The gift of fear

Rob has an audio book that creeps me out because he likes to listen to it while falling asleep. It’s about all these people who almost got raped and murdered, but survived because they listened to their gut. Apparently I’ve been influenced, because I just fired an insurance agent ‘cus he gave me a bad vibe.

I filled out one of those “find a quote” things on the web, and got calls from several agencies. I ignored most of them, but started talking to one named Shane in Seattle because he was with the company that I planned to go with. He quoted me nice rates and I gave him all the information he asked for. I remember hedging when he asked my social security number. He said he’d need it to check my credit to determine my rate. OK whatever. (Did I give him my mother’s maiden name, or the name of my first pet? I can’t remember)

The other night, I got a call from Norm in Seattle, who said he wasn’t sure where we left off because it didn’t say in his notes from our conversation. I said, “Is this Shane?” He said, “It’s Norm, I work with Shane.” Uh, so why did he say he was Shane when he first called?

He called again last night and asked if I had my checkbook handy because the auto insurance requires that I use EZ pay. I fished my Disney Magic checkbook out of my purse and thought, “Wait, huh? I haven’t even seen a policy yet.”* I told him to send the policy and I’d get back to him.

Today I e-mailed him and asked whether I had talked to him originally or Shane and he dodged the question with, “I work for Shane.” Dude, prove it.

So I wrote back, saying I decided to go with an agency in town after all. He wrote back with, “Did I do anything wrong?”

Mind you, I also fired my first lender for failure to provide the best loan, and threatened earlier this week to fire my realtor if she couldn’t get the sellers to fix some leaks before closing.

What’s happened to me? Loyalty/schmoyalty, I demand service and the best price.

Thanks, Dad. (and Rob)

*The strange thing here is that I am quite accustomed to inputting all sorts of vital, personal and financial information into little boxes on web sites that appear to be legit. But when a human calls me on the phone and wants to know same, I’m suspicious.