June 2021 by Belinda G.
I've been a customer of Don Olson's for 14 years, and a loyal State Farm customer for 40 years. In all those years, I've never seen or met Don Olson. I went in to his office in person when I moved to update my homeowners and auto policies. That was 7 years ago, and I recently found out I've been overcharged by $1000 per year all those years. Turns out State Farm had been charging me for a single family house rather than a townhouse. It took forever to straighten it out, about 3 or 4 weeks to issue the new homeowner's policy and process my refunds. They also didn't update the name on my policy, so my auto and my homeowners are under 2 different names. My sister told me of the fabulous amounts she was saving by switching to Progressive, so I decided to review my premiums. I contacted Don's office and asked Marilyn what advantage State Farm offered over Progressive that justified paying $3000 more per year for State Farm, and her reply? Being able to speak with an agent. It's those very same Don Olson agents that mischaracterized my homeowner's coverage to begin with. So I asked to have my homeowner's policy converted from single-family to condo. It took weeks. Each week when I called back to check on progress (never a callback from State Farm!), Marilyn blamed the State Farm corporate office on the hold-up in processing my refund and in reissuing my policy. I think Don must be taking some nice vacations with those overpayments, which would explain why I've never met the man or seen him in his office. I had asked Marilyn if she could review my coverage to see if I qualified for any discounts or reductions to see if State Farm could bring my premiums more in line with Progressive's. She didn't have any suggestions. I offered up a few of my own, such as reducing my deductions, reevaluating my coverage limits, and converting my homeowners coverage to condo. Mistake after mistake ensued. I called back weekly to straighten things out. Finally got my policies reissued and refunds processed. And when I asked why my homeowners insurance had been incorrect for the past 6 years, she said that people make mistakes. No possibility of a refund. I asked if Don's office ever re-evaluates policies to look for opportunities to save, and she said no. There's the human touch for you! I tried to make an appointment to talk with her about my policy updates. She had a prospective client, so couldn't. I've been with State Farm since I got my first car at age 20. They defended me in court when I was 16 and crashed the family car. The agents I've had through the years have been great. Same for State Farm's customer service over the phone. I ended up switching to another carrier. Everything was done over phone/online/email, which is the utmost in convenience since I work full-time. Unlike Don's office, in which you need to make an appointment during business hours, which is super-convenient for Don's staff but not for anyone who works. Long story short, it's incredibly easy to review your insurance on your own since everything is now online. I think the insurance agent business model is outdated. I hope Don's office can get with the times in both customer service and rates.
