the people I talked to were not around and will only be back by today. I asked if my policy's cancellation was already on-going and she (the one who answered the phone, I forgot her name) didn't know the status or where my policy is. She told me that the only report logged in their system is that I went there for inquiry on cancellation. What inquiry?!, I said to myself. I cleared it up with her that I was there to totally cancel my policy and I even left my papers already. I even have a copy of my cancellation signed as received by the sales manager I talked to. She just assured me that she'll remind them when she reports to office the next day.

Delaying Tactics?
It became my habit to check my CC account online regularly. Because I know that the amount won't be charged in my CC once they cancel the transaction and it's still floating. However when I checked my account this morning, the amount was already posted! I'm really infuriated with their service. If only they acted upon it ASAP then it won't happen to this. I'm even thinking they intended this to happen so I would have to wait for 30-45 days for the chargeback since the amount was already posted. Given that they know that their day-off was yesterday, they should have forwarded my cancellation to someone else so it will be processed immediately. Especially if they know that my transaction will be posted by yesterday.

Or Just Plain Dirty?
What I'm hoping now is that I'll really get my CC cancellation slip tomorrow as promised. Danvil should listen to complaints of all people, policy holders or not, and check on their service. And if what the "consultant" told me that my plan was really under Prudential Plans, why is it that the merchant registered on my CC is Danvil Plans, Inc. and not Prudential Plans? And also, if you're giving out contact details, don't use a photocopy of a site's printout. Please.

*** Update: The cancellation was successful and I received my refund! Yay! ***

4 comments:

  1. Well as far as I know since you signed up saturday evening your application would be process monday which is the regular business day. I just don't know if they process application on a sunday. Granting they process applications for new policy holders even on sundays, your application would be underwritten by the company's underwriter. It would go for an evaluation before they could give you a policy number. This is how I know because I've been working in an insurance company for 7 years. So, if you went there sunday afternoon, they should have canceled it per your request because your application is still on process that is why there's no amount yet being debited on your CC because they're not yet done with the underwriting.

    By the way, Danvil Plans, Inc is formerly Berkley International Plans.

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  2. Hi Ate, Yup I think there's something fishy with my policy's cancellation. I'm really pissed off with their service. Perhaps that's why a lot of negative feedback is circulating regarding Danvil.

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  3. Hi Neri,

    A friend and I also recently had our policy canceled just last 6 November. Have you been refunded already? We're both really nervous about the processing of our cancellation.

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  4. Hi jk,

    Thanks for dropping by. Yes, I received my refund last October 30. Here are the details: http://www.iamneri.com/2008/11/update-on-my-danvil-plan-cancellation.html

    I hope you won't have a hard time with your refund. God bless. :)

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