Complaint Review: Safeway Insurance

I was rear-ended by one of Safeway Insurance’s clients.  This has been the worst nightmare ever.

Issue 1:  Getting a hold of someone at Safeway insurance just to get status of a claim is impossible.  Phones calls go to random people’s voicemail.  An indication that this is an amateur small and inexperienced company. 

Issue 2:  Their adjuster will under estimate damage at a fraction of the cost and they will not adjust any damage until they inspect your vehicle during tear down.

Issue 3:  Takes month just to get approval to begin work on your vehicle after all the run-around.  The owner of the repair shop wouldn't even begin any work or even tear down the car for further inspection because of his dealings with this company.  He's had cars sit in his shop for months after being towed in because Safeway is so unresponsive and difficult to deal with. 

Issue 4:  Even with a respectable shop quote, they will not pay full cost of repairs.  They expect the shop to use cheapest and poorest quality aftermarket parts and the lowest quality paint and materials. 

Issue 5:  They are just plain amateurs.  Constantly flip flopping on statements and procedures/policy.

I had to go through my insurance for repairs.  A 25 minute phone call to my insurance and I had an appointment with their collision center the NEXT DAY for full inspection and quote, plus a go ahead with them to use whatever collision place I wanted to use. 

Took my car to get inspected, they nailed the cost within $25.00 of the quote from my preferred collision center.  My insurance cleared my preferred collision center to do the repairs.  They dealt with them directly and paid them directly.  From estimate to repair shop in two days vice months.  Waiting to see if my insurance company gets full reimbursement from Safeway. 

If you ever have to business with Safeway insurance, forgo their process and use your own insurance company.  It'll save you the stress of having your car sit around for months before it is drivable.