LUCKY I'M NOT WITH A.A.M.I. ???

‘LUCKY-EEEEE I’M NOT WITH A.A.M.I.’

Remember my little talk on ‘extrinsic / intrinsic fraud [ refer to products talk in this blog ]
Seems even the big boys ignore the warning signs. Now you are lucky if your with A.A.M.I. B U T ONLY if your ‘with’ them.
“We have seen the enemy, and the enemy is US’
God help you all if you are NOT with A.A.M.I. AND you have a claim against them through absolutely no fault of your own. Seems that if you have the sheer sh*t arse gall to be in an accident [ booted up the rear by another car while stationary at traffic lights ]; you will get less than a fair go from A.A.M.I
Happened to me in Brisbane. The other driver was insured with above. ‘ No worries’ sayeth A.A.M.I. rep SHENAID ‘Not only will we have your car repaired but you can hire a car and the bill is on us.

YOU LITTLE BEAUTY! WOW! THAT’S SERVICE.

Of course there’s a catch; otherwise, what’s the point of this blog. They said over the phone [ nothing in writing ] they would pay for ‘Fair and reasonable costs’ in hiring a car – nothing [ and I mean, NOTHING ] else was said. They also stated that THEY have a preferred company – what’s more ‘Here is a special priority number to quote from us, so that you get a car immediately’

And again ‘YOU BEAUTY! WOW! THAT’S SERVICE.

So I went to Hertz, quoted the number, got a car on the spot. At the end of the period [10 days to fix my car], I returned the car submitted the bill to A.A.M.I. AND RECEIVED A CHEQUE FOR LESS THAN WHAT IT COST ME TO HIRE THE CAR.

Uh!, what you talk about, Willis ?

Quote from A.A.M.I. rep SHENAID ‘ It’s our policy NOT to pay for full insurance cover when you hire a car, so that component has been removed ‘. WITHOUT full cover, I would have been responsible for ANY damage occurring to the hire car from ANY cause, leaving me $700 out of pocket in excess insurance cover [ standard ].

Oh I see….. So if I am unlucky enough to have a claim on A.A.M.I. and I am not myself a client. I automatically have to pay for full insurance cover on the hire car to avoid jeopardy which I never would have had to avoid because I’m covered in MY car by MY insurance cover [ which I still have to pay for while my car is in the shop ].

Several points here [ which I argued with SHENAID to no avail ]. In my mind this is NOT fair and reasonable as – ‘why should I have bare a risk value simply because I was hit by your client ?’. I had no real choice as to where I could hire the car, nor any choice as to car type [ what if they only had a Rolls Royce available ?]. I was NOT told of exclusions to their statement [ Extrinsic fraud ]. I had a contract with them and they changed the rules after the contract was completed. The whole scenario is based on their verbal statement that they would pay for ‘FAIR AND REASONABLE’ hire [rates]. Not by any stretch of the imagination is putting ME at risk, fair and reasonable.. But the fact that they did not inform me as to conditions, is in itself, a more serious breach of law. At worst, I could have made an informed decision as to whether I would risk a standard hire or pay for the extra out of MY pocket. SHENAID virtually verbal led me into believing that I had no choice in the matter of car hire.

I sent them a letter of demand which prompted the reply by SHENAID STILL refusing to pay up, citing their own policy [ this isn’t worth a pinch of sh*t – in law ]. So now it’s to the small claims court and although I have been told by all and GOD himself that I am in the right on all counts; judging from the corrupt practices of some magistrates; I would be less than totally surprised if the decision was in their favor. You work out why this would be so; but it’s a no brainer. Should it go against me – it’s sign on the back window treatment just like others who think they can do what they bloody well like and even worse; think no one is going to do anything about it. I got news for you A.A.M.I.

Since I write for 3 web sites AND have my house and contents insured with them; I am considering going with another company when the policy is due. I ask myself ‘ Do they think it’s really worth $266:00 when I can effectively loose them thousands in lost business – mine and everyone else I tell this story too – ????’

If you are with A.A.M.I. good be upon you, but I sincerely loath their perpetrated practices on other people who have the sh*t arse gall to NOT be insured with them.

EDITED LATER:
I have decided NOT to pursue legal options. Why the hell should I spend time and money trying to educate the ignorant when they just won't listen to reason ?
Just like this global warming world SCAM, I don't take kindly to be treated like a moron - so my now option is make up some signs [ just like before ] stating that AAMI screwed me good and proper. Lets just see how long it takes THIS TIME to thump the message into their pee brains that BAD advertising will cost them dearly and isn't worth screwing me out of $266 when they can loose potentially, multi thousands of dollars in business. Some companies just won't learn.
EDITED MUCH LATER:
Well it seems AAMI haven't got the hint yet but so far [25/06/2010] I have had 57 people ask me what it's all about. 21 were thinking of switching to AAMI but now have assured me that they are NOT!. 12 people are dumping AAMI as their present insurer and going with someone else. And the rest are thinking about it. Thats 33 people who would have paid about $400 each .. lets see that's $13,200 bucks that AAMI wont see.
Now for the coup-de-grase . GO TO - http://unluckyurwithaami.com/ can I pick 'um or can I pick 'um ????

EDITED 15 SEPT 2010

Well today I removed the signs from my car - no! I did not get my money back but I figured I have cost AAMI car insurance about $38,700 in premiums they will NEVER see because of the list of people I have whom I have related this story to.
Yep!, I kept a list of everyone who will NOT be insuring / re-insuring with AAMI and that's not counting the people who are umming and Ahhing about it. CONGRATULATIONS
SHENAID - SINGLE HANDEDLY YOU HAVE COST YOUR EMPLOYER $38,700 ALL OVER $266 YOU WOULDN'T GIVE BACK. I feel better already.