And he thought he knew it all ….
Prashanth was not a normal IT employee, he was one of the smarter ones. He knew more than most of us about Smartphones, Computers, Shopping offers, online deals, cars, bikes, Apples, OnePlus’s and more.
In office Prashanth was the go to person whenever anyone wanted to buy something or was looking for the best deal. Prashanth also specialised in movies and food. He constantly posted on twitter and instagram about his latest escapades. In short Prasananth unlike us was a street smart guy.
So in the winter of 2019 when Prashanth started looking around for add-on medical insurance everyone thought that the wait had finally ended and in a few weeks we would know where we should put our money. We all waited with baited breath, like every other fad that hits the collective psyche of an IT company, we were all taken up with the frenzy to buy add-on medical insurance. We all knew we finally had our answer when Prashanth shortlisted Cigna Manipal as a prospective company. And we got our wallets ready when his policy arrived. But sadly for us things did not go as planned.
Prashanth had looked around a number of Insurance providers and spoken to most of our colleagues who had insurance before finally arriving at the life saving decision.
He spoke to the agent on the Cigna Manipal helpline and was suggested one of the policies.
Prashanth immediately made payment online without bothering to check - after all the agent was an employee of the company who wasn't working for a cut. And finally Prashanth had shortlisted a policy for us.
A week later when the policy document arrived, Prashanth did not bother to read it because he knew everything about the policy. He did not bother to keep the document safe because he knew everything was available online.
The problem started when Prashanth received a welcome call the next day. He initially like most of us wanted to get the call over and continue browsing the internet. But he was forced to hear the lady for the call centre out as she insisted that this was an essential step before he accepted the policy. Prashanth nodded mindlessly, listening half heartedly as she rambled on about the terms and conditions.
‘Hold on can you repeat the last sentence please’ Prashanth said, stopping her in between
‘No that is not correct, I was promised something else by the agent’ said Prashanth once she had repeated the sentence. He was now fully alert.
‘ You mean I have a ‘Pro-Health’ policy while what the agent explained to me was ‘Pro-Health plus’’ Prashanth added after listening to her reply
‘No please keep the phone down I don't want to talk further, let me call and speak to the agent first. ‘ Prasanth mumbled angrily
‘Please keep the phone down I don't want to give you feedback’ he shouted before cutting the call.
Prashanth immediately dialed the agent who had called himself Mayur.
Mayur was very polite and apologised for the confusion and asked Prashanth for a week before the policy would be corrected. Mayur even told Prashanth that he would send him a link where Prashanth would have to pay the difference of 854 Rs for the upgrade.
‘You know the document says I have 15 days to review and cancel the policy. Are you sure you will be able to correct it otherwise I am cancelling the policy’ Prashanth asked, having now found the document and read it.
‘Oh dont you worry sir, this will be taken care’ replied Mayur.
And this is where our story started ….
Prashanth kept following up with Mayur on whatsapp and phone. He was constantly assured that the policy error would be corrected.
Days moved into week and the week became a month.
As December gave way to January, Prashanth’s optimism started to wane, he started to follow up more frequently. In the first week of January 20 days after Prashanth had bought the policy Mayur finally stopped responding to whatsapp. This is when Prashanth had his first inkling that something was wrong.
He tried calling Mayur but the phone went unanswered. Mayur finally responded on whatsapp in the evening.
‘Sir my dad told me that you are trying to call me. I am not keeping well and am admitted to the hospital. Please rest assured that your case will be dealt with on priority’ read Mayur’s message on whatsapp.
Prashanth waited for a few more days before following up again. Prashath still believed in humanity. Their exchanges continued for another week. It had been a month since Prashanth had bought the policy. Two weeks after Mayur’s illness Prashanth was worried because Mayur refused to recover.
Prashanth had tried calling Mayur but the phone always went unanswered.
‘Sir I will tell my team to look into it’ was the last reply from Mayur after which he did not seem to read the messages from Prashanth.
It was the end of January when Prashanth realised that he was conned. Mayur had stopped replying.
Prashanth still a little hopeful had called the helpdesk only to be told that Mayur had resigned.
It all added up now for Mayur had never intended to correct Prahanths policy, he had collected his percentage and was only buying time till his last day at the company.
Prashanth fruitlessly followed up with the company, posted messages on twitter only to be snubbed.
The Agent had received his cut and the company had collected its premium. And we can only hope that Prashanth had learnt his lesson.
