AVOID: GEICO

Yes, Geico! Many believe that GEICO is the low-cost leader and have chuckled at their costly, scripted commercials. But there’s nothing funny or low-cost about GEICO.

The following is a TRUE story about GEICO!

A retired NYC FDNY Firefighter bought his first new car in decades. He stopped a local dealership in his own neighborhood, Giuffre, a predatory company unknown to him. GEICO was partners with the dealership. The brand new car that was sold was defective, it accelerated at a stoplight.

Knowing the car was defective and could cause injury to self and others, the retired firefighter attempted to get the car replaced. This is where GEICO unethical behavior surfaced.

GEICO refused to return the retired firefighter’s call to get a check issued within 48-hours after the claim. And this after GEICO gouged the retired firefighter with $458 surprise monthly rate, for which GEICO wouldn’t explain that reason for the rate for a retired person, with excellent driving history and who lived in a very low-crime area.

For $458/month insurance premium, GEICO should have delivered the required claim payment to the proper party, not only quickly, but personally. But instead, GEICO made the in-your-face decision to work with the car dealership it partnered with to profit from each sale, to hide the whereabouts of the car. The purpose of hiding the car: the car sale was 100% unlawful, as was insurance, which was set up by GEICO before the car was even sold OR lawfully titled. The vehicle wasn’t inspected, the dealership handed the keys and NY State issued license plates without titling and with false insurance information. GEICO should have simply checked the vehicle’s inspection certificate, but didn’t. GEICO simply concerned itself with gouging with its partner, Giuffre.

For over weeks, the retired firefighter attempted to find his car. During this process it was discovered, the lender wasn’t the lawful lender, the license plates should never have been issued because of failure to properly insure the vehicle, and the titling information was falsified to the DMV, which the dealer was fined for later by NY State DMV. The reason the retired firefighter couldn’t find his car, the car was “disposed of”, but treated as a repossession (an undocumented, unlawful repossession) because…. GEICO didn’t pay the finance company (the fake finance company) its payment AFTER charging the firefighter $458/month. The retired firefighter also lost his personal property inside of the car.

The retired firefighter then sued GEICO in NY State court. Through several court clerks, the retired firefighter discovered that GEICO basically owns NY State civil court. And that was very visible by winks and nods from the legal assistant of Judge Pamela Fisher, as well as closed-door private meetings without the presence of both parties. One lawyer, new to the NY State civil court corruption scene, attempted a private meeting with Fisher, but I guess he didn’t have enough money to pay-to-play. His attempt resulted in a letter sent to the other party in his case.

GEICO, if ETHICAL, could have easily addressed 1. why it refused to pay the claim (what the monthly insurance premiums were for) and 2. why the claims agent refused to return calls. Phone records were subpoenaed as well as the claims agent subpoenaed to court. GEICO’s attorneys fought the claims agent’s subpoena because… wait for it… it was an INCONVENIENCE for the claims agent to travel to court. But it was not an inconvenience for the retired firefighter to lose his car and property while being gouged monthly by GEICO.

GEICO was beyond culpable, as their ONLY responsibility: submit payment to the appropriate party immediately. Instead GEICO sent the wrong check to the wrong party then never returned any of the retired firefighter’s calls. GEICO then hired a team of lawyers to beat down the NYC retired firefighter. The case was resolved with one of the most unbelievable rulings that stunned the courtroom of other lawyers present, while GEICO’s TWO attorneys, Thomas Mazzaro and Rober Pape of Montfort-Healy in Garden City, NY, smiled with delight.

Then, when the retired firefighter’s wife purchased a new car, her insurance rate was 3-times the normal rate for personal use and excellent driving history. The reason being: GEICO kept extending the claim for the retired firefighter’s vehicle BEYOND 3-years which carried over to the wife after marriage. Every six-months after the 3-years of the claim, GEICO kept extending the firefighter’s claim as “open” for unknown reasons. Their reason: to pay for their lawyer’s fees, but the file was in a “secret” area that only one person could address (or keep re-opening so that the claim would show up for any insurance inquiry.

The retired firefighter’s wife then contacted NY State’s Insurance Commissioner. GEICO’s staffed lied so badly, it even made up a claim that the retired firefighter’s wife was the driver and the insured, yet two males were in the car when it accelerated at a stop light and hit another vehicle. The retired firefighter’s wife was also never insured by GEICO previously. While lying to NY State Insurance Commissioner, GEICO’s staff also revealed person information for the other vehicle involved in the acceleration accident to the retired firefighter’s wife, information that she was not privy to. The retired firefighter’s wife didn’t even know him when he purchased the car, nor wasn’t even living in the same city at the retired firefighter at the time of the accident. GEICO was expecting the retired firefighter AND his wife to pay for their fraud and deception indefinitely. After GEICO was caught in one false statement after another to state officials, GEICO then dropped the claim and pretended nothing happened, but NEVER returned any monies rightfully due nor apologized.

Who owns GEICO? Warren Buffett, through Berkshire Hathaway.

Yea… you don’t hear Warren Buffett jumping up and down in outrage over GOP’s new tax reform scam to give more tax cuts to wealthy persons like Warren Buffett, who pretended to be for the middle class. In fact, you don’t hear much from Warren Buffett at all.