Just a minor problem to sort out on the Exhaust and then I will be ready for an MOT having searched around and found what I 'think' is the perfect garage for the job!

If not then Stand by for a Saga, of how it all went wrong and maybe even a Saga in case it all goes right, in which case I will no doubt be a happy Easter Bunny, or not as the case may be!

But first there is the small matter of getting my Car Insured, which left me so frustrated that I felt like slitting my wrists! and just to stop you asking, No you're Not getting my car!

As I've found a way to take it with me, by driving it straight over the White Cliffs of Dover, which I have been wanting to do all day and may even end up doing as soon as I've fixed the exhaust!

It seemed to make sense to Insure the Jag with the firm that Insures my Merc, as that way I might qualify for an introductory No Claims Bonus, as because the Jag has been off the road for as long as it has.

Any NCB I had would expire after Two years! (I don't know why either!)
So as you can see I am already loving those guys more than life itself!

But I made a tiny error!

The kind that has Insurance Companies going out into the garden and doing hand stands on the lawn!

For as we all know they love to take your money and then try an find an excuse not to pay you out!

In the quote I got over the phone, I forgot to tell them that my Car was also fitted with an immobilizer as well as an Alarm, which can make a massive difference to your premium.

So having received the quote they sent I thought I'd better ring them up and correct this little mistake and maybe save a few dollars in the process!

Which in someway goes to show just how wrong you can be, as I have been trying for the last Three days to get through on their Freephone telephone number which has always been constantly engaged.

So left with no alternative, I took up their offer to accept help via 'Chat' and let me tell you that you haven't lived, until you have engaged in 'Chat' with a Foreign Call Center!

Who started off by saying that they couldn't Insure my Car! even though I had their quote right in front of me (in black and white and every single color in between!)

So I gave them the Quote number, only to be told that the quote they sent me wasn't valid!

Oh yes it **is I replied (sorry if I missed out a 7 letter word!) I've got the quote in front of me which says so!

Suddenly a light came on and they apologized but even so they couldn't tell me how to do it online, which I needed to do in order to have proof of my Insurance if I got stopped.

As it took for ever to receive the quote in black and white!

So seeing they took incompetence to a whole new different level, I told them what they could do with their Insurance!

After which they asked me to take a few moments to fill out a Customer Satisfaction Survey of their Customer Service!

At which point I suddenly realized that there was a God after all!

I was running out of Adjectives to try and describe they way I felt about their so called Customer Service!

So I then went to price comparison sites, where none of their online forms allow you to state the NCB on your existing car for an introductory discount on the New one.

So saying the Jag had no NCB would put the price through the roof and matching it with your existing car like they would do over the phone, would no doubt be regarded as a bare faced lie!

Which of course could end up invalidating your insurance!

And some of them regarded a Convertible XJS as being a Cabrio, which is of course a totally different model!

So my day was spent just running round in circles.

But if you want to have a laugh, go and see what they regard has having your vehicle modified which again increases the premium and can include something as simple as having a non standard decal on your Car!

 

I do not know where you are located, but I have used Hagerty insurance in Traverse City Michigan, USA for my Sunbeam Tiger and Fiat 1100, and have been very happy with them.

 

Had mine with Adrian Flux. 1 call, Easy peasy

 

I'm in the UK and when I Googled the Insurance Company that I use for my Merc, there were more complaints about them than I have ever seen.

Which of course I should have done in the first place but 8 years ago they were using UK call centers unlike now, so I didn't have any problem with using them back in the day.

 

I may well give them a try but yesterday was a 'Dog Day Afternoon' where everything that could go wrong actually achieved that point of perfection!

 

If I can't have THAT car, What about another of your fleet?? When you drive over the cliffs you won't be needing those either. <evil grin>

I think this is the first experience of yours I can't identify with, OB. We have had the same insurance agency since we came to this part of the world ("rural" California) and they happily insure anything we ask them to.

They happily give us a Fleet discount, a You're-Such-A-Good-Customer discount, a You've-Never-Cost-Us-A-Dime discount, and a You've-Been-Driving-A-Long-Time discount.

The insurance companies are not the Big Names you see on Prime Time TV ads (people don't realize someone has to PAY for those), they are companies unknown to the general public unless they actually carry the insurance.

I'm not surprised to know the Chat function is run off shore. I can imagine holding on online conversation with someone for whom English is a poorly grasped second language when spoken, who has little concept of written communication.

A good story though, and I look forward to the next installment.
(';')

 

Hi Elinor

It is always good to hear from you! but I wouldn't want to lumber you with one of my other cars as it simply wouldn't be fair to do that to such a nice person.

As you may have gathered from ongoing tales of 'Woe' one of them needs a new ABS and the other needs a Radiator transplant.

While '50 Shades' my Grey XJS so gorgeous that I want to sleep with her! is bracing herself for a forthcoming MOT test!

So as much as it hurts me to do so, I am having to 'slum it' in my XJS Celebration Convertible, which is not my favorite car as it has only got a six cylinder engine and feels like driving a Tractor compared to my V12.

As you won't need me to tell you, its 'Blinged Out' to the max and has even got a Telephone and a Harmon Kardon sound system, that would put most Concert halls to shame!

One owner from New fully Serviced and had a purchase price of nudging nearly 60 grand!

So do not know if that one would be any good to you? if so I might just pencil you into my Will.

The other problem being that where you live you all drive on the wrong side of the road!

Otherwise I might just do you a swop for a Mustang! which I believe were only produced in Left hand drive which wouldn't be that great in the UK, so I have to accept the only chance that I will ever have.

To ever get my hands on a 'Right Hooker' will be on the back pages of a 'Top Shelf' magazine!