Prashanth was not a normal IT employee, he was one of the smarter ones. He knew more than most of us about Smartphones, Computers, Shopping offers, online deals, cars, bikes, Apples, OnePlus’s and more.
In office Prashanth was the go to person whenever anyone wanted to buy something or was looking for the best deal. Prashanth also specialised in movies and food. He constantly posted on twitter and instagram about his latest escapades. In short Prasananth unlike us was a street smart guy.
So in the winter of 2019 when Prashanth started looking around for add-on medical insurance everyone thought that the wait had finally ended and in a few weeks we would know where we should put our money. We all waited with baited breath, like every other fad that hits the collective psyche of an IT company, we were all taken up with the frenzy to buy add-on medical insurance. We all knew we finally had our answer when Prashanth shortlisted Cigna Manipal as a prospective company. And we got our wallets ready when his policy arrived. But sadly for us things did not go as planned.
Prashanth had looked around a number of Insurance providers and spoken to most of our colleagues who had insurance before finally arriving at the life saving decision.
He spoke to the agent on the Cigna Manipal helpline and was suggested one of the policies.
Prashanth immediately made payment online without bothering to check - after all the agent was an employee of the company who wasn't working for a cut. And finally Prashanth had shortlisted a policy for us.
A week later when the policy document arrived, Prashanth did not bother to read it because he knew everything about the policy. He did not bother to keep the document safe because he knew everything was available online.
The problem started when Prashanth received a welcome call the next day. He initially like most of us wanted to get the call over and continue browsing the internet. But he was forced to hear the lady for the call centre out as she insisted that this was an essential step before he accepted the policy. Prashanth nodded mindlessly, listening half heartedly as she rambled on about the terms and conditions.
‘Hold on can you repeat the last sentence please’ Prashanth said, stopping her in between
‘No that is not correct, I was promised something else by the agent’ said Prashanth once she had repeated the sentence. He was now fully alert.
‘ You mean I have a ‘Pro-Health’ policy while what the agent explained to me was ‘Pro-Health plus’’ Prashanth added after listening to her reply
‘No please keep the phone down I don't want to talk further, let me call and speak to the agent first. ‘ Prasanth mumbled angrily
‘Please keep the phone down I don't want to give you feedback’ he shouted before cutting the call.
Prashanth immediately dialed the agent who had called himself Mayur.
Mayur was very polite and apologised for the confusion and asked Prashanth for a week before the policy would be corrected. Mayur even told Prashanth that he would send him a link where Prashanth would have to pay the difference of 854 Rs for the upgrade.
‘You know the document says I have 15 days to review and cancel the policy. Are you sure you will be able to correct it otherwise I am cancelling the policy’ Prashanth asked, having now found the document and read it.
‘Oh dont you worry sir, this will be taken care’ replied Mayur.
And this is where our story started ….
Prashanth kept following up with Mayur on whatsapp and phone. He was constantly assured that the policy error would be corrected.
Days moved into week and the week became a month.
As December gave way to January, Prashanth’s optimism started to wane, he started to follow up more frequently. In the first week of January 20 days after Prashanth had bought the policy Mayur finally stopped responding to whatsapp. This is when Prashanth had his first inkling that something was wrong.
He tried calling Mayur but the phone went unanswered. Mayur finally responded on whatsapp in the evening.
‘Sir my dad told me that you are trying to call me. I am not keeping well and am admitted to the hospital. Please rest assured that your case will be dealt with on priority’ read Mayur’s message on whatsapp.
Prashanth waited for a few more days before following up again. Prashath still believed in humanity. Their exchanges continued for another week. It had been a month since Prashanth had bought the policy. Two weeks after Mayur’s illness Prashanth was worried because Mayur refused to recover.
Prashanth had tried calling Mayur but the phone always went unanswered.
‘Sir I will tell my team to look into it’ was the last reply from Mayur after which he did not seem to read the messages from Prashanth.
It was the end of January when Prashanth realised that he was conned. Mayur had stopped replying.
Prashanth still a little hopeful had called the helpdesk only to be told that Mayur had resigned.
It all added up now for Mayur had never intended to correct Prahanths policy, he had collected his percentage and was only buying time till his last day at the company.
Prashanth fruitlessly followed up with the company, posted messages on twitter only to be snubbed.
The Agent had received his cut and the company had collected its premium. And we can only hope that Prashanth had learnt his lesson.
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