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Comedian Calls Out Progressive Insurance for Defending His Sister’s Killer; Progressive Responds in Heartless Robot Fashion

Louis Peitzman
Aug 13, 2012

http://gawker.com/5934436/comedian-call ... ot-fashion

“With a title as provocative as "My Sister Paid Progressive Insurance to Defend Her Killer In Court," comedian Matt Fisher's Tumblr post was bound to get attention.

“And that's a good thing: Fisher details the kind of bureaucratic insurance company nightmare that sounds too awful to be real. . . ”

ProgressiveRefugee
Reply 15 days ago

“I worked for Progressive Insurance as a claims adjuster for a while. . . .

“ . . . Adjusters are hired straight out of college, in large part. They like to do this because they do want people who have very limited professional experience. It's mainly so you never talk back and feel so very lucky when they throw you a bone like free Flo swag! as a reward for pulling down 80-90 hour weeks. The work is relentless. You don't get days off, as you're expected to work from home the minute you get home from the office on weekends and holidays. Snow days? f**k that, they don't care if its too unsafe for other people to be out driving. You better come in or you'll be fired this minute. Quotas are set for you in terms of productivity goals that no human being can consistently make so when you fall behind, they get smug enjoyment from benevolently letting you keep your job today- but watch out, they're most likely to fire you tomorrow. Your claims load is relentless. It never ends. You cannot keep up with it and you are told, cajoled, and sometimes ORDERED to settle or close down claims even if you know that Progressive should do being doing at minimum something more for the policyholder or claimant (if our driver is at fault).

“My supervisor was a hateful woman, who regularly picked fights with people on the phone to reduce people to tears, belittled policyholders so viciously it was stomach churning, and denied claims when we were OBLIGATED to pay because she got off on being heinous she-bitch with a god-complex. If the person escalated the situation to fight back at their treatment, that was fine because another department would handle it. And by handle it, just put them through a hamster wheel of mind-numbing, machine-like, Groundhog Day antics to wear them out and run them off. Basically, middle management at its finest. . . ”

FormerEE
1 of 12 replies @ProgressiveRefugee [click on 'and 12 more']

http://gawker.com/5934436/comedian-call ... ot-fashion

' . . . Sexual harassment was constant. Being a male, I was spared, but the females in my office (and the offices around our state) were treated like prey. Upper level management would trade pictures of new hires and have contests to see who could "nail" the woman first. If a particularly attractive woman was hired, the managers from around the state would suddenly have their meetings in that office and invite her to drink with them after. This was not an invitation or suggestion. A limo would be sent to pick her up. She would be given the time to be ready. I remember the shaken look on the face of one girl who was probably about 23 years old the day after that happened to her. We all knew, even though we pretended not to.

'Punishment was swift and severe. Fall out of favor and your workoad would increase from 50 hours a week to 70. And even then, the 70 hours would barely suffice. Then the suggestion would come that 70 hours is not bad if it's spread over 7 days. And these were not easy hours. Part of our job was to go to body shops and tell them how to properly repair a car, despite almost none of us having any relevant experience. Many body shops would flat-out refuse to do any work where Progressive was involved, and many had signs that advised their customers of that fact. . . '

Makes me want to switch my insurance away from Progressive, even if it COSTS me money.

If I were working there and I was ordered to close down a claim that they should pay, or if I observed sexual harassment anywhere NEAR described, I'd quit on the spot!! I would, dead serious, RATHER STARVE THAN WORK IN A PLACE LIKE THAT.

The moral math is: quit = maybe I find another job, maybe I starve. Stay on the job = likely doom multiple people to starve. And be complicit in what is morally like rape, even if it isn't legally rape.

FormerEE 1 of 12 replies @ProgressiveRefugee
Reply12 days ago

http://gawker.com/5934436/comedian-call ... ot-fashion ---> go to ProgressiveRef... and 12 more. Click the "and 12 more."

You're not alone. When I worked at Progressive, they tried to regulate our personal lives. We were forced to set up Facebook accounts for the sole purpose of our positive experiences possibly "going viral." For our quarterly and annual reviews, we had to provide documentation that we were promoting the company by posting positive comments on social media sites and forum postings (user names, dates, print screens). Family, friends and the rest of the world was supposed to see Progressive as the ultimate corporation.

They attempted to regulate our personal lives by telling us who we could associate with away from work. They monitored our Facebook accounts to make sure we had no interactions with former employees or with current employees who had fallen out of favor. Time away from work was to be spent with other employees.

The question "What are you doing tonight?" was not a casual conversation. The only acceptable answeres were "I'm working claims from home" or "A few of us are going out after work." What happened when a new claim was assigned to you at 9:00 PM? You had best have a very good explanation for why you didn't contact the people in the accident (the number one goal being to talk to people before they have a chance to talk to family or friends or get an attorney). We had printers in our company cars for the sole purpose of drawing up legal releases for people to sign on the spot.

Drug use was common, and seemingly encouraged. This may seem light a ridiculous charge, but it is true. Human resources would visit our branch offices and constantly remind us how lucky we are to work for such a "progressive" company and that we just needed to be sure our drug use did not interfere with work. It was just assumed we were on drugs. The sad thing is most of my co-workers were heavily medicated on anti-anxiety or anti-depression pills. Many also self-medicated. I was going that direction myself by the time I left.

Sexual harassment was constant. Being a male, I was spared, but the females in my office (and the offices around our state) were treated like prey. Upper level management would trade pictures of new hires and have contests to see who could "nail" the woman first. If a particularly attractive woman was hired, the managers from around the state would suddenly have their meetings in that office and invite her to drink with them after. This was not an invitation or suggestion. A limo would be sent to pick her up. She would be given the time to be ready. I remember the shaken look on the face of one girl who was probably about 23 years old the day after that happened to her. We all knew, even though we pretended not to.

Punishment was swift and severe. Fall out of favor and your workoad would increase from 50 hours a week to 70. And even then, the 70 hours would barely suffice. Then the suggestion would come that 70 hours is not bad if it's spread over 7 days. And these were not easy hours. Part of our job was to go to body shops and tell them how to properly repair a car, despite almost none of us having any relevant experience. Many body shops would flat-out refuse to do any work where Progressive was involved, and many had signs that advised their customers of that fact.

Make no mistake about it. This is an evil company. I have worked for 4 other companies. I've had ups and downs like anyone else. Nothing compared to this. If I was faced with the prospect of working another 3 years at that hell hole, I would shoot myself and consider myself lucky.