Will you cover my deductible?
Another Fred Rant
Every once in a while a customer will ask me that question. I am certain they mean it in a nice friendly way. The customer has heard about all those windshield shops where they go so far as to advertise "We will cover your deductible."
Certainly it is reasonable to assume other repair businesses offer similar incentives to potential customers. I suppose, it must make sense to ask.
I don't inflate my estimates to cover deductibles.
PERIOD!
As subtitled above, this is a rant. I intend to express exactly what I think about "covering deductibles."
For that reason, the rest of this will be written as though you just asked me the question.
And
Because you are not standing in front of me where I must look at your hurt big puppy dog eyes while I tell you my opinion, I shall not hold back.
First. What the hell is in it for me? I don't get the money. I didn't save the money when you bought the insurance with the deductible.
Let's ask this. Did I get to use the money you saved?
What is my interest in committing fraud to line your pocket?
Let's review deductibles. I think it goes something like this:
Hey insurance company. I want you to cover me when really bad things happen to me. If the problem costs under my deductible to fix, I won't even bother to tell you I had a problem. If the problem is bigger than the deductible, I will cover the first part and you will pick up all the rest up to the limits of the policy. Above the limits of the policy, the responsibility for fixing my problem goes back to me.
It seems to me you agreed to pay for some stuff and it was sold to you based upon certain predictions. Now you are trying to take way more than you paid for.
In fact, you are asking me to help you.
You want me to lie to your insurance company so you can steal from that company.
When you ask me to cover your deductible I think about the following.
You have had a relationship with your insurance company for a while. Some of you announce to me that you have been "paying premiums to the same company for 30 years!!"
Here we are, beginning a brief service company / customer relationship and you make it clear to me you are willing to screw your long term supplier of "cover my ass when I need it most?"
It seems to me, since I now know you screw people, a new guy like me is at major risk when he deals with you.
When you ask me to "cover your deductible" I already know you are willing to lie and cheat.
Your question to me is simply. "Will you steal some money from my insurance company?"
Do you really want to do business with me if I
say yes?
Are you aware that I do business with insurance companies almost every week? Do you want to have your boat repaired by a guy who steals from companies with which he does business regularly?
Don't you worry when you consider having your boat fixed by a guy who you suspect is willing to steal from the guys who pay him?
Hint>>>That would be you.
I know most of you have not considered any of the above. You are generally decent people and are likely not common thieves.
But when you matter of factly ask me to swipe a few hundred bucks for you, I gotta wonder.
Don't I?
Then I wonder. Does this clown think I make promises about what I will do and then simply steal?
Do you think four gallons of paint means a gallon and three empties saved from other jobs?
Are you doing business with me because you think I will do the very best work available anywhere for hundreds of miles in any direction? Or do you think I am the scuzbag lowlife most likely to help you work over your insurance company.
Do you think I will help you build a cheater race boat?
Do you want to borrow my office for a rendezvous with your home wrecking secretary?
Shall we change the year in the serial number on your boat so you can sell it for a higher price?
Do you really believe you are enough smarter than Fred to keep him from cutting a few corners on your repair job?
Now that I know you are a thief yourself, what moral obligation do I have not to simply rob you blind?
The answer to almost all of the above is obvious.....to me.
I better watch my toys when this person is around. The person is not trustworthy and I could easily end up on the wrong end of a ripoff.
Look at those of us who work in this boat shop. Have you noticed possessions and a lifestyle indicating we regularly steal to enrich ourselves?
Do you ant to be the person who shows us how easy the money can come and sets us off down the path of "screw everybody else?"
Try this. Does it make any sense for a guy who has a good job, lives in a nice house, drives a nice car, has a retirement plan, and owns a fancy sailboat to ask a guy with a dirty manual job and who lives in a wheeled house, "Would you steal some money for me or at least cut me a deal on your prices?"
Do I look like I am making way too much money?
I have never heard one of the wannabe deductible fraud customers ask me to do the following.
"Fred. My deductible is $1000. Would you raise your estimate by $10,000, cover my deductible, and keep $9,000 for yourself?"
This does not happen. The "cover MY deductible guy" wants to take care only of number 1. You have paid your insurance company to take care of you and now you want to steal from it. You won't even share with the guy who does the actual stealing.
It is not much of a leap in my head to get to, "This guy is going to be stealing from me if he can figure a way to do so. I better watch this slimebag."
Think about it. What the hell are you asking me to do. What are you telling me about yourself?
And while you are at it.
You must recognize that whenever this question is asked, I carefully consider whether I should continue and finish the project or just stop. My world is at risk. The only safe thing to do is demand immediate payment for whatever has been done to that point, and give the boat back.
Luckily for you, I consider that response as "nuking the problem." A little diplomacy and education should at least be attempted first.
My usual method is to avoid giving a response and to act as though the question was never asked.
If the question is asked again, I try a gentle explanation that I really have no business even knowing about deductibles, limits of coverage or anything else unrelated to what it actually might cost to repair the boat.
If I am not getting through I will jest, "If I ever commit fraud it will be for a hell of a lot more than a few hundred dollars. I am thinking millions or why bother ruining my life."
In most cases, when a customer persists with requests to commit fraud, I call the insurance company, describe the problem and ask the insurance company to pay me for what I have already done and for whatever it costs to get myself and the insurance company out of the deal.
I can make a lot more money working for the insurance companies than stealing from them.
Stopping fraud is an honest way to make a living.