My Customer Experience: State Farm

After reviewing the footage, it took the thieves less than 2 minutes to do their job. It was impressive teamwork, where the 1st guy was the dedicated driver, the 2nd raised the vehicle with a jack, the 3rd sawed off the converter, and the 4th was a lookout.

My wife went to the police station to do a police report while I called State Farm to file an insurance claim. I was angry, disappointed, and completely emotional when I made the call, as most customers are during distress. The call lasted about 10 minutes and within that time, the customer experience had turned my entire day around.

This was my experience:

• I called the 1-800 claim phone number listed on State Farm’s website.

• The website allows for filing a claim online, but I opted to call instead.
  • I’m old-school and prefer talking to someone over the phone, as opposed to email, text, or submitting a case through a website.

• The hold time was 5 minutes.
  • During those 5 minutes the prompt guided me towards the website to file a claim.
  • There was also a Call Back feature, allowing the system to call when an agent frees up.
  • I opted out and waited, as it was less than 5 minutes.

• The State Farm agent was friendly and professional.
  • He took 2 or 3 pieces of information and verified my account.

• I explained our story about the stolen catalytic converter, he sensed my emotional tone, took a pause, and provided empathy.
  • The agent had been trained to help guide me to a calm state within minutes.
  • It was something I’ve never experienced before, but once I got off the phone, I then thought there might’ve been an AI BOT telling the CX agent to provide emotional relief.

• The agent mentioned what our deductible amount would be, which wasn’t as bad as having to pay for a new catalytic converter out-of-pocket.

• The agent provided me with 3 repair shops, all within a 1 mile radius from our home. He then filtered on the highest-rated with the best reviews. The shop was .9 miles away from our home.

• During the phone call, he sent me a text message with my claim number and information on the car shop.

• The agent said he had sent all the information to the repair shop and told me they would be ready to service the vehicle whenever I was ready to drop it off.

• He proceeded to let me know about a daily stipend on a car rental, and offered to find a rental close to my home, which I accepted.
  • He found an Enterprise Car Rental .4 miles away from me and even coordinated with them so that I could drop off my car at the repair shop and then Enterprise would pick me up from there.
  • I was absolutely blown away in how seamless the entire process was going.

• The agent told me Enterprise Car Rental had received my information and would be calling me within 2 hours to choose a vehicle. 
  • Enterprise Car Rental called me within the hour to ask about the type of vehicle and how long I wanted it, as State Farm would cover up to 1 month while the Prius gets serviced.

• The State Farm agent sent me another text message with the Enterprise Car Rental information.