laremy.sg

Last year, I wrote about how convenient your service was when it came to renewing my motorcycle insurance.

NOW LOOK AT THE MONSTER YOU HAVE BECOME:

AND ON YOUR WEBSITE:

What is – I don’t even – which hamster told you that customers are desirous of this heinous pigletry???

I don’t want to “call [my] agent or [your] 24-hour hotline” because I don’t need to talk to a human being to do this.

I just want to click a button and give you my money so that you can insure Le Poots and I – that is all.

Like what you see in this picture here, just in case you’ve forgotten what convenience and customer service is all about:

At the same time, it seems my premium has increased to $322.58. Why?

If you think this is an uneducated grouse, don’t worry – I know what the basic principles of insurance entail.

Nevertheless, my question centres on a logical Key Performance Indicator that all efficient insurers should adopt (or should have at least adopted), and that is: insurers must aim to maintain or reduce the year-on-year premiums that a customer has to pay.

But why can’t insurers meet that aim in Singapore?

Is it because of:

• Bad practices and policies with regard to letting drivers and motor workshops inflate claim amounts?
• No one wanting to take the lead by doing the morally correct thing and streamlining/shaking-up the claims process so that us consumers can benefit from ethical decisions?

I have no ready answers.

But if anything, ladies and gentlemen, this is yet another reason why we need honest and customer-oriented people in charge of the organisations and institutions in our country.

Problem: Inconsiderate, selfish boors who park indiscriminately, thereby damaging Pooters (move your mouse cursor over the pictures for comments).

Solution (or part thereof): Seng Kwang Metal Industrial Co.

Had to get a custom made In-vehicle Unit (IU) bracket with a lifetime guarantee i.e. if it’s damaged, bring it back to the shop and they guys’ll do it up for free.

I paid $80; I’m not too sure if I got ripped off because I read some posts on the Singapore Bike Forum where the posters claim they paid $60 to $70 for their brackets. But those posts are 5 years old and I’m guessing the $10 increase is because of… inflation?

Anyway, if you’re a biker and you’re looking for custom-made brackets, call 6481 9580 and/or head down to:

Seng Kwang Metal Industrial Co.
Ang Mo Kio Autopoint
10 Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2A
#05-31
Singapore 568047

It’s a long and winding route to the top of the building, but just follow the signs and you’ll be fine.

Look for Gilbert (9785 9166) and/or William (9857 0033).

1. 6.45pm. Pooting merrily back home. Maybe not so merrily, but still pooting, nevertheless.
2. I’m in the middle lane of a three-lane road.
3. Left lane is a bus lane that’s in operation so technically I’m in in the slow-moving vehicle lane.
4. Comfort cab in right-most lane drives recklessly – as usual – and opportunistically (or recklessly, perhaps) swerves into my lane.
5. Whatever for? I don’t know. There is no space to be had and I am occupying the lane.
6. Still. Comfort cab drives recklessly - as usual – and opportunistically (or recklessly, perhaps) swerves into my lane, nearly side-swiping me in the process.
7. Did I mention the Comfort cab was driving recklessly? I did? Well, the Comfort cab was rather reckless and it nearly side-swiped me.
8. Without warning, the Comfort cab recklessly swerves away from me, back into the right-most lane, from whence it recklessly came.
9. Wanted to be angry, but decided against it because I found the irony too… ironic.
10. The Comfort cab had on its bumper an advertising sticker from W!ld Rice’s Emily of Emerald Hill show which said: “DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT MADE ME WHAT I AM?”
11. I have appended a visual of what said taxi looks like for your kind perusal.



12. Laugh. Or at least pretend to like it.

Dear Madam/Sir,

I REFER to Mr Peter Heng’s letter (“Act tough to curb motorcycle fatalities”, Nov 3).

I acknowledge that speeding motorcyclists and reckless riders have contributed to the high fatality rate for motorcyclists on Singapore roads.

As with any issue, however, it takes two hands to clap.

Dangerous driving is also a major factor in the deaths of motorcyclists on the road.

I have been a rider for six years and have both seen and experienced two main instances of dangerous driving that have resulted in accidents:

• Intimidation, where lorries and buses tailgate riders unnecessarily e.g. when riders are already in the leftmost lane, and
• Callousness, where cars cut into lanes of riders at exceedingly fast speeds and at angles which are too close for comfort.

Unfortunately, motorcyclists have no means of redress or protection from these actions.

Mr Heng’s suggestions might also exacerbate the current situation, as motorcyclists will then be deprived of a degree of speed to escape from their tormentors.

To address the root causes of the problem, I would like to propose the following measures instead:

• Courtesy campaigns by the Traffic Police to remind road-users to share the road in a friendly and respectful manner,
• Motorcycle lanes, if the Land Transport Authority will consider this, to protect riders from drivers,
• A hotline for motorcyclists to report dangerous drivers, where the Traffic Police can then take action against deviant behaviour, and
• Driving re-education classes conducted by the Traffic Police for errant road-users, who will have to watch videos of fatal road accidents to remind them of the sanctity of life.

I will be happy to partner the agencies I have mentioned in working together for a safer and death-free road experience for all.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
Laremy LEE (Mr)

(Published as “Don’t blame just (sic) motorcyclists” on 8 Nov 2010 in the Straits Times Forum Online.)

…we follow the path of least resistance.

An e-mail reply from MSIG.

An e-mail reply from AXA.

What is presented to me when I log on to the Income website.

My scooter insurance’s up for renewal; I’m with NTUC Income but I thought I’d scout around to see if I could get a better offer from another company.

Out of all the agencies I e-mailed, only two got back to me, and in no uncertain terms, informed me that they weren’t hard up for my money so I could very kindly f*** off and leave them alone.

Or it could have just been bad customer service.

To MSIG’s credit (or discredit?), the e-mail was copied to two reps, one of whom actually forwarded my message to Commercial Agency Pte Ltd, and an agent quoted me a premium of $350.96 on the same terms that NTUC Income offered.

Except, of course:

• Income’s premium is lower,
• it’s giving me a 5% loyalty discount which reduces the premium even more AND
• I have complete ease of renewal – one click, enter my credit card details and I’m done.

Moral of the story: make it easy for your customers to get what they want, and you’ll keep them, even if it’s just to make $300 off of them for another year.