Business Rating
If you are a business and curious of your standing with Ben (ratings are out of 5)
5+ Excellent – This is a rare rating and awarded to few companies, company must excel above and beyond Ben’s expectations. Problems rarely happen and are resolved promptly without question.
5. Great – Company is above average, meeting expectations, if there are problems they are resolved promptly.
4. Good – Good company, but may lack in some areas.
3. Okay – Mostly harmless. May have wasted some of Ben’s time or make lots of mistakes.
2. Poor – Bad customer service
1. Evil – Typically company has an outstanding balance, or has wasted a lot of time. This is the poorest rating and usually is reserved for the worst companies that utterly fail.
21st Century Insurance. Rating: 1. Evil. Failed to pay out Kelly Blue Book value on totaled Ford Probe. Refused to lower Ben’s rates when he turned 25. When splitting off from Ben’s parents 21st century mistyped his name, address, and driver’s license number resulting in insurance being dropped when Ben didn’t get a bill. Ben did not know he was driving without insurance until he got a letter from a collections agency. …21st Century never bothered to call or try the previous address when all the mail was returned because they keyed the address in wrong. Ben promptly switched providers and has been happy ever since.
Aetna. Rating: Borderline Evil. 1.5 stars. When I called Aetna to submit a claim I was told I didn’t need to enter a DX code. Denied claim that I submitted because I didn’t enter DX code. However, the form only allows a provider to fill in the DX code, I’m not allowed to enter one so how could I have submitted it? Nearly impossible to get a human. Evil phone menu. Limited hours. Aetna’s rating is very close to dropping to evil.
Amica. Rating: Great. 5 stars.
Good: Low rates, friendly service, always get a human 24×7.
Bad: Unable to do some things (such as get quotes) by email. Reps insist on talking over the phone.
Amazon. Rating: Excellent. 5+ starts. Shipments on-time, prompt replacement of lost packages, low prices. Free shipping.
Apple. Rating: Good 4 stars. What would be a perfect experience is marred because Apple hasn’t repaired the processor whine on my computer because I don’t have time to send it in without getting a loaner (Apple says it can take weeks to repair it). Apple will not provide a loaner. I would expect this kind of treatment from Dell…but not from Apple. I intend to email Steve Jobs about this, if he does not resolve it Apple will drop a star.
Beaver Medical Group. Rating: Poor. 2 stars.
Good: Service is generally fast and friendly.
Poor: Accounting forgot to bill my insurance and wanted me to pay them directly. Does not respond to dispute letters. (Beaver is currently charging interest on a disputed charge, if they do not drop the interest and do not respond to any of the three letters I’ve sent their rating may drop to evil).
Bed Bath & Beyond. Rating: Okay 3.5 stars.
Good: Returns are easy. Employees smile.
Bad: wasted a lot of time trying to recover stolen gift card money, Ben was called a liar (although nicely).
Best Buy. Rating: Poor 2.5 stars.
Good: Good place to get movies and CDs.
Bad: Higher than average pricing on electronics, sales reps have lied to Ben about features in the past, although they seem to be getting better.
Charles Schwab. Rating: Great 5 stars.
Good: Excellent interest, service, ATM reimbursements, always get a human, deposit by mail.
Bad: Website lacks some features, unable to create linked accounts online, too much must be done via mail that should be doable online.
Chase Credit Card: Rating: Good 4 stars.
Good: All around good cards, rarely have problems.
Bad: While upgrading a card a rep signed me up for a service after I said no, rating dropped 1 star because Chase was unable to fix it when I first called, I had to call a “different” number that had limited hours. Chase’s rating can go back to great if there are no problems for a few years.
Chipotle: Rating: Great 5 stars.
Good: healthy tasty food with few choices on the menu.
Citi: Rating: Poor 2 stars.
Citi’s auto payment tried to pay from the wrong bank account one month resulting in all sorts of fees. Form letters were sent in response to my letters, representatives didn’t speak English. I eventually had to contact an executive at Citi Group to get the issue resolved.
Costco: Rating: Okay 3 stars.
Good: Low prices, better than average quality.
Bad: Poor customer service, no response. Takes months to resolve membership issues, I almost lost a honeymoon cruise because of a membership glitch.
Ford: Rating: Okay 3 stars.
Good: Typically fair quality cars for a decent price. Excellent performance cars.
Poor: Very poor quality parts.
Fry’s Electronics: Evil 1 star.
Current outstanding balance is $70 (well, now it’s $98.50 with interest) in rebates not rendered since 2002. No response to letters.
Ikea: Rating: Good 4 stars.
Good: Good prices for the quality, good food.
Bad: Would be a 5 star if Ben could find his way out of the store.
ING Direct: Rating: Great 5 stars.
Good: Excellent website, excellent security, excellent customer service, always get a human.
Bad: lower than average interest.
Office Depot: Poor 1 star.
Required to sign up to get “better price”
Office Max: Evil 1 star.
Advertises great deals on products that they do not carry sufficient stock.
Outstanding balance of $15 in rebates not rendered.
Mazda: Rating: Great 5 stars.
Good: Excellent Mazda3.
Poor: New cars come with cheap tires and cheap brake rotors that warp because they’re not slotted.
State Farm: Rating Poor 2 stars.
Good: Decent prices.
Poor: When my roommate and I had them they would send us a late bill and we would have to reinstate insurance instead of just sending us a normal bill. This resulted in a few coverage gaps.
Time Warner Cable (Internet only): Rating: Poor (recently upgraded from Evil), 2 stars.
Good: decent price after haggling.
Bad: had to haggle to get them to agree to price they advertised. TWC currently has an outstanding balance of $90 in rebates not rendered.
Trader Joe’s Great 5 stars.
Healthy food. Prices are a bit high.
Wamu: Rating: Good 4 stars.
Good: Great website, easy to manage external accounts.
Bad: interest rates dropped recently.
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