This is pretty disturbing given calculations are pretty much what they do. And it was not the agent himself, he's a sharp guy, but one of his staff.

Got an alert yesterday that our umbrella policy premiums were going to increase and to call the local office for details. Tried to call about three times and their phone malfunctioned. Finally got through later in the day and I thought that I was in luck in that the staffer that picked up was the the sender of the email.

She pulls up our info and says the premium will increase to $345. I remembered that there was a discount on our homeowners policy with the umbrella, so I wanted how much.

She- 15%

Me- What is that in dollars?

She- I don't know how to do that.

Me- What is our yearly homeowner's policy?

Takes her a while- $911

Me- So what does that amount to?

Then she tries to break it down monthly. I remind her that we were talking yearly.

Me- So it would be 15% discount of $911?

So I do the math in my head, figured it like a gratuity at restaurants when 15% was customary (not that we ever had a $900 bill) and came up with roughly $135.

It takes her some more time and she finally comes up with $136 and change. I was amazed that it was so difficult for her when she had the figures on a screen front of her.

It brought to mind this scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt87mXL_ftg

Unfortunately this comes to mind more and more frequently nowadays.

Some people just can't do math in their heads easily, having said that, you shouldn't be in a position to deal with figures if you can't do simple math.

Yep. Been going on a long time even in banks. Call your local bank and see if they can calculate compounded interest. That call was a stump the manager question. My previous broker could do these calucations in his head.

Try watching a clerk nowadays try to give change if the cash register breaks down.
The store will usually have to close until the system can be restored.

In my old job in the 60s we used an antique cash register and were required to figure Illinois sales tax in our heads. Nobody had trouble with that except some of the slow kids.I guess they grew up to work in insurance offices.

The "I don't know how how to do that" comment really threw me, considering she had the info and I'm assuming access to a calculator.

quote:

Originally posted by NOCkid:

The "I don't know how how to do that" comment really threw me, considering she had the info and I'm assuming access to a calculator.

"Hey Siri -- what is fifteen percent of nine hundred eleven?"

I'm surprised you didn't hear, "Hey Siri, what is a 15% discount on $911"

Its not just insurance. My health care professionals are very efficient and do a good job.
Their office staff: Incompetent! Failure to schedule appointments, failing to make sure prescriptions are filled, failing to get reports /lab results and billing the wrong insurance company for treatments. Oh, if you actually manage to reach them by phone, prepare to rot on hold.

I have heard that 4 out of 3 people have a problem doing math.

I'm the 5th person!

I’ve had this math discussion with a co-worker. In my opinion math is a use it or lose it skill. He insists on a calculator ap for even the simplest of tasks. I give him shit asking what’s his plan when the sun shits on his phone?

In the dark ages I was calculating pounds, ounces, pints, quarts, gallons, acres, distance, all on the fly while spaying commercially. I had a small calculator that was impossible to use in motion.

My personal example of technology making us dumber as a species.

Some years back I sold one of my motorcycles. I delivered it to the buyers home on a weekend and removed my license plate, then signed the title and bill of sale on the buyers kitchen table.
On Monday morning, I turned in the license plate at DMV.
When I got home from DMV, I called my insurance agent and cancelled the motorcycle insurance policy.
When on the phone call with the agent, I identified the sold motorcycle by make, model, year of manufacture, engine displacement and the last six digits in the VIN.
When my next insurance bill arrived, those dumb fuckers had cancelled the insurance on the wrong motorcycle.
I called them back and ripped them a new asshole. If I had been involved in a accident, I likely would have been screwed. I was beyond pissed.
Someone here on the Forum recommended doing a cancellation and/or policy change via email so you had a written record vs a he said/she said situation.
I recall that was a V-Tail recommendation, but can't remember now for certain.

I had forgotten a similar incident. We have two daily vehicles and a Miata that goes into storage in the fall. They went from full coverage to storage on the wrong vehicle, fortunately we discovered the mistake before problems arose.

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:

Someone here on the Forum recommended doing a cancellation and/or policy change via email so you had a written record vs a he said/she said situation.
I recall that was a V-Tail recommendation, but can't remember now for certain.

Good advice. I never thought about that.

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:

Someone here on the Forum recommended doing a cancellation and/or policy change via email so you had a written record vs a he said/she said situation. I recall that was a V-Tail recommendation, but can't remember now for certain.

Even that does not always work. September 1, 2024, I got the LYRIQ EV and dumped the Ford Escape. I informed my agent, in writing,. Gave her the VIN, sent her a photo of the vehicle, told her to remove the Escape from the policy and substitute the LYRIQ, same coverage, no I do not want / need a quote, just go ahead and make the change. She (the agent) acknowledged my request and commented on what a good looking vehicle the new LYRIQ was.

I guess at that point, she turned the requested policy changes over to one of her employees (I believe her niece) to handle.

Three weeks later, I received

1. A quote from one of the agent's employees, asking whether she should go ahead with it, and
   
   
2. A letter from the DMV, suspending my Driver License because I was driving an uninsured vehicle, and directing me to return the license plate to a DMV office.

Needless to say, I was pissed beyond belief.

I by-passed the agent, contacted the insurance company (Travelers) directly, and the nice rep told me where to look on the website to make the change myself without involving an agent. I did so, printed the confirmation of full coverage for the new vehicle, and took all the documents to the county Tax Collector's office (they handle DMV stuff in Florida), including my written directive of September 1 to the agent. $6.50 processing fee, and my DL was reinstated.

Homeowners is only $911?!

Ive had jobs since 15 dealing with numbers and the public. Starting as a Cashier at a store that had to know how to make change ( which is still a major peace of line people thag can’t make change) to a bank teller to discussing mortgage rates and business financials all day. So numbers always had to be correct.

You want to really bamboozle a Millennium checker? Hand them enough cash to cover the purchase, and a little more so you don't get back a random collection of small bills and coins (e.g your purchase total is $26.32, you offer three tens, a $1 bill, a quarter, a nickle, and two pennies expecting to get a $5 bill back). They will inevitably have to go to the calculator/register, and even then there's a better than 50% chance that they will get it wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Some people just can't do math in their heads easily, having said that, you shouldn't be in a position to deal with figures if you can't do simple math.

I doubt it’s that she couldn’t do math in her head; I can’t do math in my head but I can do math with paper and pencil. I think it’s more like she can’t do math at all.