Never sign up with Progressive, I was with Progressive for just over 5 years, had only filed 1 claim before the nightmare back in October 09.

I have been in the automotive field for 6 years and drive an 06 Scion xB which at the time had only 23,673 miles, anyone who has seen one of these cars knows how small they are. Long story short, I got sandwiched between a GMC 2500 and a lifted Jeep Grand Cherokee after Kia ran a red light behind the GMC pushing it into me. Only the Kia driver was ticketed and at fault per the police report. I submitted the claim via telephone to Progressive that afternoon about an hour after the accident happened. Progressive put me into a rental car later that evening. All was well until the repairs started. First off, I was railroaded into using one of their “preferred” shops and before car was inspected, I was forced to fix my car. Going through the impacts it did, the entire dash inside the car came loose and has not fit properly since Progressive’s shop “fixed” it. The power outlet (aka cigarette lighter) plastic shroud was broken and had shorted out, which blew the fuse for the radio and outlet. The agent assigned to my claim, who also inspected and wrote the estimate for my vehicle failed to note the power outlet and the rear wiper motor needed to be replaced and noted that I had no preference of new or used parts after I had insisted that they be new due to the fact that my vehicle had very low miles for the year and that I am very particular about my vehicle. The power outlet shroud costs $350 (new) and the rear wiper motor about $100 (used).

The shop did a very good job with the paint, there is no difference in the shade of the new painted parts and the undamaged parts. Progressive told me that my rental coverage lasted until my vehicle was repaired or 30 days. I drove my car to the shop, the next business day, I had asked if the body was in tact and with in specs, the agent assigned told me that there was no evidence to support that the body was tweaked. Being that the car is a uni-body vehicle I insisted that it be checked for straightness prior to any repairs, the agent told me that she had authorized repairs and that they had already started and would not check the body unless I paid for it, plus the cost of my deductible of $500. The body shop called me to inform me that the parts they received were used and were in such poor condition the body shop would not use them for repairs which delayed the process 7 days. Day 9 the new parts were received excluding the aftermarket wheel to match the 3 undamaged ones. This delayed the process another 3 days. Day 12 the shop received the wheel, had the 7″ wide tire mounted and balanced on the 8″ wide rim Progressive had ordered, how they managed to successfully mount a 205/40/17 on a 17″x8″ rim is beyond me.

I went and picked up my vehicle and spoke with the agent assigned to my claim. My rental was no longer covered since my car was out of the shop and deemed completed. I told them that the wheel was the wrong size, they assured me that it was the correct wheel. I insisted that it was incorrect and the agent told me to take it and if there were any problems to give them a call. I drove the vehicle to work the next day, came out afterwards and noticed that the tire on the “new correct” wheel was flat. Ran into the shop I work at and grabbed an air tank, started to air up the tire and noticed that the bead hadn’t even been completely seated. The pressure from the air tank was enough to seat the remaining part of unseated bead. called up Progressive after I returned home. They told me that the wheel that I had was no longer manufactured and that I would either have to deal with the wrong wheel, find a close replica or pay out of my pocket for a new set of wheels. After several phone calls ending in getting hung up on by a Progressive agent and many more calls to supervisors and other agents I received a new set of wheels, I still had to pay for the tires to be swapped and balance out of my own pocket.

3 months later after no results for the ignored issues I switched to Allstate (a much friendlier provider). Now 10 months after, Progressive has been trying to get me back with them as a provider and still, will not fix any of the problems with my vehicle that they ignored. Once again, do not use Progressive as your insurance provider, their agents do not know how to do their jobs nor do they want to spend any money to help the customers.

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